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Annotation:New Five Cents (1)
X:1 T:New Five Cents [1] M:C| L:1/8 K:D (A|A)2f2 f3e|dfed BcdB|ABde f2f2|e3 fe2[DA]2-| [DA]2 f2 fgfe|dfed BcdB|A2 FD ED C2|1 D3E D2A:|2D3 E D2 dB|| ||:A2 F2F2 dB|ADFG F2 dB|A2F2 FEDE|F E2F E2dB| AFDF AFdc|B [GB]2 A BcdB|A2 FD ED C2|1 D3 ED2 dB:||2 D3 E D3|]
NEW FIVE CENTS [1]. AKA - "Five Cents," "New Five Cent Piece." AKA and see "Buffalo Nickle (2)," "Ruffled Drawers." American, Reel (cut time). USA; Cumberland Plateau border region of Ky./Tenn., western North Carolina, Missouri. D Major. Standard or ADae tunings (fiddle). AB (Silberberg): AABB (Phillips): AABBCC (Titon). "New Five Cents" was in the repertoire of Kentucky fiddler Isham Monday (1879-1964), who played the tune in ADae tuning, but who tuned his fiddle so low it sounded below C. See also the closely related "Robinson County," and the accompanying note. Marion Thede, in connection with an unrelated Oklahoma tune, prints the following lyrics, indicating the floating nature of some verses:
I wisht I had a new five cents, wisht I had a dime,
I wisht I had a new five cents, to give that gal of mine.
Mark Wilson says the tune is called "Buffalo Nickle" in the Ozarks, dating that title for the tune to around 1913 (albeit the melody may be older, under different titles). Drew Beisswenger (2008) points out the second strain is similar to the second strain of "Grey Eagle," as played by Missouri fiddler Ike Helton. Gus Meade (2002) finds the earliest recording of the tune to be by Paul Warmack, who recorded it in 1928 as "Five Cents." The Kentucky group Walker's Corbin Ramblers recorded a version of the tune as "Ruffles and Bustles" in 1934.
