Appalachian Dulcimer Traditions (23 page)

Figure 8.8. Flexible Flyer dulcimer. (Barbara Seymour; photo by Christine DeGrado)

In June 2009, I was an instructor at Dulcimer Week at Western Carolina University (WCU), deep in the Smoky Mountains, south and west of Asheville, North Carolina. There is a strip of small shops on the WCU campus, which includes two or three little eateries. About the third day of the Dulcimer Week, I walked into one of these establishments and found four dulcimers, a heart-shaped zither, and an instrument identified as a scheitholt hanging on the wall, all for sale! It turned out that they were owned by a WCU physical education instructor, who had picked them up here and there but whose interest in them had declined.

The instrument identified as a scheitholt was a type of instrument called a Hungarian zither, which is a member of the family of European fretted zithers that includes the scheitholt. It has a series of diatonic frets running along the straight side of the instrument that faces the player. Inboard of this series of frets is a second series of frets, supplying the halftones that are missing from the outboard diatonic scale. A series of several steps runs along the right-hand side of the instrument, supplying drones of various lengths. This specimen had a well-carved head and was undoubtedly old, not later than the 19th century. The owner had acquired it in, of all places, Kentucky! How did it get there? It was a silent witness to a lot of history.

Of the dulcimers, one was as interesting as the Hungarian zither. It was a battered, paint-spattered duplicate, right down to its pegs, of the holly leaf dulcimer that is illustrated in figure 8.2! It had been owned by a now-deceased homeless man in Asheville. In the 1960s, he had played it on the streets for small change. He probably found it somewhere, perhaps in a trash pile.

The finding of this instrument revealed that the instrument in figure 8.2 was not a one-of-a-kind specimen. Behind them was a maker of at least two and probably more instruments, about whom we know nothing more than the information provided by the seller of the instrument in figure 8.2 on eBay.

The incident shows that, with regard to the evidence we are using to reconstruct the dulcimer's history, we are still very much in the age of discovery and will remain so for a substantial period of time. Things continue to emerge from attics, closets, and even among the possessions of the homeless, opening up paths, shedding light on lost makers and traditions, revealing important links and relationships, indicating dissemination, and adding to our knowledge.

With what we have so far found and learned, we have made great progress since I bought the Frank Glenn dulcimer at the Folklore Center in Greenwich Village in 1957, and even since I talked with Patrick Gainer in 1980. We have pruned instruments that are not zithers from the dulcimer's family tree. We know that the dulcimer was not “born in the hills.” We know that we can also discount tales about dulcimers supposedly brought to America by early settlers from England, Scotland, or Ireland. We know that the dulcimer belongs to a group of instruments that have existed for centuries in northern Europe. We have learned a great deal about the dulcimer's dissemination in Appalachia and beyond. We have identified many links and relationships among makers, styles, and traditions.

It is equally true that we have immense amounts to learn. As with so many other tales in this book, the tale of the holly leaf dulcimers illustrates the fragmentary nature of much of our knowledge. And everywhere, there are frontiers. How exactly, and where, did the scheitholt become the dulcimer? How did dissemination of the dulcimer take place? How did the hourglass tradition arise, and how are the hourglass traditions of Kentucky and West Virginia linked? What happened beyond the mountains, and when? Where are those black players, who we know existed? What is in old courthouse records that we have not yet seen? Will we find more dated instruments that can increase our understanding?

Much has been lost, and there will ultimately be limits to what we can recover. But as the time of discovery continues, it will reclaim significant portions of one of the nation's most colorful and charming musical heritages.

The earliest commercial recordings of the dulcimer are products of the post–World War II folk revival. However, the Archive of Folk Culture of the Library of Congress contains a number of field recordings of the dulcimer, extending back to 1934. The earliest dulcimer recordings in the archive are these four:

287–308

Twenty-two 12-inch disks recorded at the American Folk Song Festival, Jean Thomas, director, in Ashland, Kentucky, June 1934:

291 A: “The Pateroller Song.” Sung with dulcimer by Uncle Tom West.
302 A1: “Ground Hog.” Sung with dulcimer by Curtis Dartley. 
302 A2: “Turnip Greens.” Same as above. 
302 B: “Barbara Allen.” Same as above.

Other Library of Congress dulcimer recordings are listed below, by the chapters to which they apply.

The Library of Congress will provide taped copies of any of the recordings listed here for use by individuals for research and/or for learning songs and tunes. Recordings supplied in this fashion cannot be used for commercial purposes. For information on procedures and fees, contact the Archive of Folk Culture, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540-8100, 202-707-5510.

Raymond Melton had the good fortune to be extensively recorded on three occasions beginning in 1965, with the recordings being deposited in the Library of Congress. These recordings constitute by far the library's largest holdings of any dulcimer player. I have listed these sessions but have not provided the individual titles of the numerous tunes that were recorded. In the sessions, he is frequently accompanied by various other musicians.

I have provided individual listings for recordings by Jacob Ray Melton and Ruth Russell that were made along with the recordings of Raymond Melton in the 1965 session. I have also listed several recordings made in this session by Velma Nester Musser, a winner in the Galax Old Fiddler's Convention dulcimer contest in 1937 and 1939 and again in 1974.

1,340–1,373

Thirty-four 12-inch disks recorded by John A. Lomax, Bess Lomax, and Ruby Terrill Lomax at the Old Fiddler's Convention, Galax, Virginia, October 1937.

1,340 A1: “Dream of the Miner's Child.” Sung with dulcimer by Mrs.Lina Melton. 
1,340 B1: “Liza Jane.” Sung with dulcimer by Jacob (Jake) Melton. 
1,343 A4: “Blind Child's Prayer.” Played on dulcimer by Myrtle Melton. 
1,343 B2: “Arkansas Traveler.” Played on dulcimer by Raymond Melton. 
1,343 B3: “Brown Eyes.” Played on dulcimer by Maggie Blanch Melton. 
1,343 B4: “Liza Jane.” Played on dulcimer by Jake Melton. 
1,347 A2: “Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad.” Played on dulcimer by Ray Melton.

4,784–4,947

One hundred sixty-three 16-inch and 57 12-inch disks recorded by Alan Lomax, Joseph Liss, and Jerome Wiesner in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia in July and August 1941.

Includes dulcimer players Ray Melton on “Cindy,” Jacob Melton on “Sally Ann,” and Blanch Melton on “Old Joe Clark.”

12,396–12,397

Two 10-inch tapes of instrumental folk music, including dulcimer music, of Virginia and North Carolina, recorded by J. Scott Odell, Division of Musical Instruments, Smithsonian Institution, 1964–1965. Tape 12,396 recorded in Galax, Virginia, August 15, 19, and 20, 1965. Tape 12,397 recorded in Galax, Virginia, on August 18, 20, and 22, 1965.

Thirty-eight tunes played by Raymond Melton, accompanied in some instances by other musicians. Also:

12,396 A: “Going Down the Road Feelin' Bad.” Played on dulcimer by Ruth Russell with Roscoe Russell on baritone ukulele. 

12,396 A: “Dream of the Miner's Child.” Same as above. 

12,396 A: “Walking in My Sleep.” Played on dulcimer by Jacob Ray Melton with Roscoe Russell on ukulele.

12,396 A: “Fortune.” Same as above. 

12,396 A: “Golden Slippers.” Played on dulcimer by Jacob Ray Melton. 

12,396 A: “Ebenezer.” Same as above. 

12,396 A: “Cripple Creek.” Played on dulcimer by Jacob Ray Melton with Roscoe Russell on ukulele and vocals.

12.396 A: “Walking in My Sleep” Same as above.

12.397 A: “Sweet Sunny South.” Played on dulcimer by Velma Nester Musser (Mrs. Stark Musser) of Galax, Virginia, with Corbett Tipton on banjo. August 20, 1965.

12,397 A: “Train on the Island.” Same as above.

12,397 A: “If You See That Girl of Mine.” Same as above, with Corbett Tipton on banjo. 

12,397 A: “Train on the Island.” Same as above. 

12,397 B: “Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad.” Played on dulcimer by Jacob Ray Melton with Roscoe Russell on ukulele. 

12,397 B: “Ebenezer.” Same as above. 

12,397 B: “Down in the Levee.” Same as above. 

12,397 B: “Soldier's Joy.” Played on dulcimer by Jacob Ray Melton. 

18,474–18,706

2.854  A1: “George Collins.” Sung with dulcimer by Nathan Hicks, Rominger, North Carolina.

2.855 A1: “Ground Hog.” Same as above.

2,855 B1: “Bo Lamkin.” Sung with dulcimer by Nathan and Rena Hicks.

2,865 A3: “Pretty Polly” (“Cruel Ship Carpenter”). Sung with dulcimer
by Nathan Hicks. Rena Hicks tunes the dulcimer before the song.

15,262: “George Collins.” Sung by Rena and Nathan Hicks with Nathan on dulcimer. Beech Mountain, North Carolina, 1940.
15,262: “Blackjack David.” Same as above.

15,262: “The Brown Girl.” Same as above.
15,262: “Cindy in the Springtime.” Played on dulcimer by Nathan Hicks with Frank Profitt on guitar.
15,262: “Roundtown Gals.” Played on dulcimer by Nathan Hicks with Frank Profitt on guitar and vocal. (Dulcimer very faint.)
15,262: “Old Joe Clark.” Same as above.
15,263: “Johnson Boys.” Same as above.
15,263: “Fly Around Pretty Little Miss.” Same as above.
15,263: “Groundhog.” Same as above.
15,265: “Coming 'round the Mountain.” Played on dulcimer by Nathan Hicks with group vocal, men and women.
15,372: “Pretty Fair Miss Stood in the Garden.” Played on dulcimer by Buna (Mrs. Roby) Hicks. 1951.