Wounded Hoosier: A Song History

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The title points to Indiana, but in the sources consulted here, "Wounded Hoosier" comes from western North Carolina. Its known source is fiddler Marcus Martin (1881–1974), who was born in Macon County.[1][2] Several collectors recorded Martin in the 1940s, including Alan Lomax, Jan Schinhan, Artus Moser and Margaret Mayo.[3] The Traditional Tune Archive credits his "Wounded Hoosier" to a Library of Congress field recording made by Moser. In 2007 the University of North Carolina's Southern Folklife Collection reissued it on When I Get My New House Done: Western North Carolina Fiddle Tunes and Songs.[1][2][3] Martin played it in D with his fiddle cross-tuned to DDAD.[1][2] He learned cross-tunings from his father, who preferred hymn tunes. Besides the fiddle, Martin also played banjo, harmonica and mountain dulcimer.[2]

Color photochrom of a shady riverside path beneath leaning trees along the Swannanoa River

Detroit Photographic Co., “By the Swannanoa, Asheville, North Carolina,” photochrom, c1902. Library of Congress. No known restrictions.

The tune seems meant for listening rather than dancing. The Traditional Tune Archive classes it as an air and advises playing it with plenty of drones.[1] Reviewing the 2007 disc, Ray Templeton suggested it probably derives from a song and called Martin's performance "rich in harmonies."[2] The archive also calls it a version of "The Blackbird" as printed by Edward Bunting, and it gives "Queen of the Earth, Child of the Skies" as another name for the tune.[1] Fiddler David Bragger likewise hears the same melody in Edden Hammons's "Queen of the Earth, Child of the Skies."[4] That West Virginia piece was recorded in 1947, also in D with DDAD tuning.[5] No source consulted here explains how the tune got its name.

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Sources

  1. The Traditional Tune Archive: "Wounded Hoosier".
  2. Musical Traditions (Ray Templeton): "Marcus Martin: When I Get My New House Done" (review).
  3. North Carolina Folklife Institute: "Marcus Martin: When I Get My New House Done, Western North Carolina Fiddle Tunes and Songs".
  4. FolkWorks (David Bragger): "Marcus Martin: North Carolina Fiddle Mage".
  5. Slippery-Hill: "Queen of the Earth and Child of the Skies".