Annotation:Gentle Annie

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GENTLE ANNIE. American, Air (whole time). USA, West Virginia. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. A song written and composed in 1856 by American songwriter Stephen Foster [1] (1826-1864) that entered instrumental tradition in America and abroad. Foster was the youngest son of a large Scots-Irish family from the Pittsburgh, Pa., area, and the melody may or may not have Irish ancestry ("I won't see you anymore my dear" [2], recorded by Derry fiddler Eugene O'Donnell in 1978 is a similar melody. One source, West Virginia fiddler Oscar Wright, learned it from his mother, never knew it was originally a song. Researcher Conor Ward finds the tune among those entered into the c. 1883 music manuscript collection (2nd ms., no. 21) of fiddler biography:Francis Reynolds, of Gaigue, Ballinamuck, County Longford, Ireland.

There is speculation about the identity of 'Annie'--Foster's cousin, a friend, a grandmother--but no firm conclusion.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources:

Recorded sources: Rounder 0089, Oscar & Eugene Wright - "Old Time Fiddle and Guitar Music from West Virginia."

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [3]