"Shady Grove" is actually an Appalachian corruption/reworking of a very old English ballad (I know there are long Scottish versions too) called "Matty Groves." The tune is usually fairly well preserved, but the lyrics in the original involve a lord leaving the manor, the lady seeking "consolation" with a commoner (i.e. the song's namesake), and the lord returning to murder them both.
Enjoy, Eugene At 11:47 AM 04/03/2004 -0500, you wrote: >Thanks for your comments. I suspected so much, and that was partly my >point: there's so much out there brimming with a genius not necessarily >contained within a name. Which is not to reduce composers to their >environments (as Harold Bloom tirelessly argues, Shakespeare inhabited >the same London as the legion scribblers beside him), but it frees us a >little from the cult of the solitary artist. > >Regards > >Stephen W. Gibson > > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Jon Murphy [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 1:26 AM >To: 'David Rastall'; 'bill'; Stephen W. Gibson >Cc: 'Lautenliste' >Subject: Re: Non-lute composers poll. > > >Stephen, > >Shady Grove wasn't written, like Topsy it "just grew". Otherwise known >as "it is traditional". I first heard it on mountain dulcimer and fiddle >by the Ritchie family in the '40s, and have an arrangement in aeolian >mode for dulcimer in front of me. It was one of the first songs I played >and sang when I got my guitar in 1949. > >Just went back to the living room and picked up the "git fiddle" to try >it. Works well in dorian or aeolian, depending on the variation. And >there are a lot of variations in those traditional mountain songs, and >often the more complex the arrangement the less the fun (or >authenticity). > >Best, Jon > > >
