Bullfrog On A Puncheon Floor: A Song History

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In the speech of the southern mountains, a puncheon is a log split open, or a rough-cut timber, with one face dressed flat by an adze, used for floors, benches and the walls of log buildings.[1] Several melodies go by the name "Puncheon Floor," and the Traditional Tune Archive notes that some of them are kin while others differ markedly.[2] According to a 2023 article in The Bluegrass Situation, "Bullfrog on a Puncheon Floor" reportedly comes from the fiddling of Estill Bingham,[3] a lifelong resident of Bell County, Kentucky (1898–1990) whom Bruce Greene and Bob Butler recorded in the late 1980s.[4] A cassette play list in Greene's collection at Berea College includes a Bingham performance titled only "Puncheon Floor," with nothing in the listing to show whether it is the same melody.[5]

Japanese ink painting of a large warty toad beside a cluster of flowering plants

Hokusai School, Toad and Flowers, ink and color on paper, 19th century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public domain (CC0). A toad rather than a bullfrog, shown in fun; it has no connection to the tune.

Don Pedi recorded the tune for his 1998 album Bound to Have A Little Fun,[6] and the Bluegrass Situation article pairs its entry with a performance by Mark Gilston on mountain dulcimer.[3]

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Sources

  1. University of South Carolina, Southern Appalachian English: "puncheon".
  2. Traditional Tune Archive: "Annotation:Puncheon Floor (1)".
  3. The Bluegrass Situation: "10 Old-Time Fiddle Tunes With Outrageous Names".
  4. Traditional Tune Archive: "Biography:Estill Bingham".
  5. Berea College Digital Collections: "Estill Bingham BG-CT-174" (play list).
  6. Don Pedi (Bandcamp): "Bullfrog on a Puncheon Floor".