Blacktail Weasel And The Ground Squirrel Clan: A Song History
"Blacktail Weasel And The Ground Squirrel Clan" appears in Steve Eulberg's Old School, Old Time, a book published by Owl Mountain Music that gives every tune in three compatible versions, with mountain dulcimer and hammered dulcimer arrangements by Eulberg and fiddle arrangements by Vi Wickam.[1] Wickam's website, in its notes for the album of the same name recorded by Wickam, Eulberg and Brent Hawley, lists the tune simply as "Blacktail Weasel," prints a 2005 copyright notice in the name of Steven B. Eulberg, administered by Owl Mountain Music, and says Wickam learned it from Eulberg.[2][3] Neither the book listing nor those notes state in so many words that Eulberg composed it, and the sources consulted here say nothing of what inspired the tune.[1][2] In his DulcimerDownloads biography Eulberg places himself in a tradition of homemade acoustic music, passing on old songs and tunes while adding new ones of his own.[4]
Terracotta askos in the form of a weasel, terracotta, 4th century BCE. An ancient weasel-shaped vessel, shown for its subject; it has no connection to the tune.
The sources consulted here do not say which animal the title means, though the National Park Service, describing the long-tailed weasel at New Mexico's Valles Caldera National Preserve, notes that its tail stays black-tipped through both the brown summer coat and the white winter one, and lists ground squirrels among its prey.[5]
Browse more tunes like this: Old-Time & Fiddle Tunes Dulcimer Tab
Sources
- Steve Eulberg: "Old School, Old Time".
- Vi Wickam: "Old School Old Time – The Stories Behind the Songs".
- Vi Wickam: "Old School Old Time – Digital Download".
- DulcimerDownloads: "Steve Eulberg".
- National Park Service, Valles Caldera National Preserve: "Long-tailed Weasel".
- Image: Terracotta askos in the form of a weasel, terracotta, 4th century BCE. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.