X:1
T:Po' Little Mary Settin' in the Corner
N:From the playing of fiddler Enos Canoy (1909-1970, born and died in
N:Magee, Simpson County, central Mississippi), recorded by Herbert
N:Halpert for the Library of Congress. Enos's brother Tim and Tim's wife,
N:Lola (on mandolin & guitar, respectively), accompanied him.
N:Enos had the tune from his uncle, Love Kennedy, and a local musician,
N:Robert Runnels.
M:C|
R:Reel
Q:"Fast"
D:Library of Congress AFS 03058 A03, Enos Canoy (1939)
D:https://www.slippery-hill.com/content/poor-little-mary-sitting-corner
Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz
K:G
E2-|G2 AG E2D-E-|EGG2 G2GG|BGAG E2D2-|E2E2E2D2|
GGAG E2 D-E-|EG G2G3||A-|B2J[e2e2][e2e2]e2-|f2dd e2A2-|
B2[e2e2][e2e2] e-f-|f2ab a3a-|f2d2[e3e3]e|ffdf e2A2-|B2[e2e2][e3e3]||
POOR LITTLE MARY, SITTING IN THE CORNER. American, Reel (cut time). USA, Mississippi. A Major. AEae tuning (fiddle). AA'B. Tom Rankin (1985) could find no recorded or printed versions of this tune, which sounded to him like a children's game song "with its narrow melodic framework in the coarse phrase." biography:Enos Canoy (1909-1970, Simpson County, Miss.), the source, learned the tune from his uncles and mentors, Love Kennedy and Robert Runnels of Simpson County, Mississippi. On the 1939 field recording (by Herbert Halpert) a friend and fellow Simpson County fiddler, Jim Myers, beat two straw on Enoy's fiddle while he played. A later version of the Canoy family band.Enos Canoy and his family band c. 1940 (liner notes, "Great Big Yam Potatoes", 1985). Several times in the course of the tune Canoy sings the single line "Poor little Mary sitting the corner" in the 5th and 6th measures of the first strain, just prior to the second strain of the tune. If there was a second line to what might have once been a couplet, it was not sung be the fiddler, but the placement at the end of the first strain does not leave room for more.
Recorded sources : - Library of Congress AFS 03058 A03, Enos Canoy (as "Po' little Mary settin' in the corner"). Library of Congress AFS L9, Enos Canoy - "Play and Dance Songs and Tunes" (various artists. From Halpert's 1939 recording). Marimac Recordings 9014 (cass.), Joe LaRose - "A Southern Catalog" (1988). Mississippi Department of Archives and History AH-002, Enos Canoy and the Canoy Band - "Great Big Yam Potatoes: Anglo-American Fiddle Music from Mississippi" (1985. Originally recorded for the Library of Congress in 1939).
See also listing at : Hear Enos Canoy's 1939 field recording at Slippery Hill [1]
Various versions on youtube.com [2][3]
