%%abc-version 2.1 %%abc-copyright (C) Copyright Ben Paley 2026 %%writefields X %%writefields N %%writefields D %%measurenb 0 %%partsbox 1 X:1 T:Rolling River L:1/8 M:C| C:Trad arr. © 2022 Ben Paley N:I had this version from the 1978 album "Ship in the Clouds" by Andy Cahan, Laura Fishleder and N:Lisa Ornstein. Their source was a Library of Congress recording, which the Traditional Tune N:Archive says is a version of "Tennessee Wagoner" played by African-American musicians John Lusk N:(1889-1969, fiddle), Murph Gribble (banjo) and Albert York (guitar) and recorded for the N:Library of Congress in September 1946 at Campaign, Tennessee by Margot Mayo, Stuart Jamieson N:and Freyda Simon. N:"Lusk's grandfather had been trained as a slave fiddler in New Orleans, and John had a N:reputation as an outstanding square dance fiddler in a multi-county region. The first strain is N:repeated ad lib by Lusk before proceeding to the 2nd strain, and sounds more like a 'vamped' N:variation on five notes than a developed melody". O:Tennessee, USA P:ABA Q:1/2=108 D:Andy Cahan, Laura Fishleder and Lisa Ornstein, "Ship in the Clouds", 1978 Z:Ben Paley K:G P:A |: G2BG AGAB | GAGF EDEF | GGAG BBAE | GAGD EDEF | G2BG AGAA | GAGF EDEF | GGAG BBAE | GAGD E4 :|] P:B [| g2 g2 d2 d2 | e2 a2 abaf | g2 g2 g2 e2 | dBAG E4 | g2 g2 f2 f2 | e2 a2 abaf | g2 ga g2 e2 | dBAG EDEF |] X:2 T:Southern Aristocracy T:Coloured Aristocracy L:1/8 M:C| C:Trad arr. © 2022 Ben Paley N:As a general rule I see no problem with renaming tunes and rewriting lyrics to avoid causing N:offence. I've done it myself, and I daresay I'll do it again. In this case I'm a little N:uncertain: perhaps renaming this tune amounts to whitewashing? The word "coloured" was probably N:the most generally neutral and polite term used to refer to African-Americans at the time the N:tune was named, and the term "coloured aristocracy" itself could have entirely positive as well N:as negative connotations, depending on context. I don't see a clear right or wrong here, so N:I've decided simply to mention the issue whenever it seems appropriate. N:As for the music, I got this version from my dad, Tom Paley. It's essentially the version that N:appears on the New Lost City Ramblers' eponymous first album, released in 1958 — the first N:tune they ever played together, I think before they even had a name as a band! There's always a N:question about whether to play an E major or an E minor against the third and fourth bars. I N:like both: the NLCR play the major, and that certainly creates a more unusual sound. But why N:choose? O:USA Q:1/2=100 D:New Lost City Ramblers, "New Lost City Ramblers", 1958 Z:Ben Paley K:G P:A |: G2GG E D3 | G8 | B2BB A G3 | B8 | edef g3e | dedc BAG2 |[1 A2AB ^cABc | d8 :|[2 BAB(d d)BA2 | G8 | P:B |: g2ga ged2 | e8 | eged BAG2 | B8 | edef g3e | dedc BAG2 |[1 A2AB ^cABc | d8 :|[2 BAB(d d)BA2 | G8 |] X:3 T:Molly Put The Kettle On [A] L:1/8 M:C| C:Trad arr. © 2022 Ben Paley N:John Hartford plays a fantastic, somewhat more muscular version of this tune in G, but I also N:love this gentler fretless banjo version from Andy Cahan. It's a solo on 1978's "Ship in the N:Clouds" from Cahan, Laura Fishleder and Lisa Ornstein. N:It's really fun trying to imitate Cahan's fretless banjo playing on the fiddle. He slides down N:on the second note in the A part, starting from C\u266e to something close to a B\u266e. It's a N:subtle but effective slide which I tried to incorporate into my playing. A similar moment is in N:the seventh bar of the B part, where I've notated a half-sharp: what I play is a small slide N:from something a little sharp of C\u266e to something a little flat of C\u266f. N:At least that's what I think I'm doing: trust your ears over my notation. O:USA Q:1/2=81 R:Reel D:Andy Cahan, Laura Fishleder, Lisa Ornstein, "Ship in the Clouds", 1978 Z:Ben Paley K:A P:A |: A4 | =c2A2 BAEF | =G2A2 GEDG | E2A2 cdee | =gede ge2e | abaa ed2d | cedd A=G2G | ABAA EDDD | DEA2 A4 :| P:B |: A4 ABc2 | e4 efeA | cAB2 ABcd | efeA BAcA | d2f2 - fdec | def2 fdfd | e4 ^/c4 | ABAA ED3 | ABAA ED2D | DEA2 A4 :| X:4 T:The Orphan L:1/8 M:6/8 C:Trad arr. © 2022 Ben Paley N:I learnt this tune, like so much, from the great anglo concertina player Mandy Murray in N:Brighton. It's not hard to find great versions of it on the internet. There's a lot of N:variation in how it finishes: here, I've included an alternative last line which represents N:another way of thinking about the tune. Maybe you could think of it as a variation, even, just N:don't play them both the same time through the tune or you'll end up with too many bars! I've N:notated the whole tune without repeats in order to include more variation, as it's that kind of N:tune, but it's still essentially AABB. O:Ireland Q:3/8=99 Z:Ben Paley K:Em P:A [| EFE EDB, | GFG A2A | BcB ABA | GEF EDB, | A,2E EDB, | GFG A2A | BdB ABA | GED E2B, | B,2E EDB, | GFG AGA | BdB ABA | GEF EDB, | A,3 EDB, | GFG A2A | BdB ABA | GED E3 |] P:B [| e3 dBA | GAB d2d | e2e dBA | BAG EGE | DAG EDB, | GFG A2A | BdB ABA | GED EGB | e3 dBA | GAB d2d | e/f/ge dBA | BAG EGE | DAG EDB, | GFG A2A | BdB ABA | GED E3 |] P:Alternative last line BAG EDB, |A,3 EDB, | GFG A2A | BdB ABA | GED E3 |] X:5 T:The Maid In The Meadow L:1/8 M:C| C:Trad arr. © 2022 Ben Paley N:It's just a great tune! I particularly love the subtle and understated version on Yvonne N:Casey's 2004 album, "Yvonne Casey". O:Ireland Q:1/2=101 D:Yvonne Casey, "Yvonne Casey", 2004 Z:Ben Paley K:D Mixolydian P:A [| d2ed cAGc | Add^c dfag | f2ed cAAG | E2cE EDFA | d2ed cAGc | Add^c d3e | fded dcAG | E2cE EDD2 |] P:B [| fdd^c d2fd | e2ag efg2 | fdd^c d2(3Bcd | eaag ed2e | fdd^c d2fd | eaag efge | fge^c dA(3Bcd | e2ag effe |] X:6 T:The Cameronian L:1/8 M:C| C:Trad arr. © 2022 Ben Paley N:The 1997 album "The Fiddle Music of Donegal, Volume 2" is a wonder throughout, but Ronan N:Galvin's version of the Cameronian really stuck out to me. It's a very unusual version to say N:the least! You could think of the first part as being in F natural Lydian rather than G N:Mixolydian, but I chose to write it here as G major all the way through for ease of notation. N:And yes, it's crooked. Irish tunes can be crooked too. N:Ronan Galvin finishes on the F\u266f at the beginning of the last bar, whereas I finish on the N:C\u266e which is the first note of the tune: I only recently noticed that difference, and N:there's the Folk Process in action! O:Ireland Q:1/2=85 D:Ronan Galvin, "The Fiddle Music of Donegal, Volume 2", 1997 Z:Ben Paley K:G P:A AB [| !segno!c=F(3FFF cFdF | c=FFd cFAc | BG(3GGG BGdG | BGGe dcBd | c=F(3FFF cFdF | c=FFd cFAc | B2GB DGBG | DGBd cBAG |] P:B [| FGAg fdcA | FGAg fdcA | G2ga bgfg | dfga bgaf | defg fdcA | FGAg fdcA | G2ga bgfg | dfga bgaf | defg fadf | egce gbag | !fine!fdcB !D.S.!|] X:7 T:Kruspolskan T:Something like "Tankard Polska", perhaps? L:1/8 M:3/4 C:Trad arr. © 2022 Ben Paley N:Styrbjörn Bergelt plays this tune on his 1979 album "Tagelharpa och Videflöjt" and there's a N:very different version by Hedingarna from 1991 on "Kaksi!". Q:1/4=105 R:Polska D:Styrbjörn Bergelt, "Tagelharpa och Videflöjt", 1979 D:Hedningarna, "Kaksi!", 1991 Z:Ben Paley K:Dm P:A |: A>F DD FF | GG =BB A2 | F>A cA FF | GG =BB A2 | A>c ee dd | cc AA FF | GE ED D2 :| P:B |: D>E FD E2 | ED/2E/2 FD D2 | D>E FD E2 | ED/2E/2 F2 D2 :| X:8 T:Sörmländsk Brudlåt T:Wedding tune from Södermanland L:1/8 M:C| C:Trad arr. © 2022 Ben Paley N:Another tune I first heard on Styrbjörn Bergelt's "Tagelharpa och Videflöjt" O:Södermanland, Sweden D:Styrbjörn Bergelt, "Tagelharpa och Videflöjt", 1979 Z:Ben Paley K:Dm P:A DF |: A3G FEDE | F4 G2FG | A2BA GDDF |[1 D6 DF :|[2 D6 AB | P:B | c2c2 B2AG | A3G F2F2 | G3A B2AG | A6 DF | A3G FEDE | F4 G2FG | A2BA GDDF | D6 |] X:9 T:Hjortingens Polska av Hjort Anders Olsson T:Hjortingen's Polska, by Hjort Anders Olsson L:1/8 M:3/4 C:© Hjort Anders Olsson, arr. © 2022 Ben Paley N:I can't remember where I got my version of this tune, I think possibly from Staffan Larsson. N:It's a bit different from Hjort Olsson's version. N:Don't be scared of all the double stops — they are much less complicated than they seem to N:look at. N:Once through the tune is AA, BB, CC and back to BB. O:Dalarna, Sweden P:ABCB Q:1/4=104 R:Polska Z:Ben Paley K:A P:A -E |: A>B cc/2d/2 c>B | ce/2c/2 A2 [EA]2 - | [EA]a ag fe/2^d/2 | ef/2g/2 ab/2a/2 gf | e^d/2e/2 f^d eB | [1 GB/2G/2 E3 E - :| [2 GB/2G/2 E3 E - | P:B |: [EA]>[EA] [AA][EA] [FA]2 | [FA]>[FA] [FB][FB] [GB]2 | [GB]>[GB] [Ge][GB] [cE]2 | [ce]>[ce] [cf][cf] [^df]2 | [^df]>[df] [db][df] [Bg]2 | gf/2e/2 ^d/2e/2f/2g/2 ae/2c/2 | AB/2c/2 df/2e/2 d/2c/2B/2A/2 | [1 GB/2G/2 A3 E - :| [2 GB/2G/2 A3 c !fine! |] P:C |: ef/2e/2 d/2c/2B/2A/2 G/2A/2B/2c/2 | df e3 c | ef/2e/2 d/2c/2B/2A/2 G/2A/2B/2c/2 | [1 BA A3 c :| [2 BA A3 E - |