Annotation:Rocking in a Weary Land

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X:1 % T:Rocking in a Weary Land S:Luther Davis (1887-1986, Galax, Va.), who says on the tape, S:"I just don't exactly like it, but bein' its here, let's S:play it." M:C| L:1/8 Z:Transcribed by Andy Kuntz K:D de|d2B2A2B2|d3e d2e2|e2e2 f3f|e2 d4d2| A2B2d2B2|A4-A2 d2|e2e2(ef3)|ed3-d2B2| A2B2d2B2|d3e d2e2|e2e2 f3f|e2 d4d2| AAB2d2B2|A3B A2 B2|AAB2d2B2|d2 B2d2B2| AAB2d2B2|A3A A2 B2|AAB2 d2B2|d2B2d2B2| AAB2 d2B2|A3BA2 B2|AAB2 d2B2|d2B2d2B2| AAB2 d2B2|A3AA2 B2|AAB2 d2B2|d2B2d2B2| AAB2 d2B2|A3B A2d2|e4e3f|e2d6||

ROCKING IN A WEARY LAND. Old-Time, Air (?). USA; southwestern Virginia, western North Carolina. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. "Rocking in a Weary Land" is slow walking-tempo tune in the repertoire of Luther Davis (1887-1986), Galax, Va., Bertie Mae Dickens of Ennice, North Carolina, and others from the southwest Virginia region. The title is biblical and comes from the Old Testament verse:

Isaiah 32:1-2 Behold, a king shall reign in righteous and a prince shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as a shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

Jesus was referred to by American Christians as the ‘rock in a weary land,’ and the tune may have originally belonged to a hymn.

Additional notes

Source for notated version: -

Printed sources : - Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 131.

Recorded sources: - Heritage 070, Luther Davis, Roscoe Parish, Leone Parish - "The Old Time Way" (1986).

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Hear a recording of Luther Davis playing the tune [2]