Magpie: A Song History
"Magpie" is a G-major reel from the Piedmont region of North Carolina.[1] Collectors found it with a fiddle-and-banjo pair from Guilford County, Harlan Coble and William Alonzo "Lonnie" Corsbie. Alan Jabbour recorded the two men in 1966, a recording now held by the Library of Congress, and Eric Olson, Bobbie Thompson and Tommy Thompson recorded them again in 1968.[1] A version in D turned up as well: Tom Carter got it from Earl Shatterly, who also fiddled in the Piedmont.[1] The first strain is close to the A part of "Evans Hornpipe."[1] The sources consulted here do not explain how the tune got its name.
Azure-Winged Magpie, from the Ōkyo Picture Book, after designs by Maruyama Ōkyo, woodblock-printed book, 1850. The Cleveland Museum of Art. Public domain (CC0).
According to the Traditional Tune Archive, "Magpie" caught on widely with younger players during the old-time revival of the 1970s.[1] It appears on a 1972 recording by the Fuzzy Mountain String Band, and it was also recorded by Ken Perlman and Alan Jabbour on Southern Summits (June Appal) and by the Cedar Point String Band.[1] It is also printed in tune books, among them Kaufman's Beginning Old Time Fiddle (1977) and Brody's Fiddler's Fakebook (1983).[1] Stephen Seifert arranged it for mountain dulcimer in Join the Jam II.[2]
Find books with Magpie for sale →