Annotation:Shady Grove (1)
X:1 T:Shady Grove [1] S:Fulton (1895-1979) & Sidna (1890-1972) Myers (Five Forks, southwestern Virginia) M:C| L:1/8 D:County CO 2717, Sidna Myers - "Clawhammer Banjo vol. 2." F:https://www.slippery-hill.com/recording/shady-grove-0 Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:Ador ABAB A2(AB-|B)dBA G3B-|A2A2B2d2|[e4e4][e3e3][ee]-| [e2e2][e2e2][e4e4]|d2 BA G4|B2B2 d2B2|A4 A4| ABAB A2(AB-|B)dBA G2G2|A2A2B2d2|[e3e3][ee]- [e3e3][ee]-| [e2e2][e2e2][e2e2][e2e2]|edBA G4|ABAB d2B2|A3A-A2|| ef|gfgf g2f2|edBA G2ef|gfgf g2gf|e2e4ef| gfgf gagf|edBA (G2[G2B2])|ABAB d2 dB|A2A4||
SHAD(E)Y GROVE [1]. American, Song and Reel. USA, North Carolina. A Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA. There are towns called Shady Grove in Virginia and Kentucky, but the name is a ubiquitous American place-name.
Shady Grove, my little love, Shady Grove I know
Shady Grove, my little love, bound for the Shady Grove.
Cheeks as red as the blooming rose, eyes the deepest brown,
You are the darling of my heart, stay til the sun goes down.
Shady Grove, my little love, Shady Grove my darlin;
Shady Grove, my little love, I'm going away to Harlan.
Went to see my Shady Grove, she was standing in the door,
Shoes and stockings in her hand, little bare feet on the floor.
From singer Jean Ritchie's Singing Family of the Cumberlands (1955) (condensed):
Dad remembered for us the first day he ever heard the fiddle played. He was about nine years old and going to school to old man Nick Gerhart... when Maggard Ritchie came in. "He'd been off somewheres, courtin in Virginny, and he'd brought a feller home... and they had come to the schoolhouse to visit with Nick. Nick told us not to look up while they talked... But you know that stranger had a fiddle in his hand, and pretty soon he propped it in the cradle of his arm and begun to play that thing. Lordie! It was the prettiest sweepingest music. ... I just couldn't stand to sit still on that log bench and that tune snaking around so. No sir, that was one tune that didn't stay in one place no time at all. ... I thought I was going plum crazy. You could hear feet a stomping all over the house, benches a creaking, young uns a giggling... "Finally I let out a yell and lept off'n that bench and commenced to dance and clog around.... some of the other boys jumped up too.... .... after a while they left, and the teacher tried to settle us, back to our books, but I couldn't even see the print. I kept seeing that old fiddle bow race around on "Shady Grove." We around there had always sung that tune middling fast, hopped around to it a little bit, but that fiddle had tuck out with that'n like the Devil was after her. ... I kept laughing and wiggling in my seat, and saying the words to "Shady Grove” instead of my lesson.
Cheeks as red as a bloomin rose,
Eyes of the deepest brown,
You are the darlin of my heart,
Stay till the Sun goes down.
Shady Grove, my little love,
Shady Grove I know,
Shady Grove, my little love,
Bound for the Shady Grove.
(more verses).
These verses have also been variously heard:
Shady Grove, my little love, Shady Grove my darling
Shady Grove, my little love, I'm going back to Harlan
(or)
Shady Grove, my little love, Shady Grove I know
Shady Grove, my little love, I'm bound for Shady Grove
When I was a little boy, I wanted a Barlow knife
Now I want little Shady Grove to say she'll be my wife
Cut a banjo from a gourd, string it up with twine
The only song that I can play is "Wish that gal was mine"
Apples in the summer time, peaches in the fall
If I can't have the girl I love, I don't want none at all
I've got a big fine horse, and corn to feed him on
All I need's little Shady Grove to feed him when I'm gone