Annotation:Turkey in a Pea Patch

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X:1 T:Turkey in the Pea Patch N:From a field recording of fiddler Jimmy Wheeler (1917-1987, N:Portsmouth, Scioto County, southern Ohio), by John Harrod M:C| L:1/8 R:Polka Q:"Quick" D:https://soundarchives.berea.edu/items/show/3590 Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:D Ac|d2eg f2d2|"*"ABAG FD3|"!"+slide+[e3e3]f [e2e2]ef|gfed cABc| d2eg f2d2| ABAG FD3|efed cdec|1d2 AF D2:|2dBAF D2|| |:"**"[G2A2]-|[A2A2]AA A2Bc|dBAG FD3|A,C[EA][EA] C2 [EA][EA]|ABAG FD3| [GA]-[A2A2]A A2Bc|dBAG FD3|A,C[EA][EA] C2 AE|"$"D2 [DA]F D2:| P:Substitutions: "*"ABAG FA3||"**"A2-|A2 FG A2 FG|ABAG FD3||"$"D2 DD D2|| "!"efed cdef|gaga ecAc||

TURKEY IN A PEAPATCH. AKA and see “Buzzard in a Pea Patch.” American, Reel (cut time). USA; northeast Kentucky, southern Ohio. D Major. Standard or ADae tuning (fiddle). AABB'. There is an Ozarks banjo tune entitled "Green Corn" (I'll Meet You in the Evening") with 'turkey in the pea patch' sung as one line in the accompanying words. The song was collected from informant John Harrell in Marshall, Arkansas, in June, 1963 6/14/63, and can be found in the John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection[1]:

Green corn, green corn
Bring along the Jimmy John
Dry bread, dry bread,
Enough to choke a n_____ on.

N_____ on the hillside
See the master coming
Bull whip in one hand
No use a-running.

Turkey in the pea patch
A-picking up peas
Along come the bell cow
A-kicking up her heel.

Judging by the content, the words date to pre-Civil War times. Mark Wilson notes that the words have obvious relationships with the song "Green Corn" and with the third verse of "The Bell Cow", but the tunes are not melodically similar^[1].

See also Fred Stoneking's version of "Turkey in a Pea Patch", recorded under the title “Buzzard in a Pea Patch,” although he learned it originally from Buddy Thomas’s recording.

Additional notes
Source for notated version : - Ruthie Dornfeld [Phillips]; Buddy Thomas (1934-1974, Emerson, Lewis County, Ky.), who learned the tune from his mentor, Morris Allen [Milliner & Koken, Titon].

Printed sources : - Clare Milliner & Walk Koken (The Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes), 2011; p. 675. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 245. Songer (Portland Collection, vol. 2), 2005; p. 211. Titon (Old Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes), 2001; No. 161, p. 186.

Recorded sources : - PP-006, Charlie Walden – “Patt n’ Possum.” Rounder 0032, Buddy Thomas (northeastern Ky.) "Kitty Puss: Old Time Fiddle Music From Kentucky" (1976).

See also listing at :
Hear Buddy Thomas's 1974 recording at Slippery Hill [2] Hear Jimmy Wheeler's field recording by John Harrod at Berea Sound Archives [3]

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↑ Mark Wilson, PDF Notes to Field Recorder Collective series "A Survey of Traditional Music: vol. 11, In Old Kenucky"[4]

[1] Mark Wilson, PDF Notes to Field Recorder Collective series "A Survey of Traditional Music: vol. 11, In Old Kenucky"[4]

[1]