Merriweather: A Song History

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"Merriweather," also spelled "Meriwether," is an old-time breakdown in G major with two parts, played in standard fiddle tuning.[1] It is usually called a Kentucky tune, yet the Traditional Tune Archive passes on Bobby Fulcher's observation that few of the state's traditional fiddlers kept it in their repertoires, and most versions heard today trace back to one player, W. L. "Jake" Phelps of Todd County.[1] Bruce Greene recorded Phelps, then 88, near Elkton on April 2, 1973, and the log of that tape at Berea College lists "Meriweather" among the tunes the old fiddler played for him.[2][3] The meaning of the title is uncertain, though the Tune Archive suggests it may honor the Meriwethers, a prominent Todd County family of the nineteenth century.[1]

A trapezoid hammered dulcimer in reddish wood standing on four turned legs

American, Hammered Dulcimer, wood, paper, yarn, paint and horn, about 1815. An early American hammered dulcimer, shown for the instrument on a 1978 recording of the tune; it has no connection to the tune.

Greene learned the tune from Phelps that year, and the Tune Archive thinks Clyde Davenport of Monticello, Kentucky, probably got it from Greene before recording it for County Records.[1] Jeff Todd Titon printed Phelps's version in Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes (2001), comparing it with the Irish reels "Tom Ward's Downfall" and "The Mourne Mountains" and calling it a "rare, appealing, and well-constructed tune."[1] Malcolm Dalglish, on hammered dulcimer, and Grey Larsen included "Meriweather" on their 1978 June Appal album The First of Autumn.[4]

In Galax Dulcimer: A Job Of Journey Work, Phyllis Gaskins files "Merriweather" with her G tunes, which start their scale at the third fret on a dulcimer with every string tuned to D; the Fingers Of Steel book sets its tunes alongside photographs, anecdotes and history of the dulcimer, with particular attention to the Galax, Virginia, forms of the instrument.[5]

Our book that contains the song "Merriweather"

Sources

  1. The Traditional Tune Archive: "Merriweather".
  2. Berea College Special Collections and Archives: "Earl McCulloch, Sam Spencer, Gusty Wallace, and W. L. "Jake" Phelps BG-CT-035 / 036".
  3. Berea Digital Collections: "W. L. "Jake" Phelps BG-CT-036".
  4. June Appal Recordings: "The First of Autumn".
  5. Fingers Of Steel: "Phyllis Gaskins, Galax Dulcimer: A Job Of Journey Work".
  6. Image: American, Hammered Dulcimer, wood, paper, yarn, paint and horn, about 1815. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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