Cluck Old Hen
Notation:
Standard Notation
ABC Notation
Banjo Tablature
Mandolin Tablature
Violin Tablature
traditional
PDF Files:
--- choose file type ---
Standard Notation
Banjo Tablature
Mandolin Tablature
Violin Tablature
Song Sheet
Standard Notation - wide
Mandolin Tablature - wide
Violin Tablature - wide
Banjo Tablature - wide
American
Play
MIDI
No audio
available
Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
View
notes
Lyrics:
My old hen's a good old hen
She lays eggs for the railroad men
Sometimes eight and sometimes ten
That's just enough for the railroad men
Chorus:
Cluck old hen, cluck and sing
Ain't laid an egg since late last spring
Cluck old hen, cluck and squall
Ain't laid an egg since late last fall
Cluck old hen cluck when I tell you
Cluck old hen or I'm gonna sell you
Last time she cackled cackled in the lot
Next time she cackles cackle in the pot
Chorus
My old hen she's a good old hen
She lays eggs for the railroad men
Sometimes one sometimes two
Sometimes enough for the whole damn crew
Chorus
"Cluck Old Hen" is a popular Appalachian fiddle and banjo tune in dorian mode.<br> It is played either as an instrumental or with lyrics, which vary from one version to<br> another. One of the earliest reported transcriptions of the tune dates from 1886.<br> Fiddlers usually add "chicken cluck" effects with either bow strokes or left hand<br> pizzacatos.<br> The tune was popular with Kentucky fiddlers. Mt. Airy, North Carolina,<br> fiddler Tommy Jarrell tells us that "Cluck Old Hen" is in the "old-timey<br> tuning of A" also called the "sawmill key" (AEae). Jarrell was inspired<br> to learn the tune from a distant relative and musical contemporary of<br> his father (fiddler Ben Jarrell), named Tony Lowe, who effused the tune<br> with an intricate routine which combined pizzicato "clucks" on the fiddle<br> with elaborate gestures: "He'd swing the whole fiddle way out, and when<br> he started back he'd pluck it in again and hit that with the bow, and all<br> the while he'd never miss his time," said Jarrell.<br> The earliest recording is attributed to Fiddlin' John Carson, in 1923.<br> It was also recorded by Grayson & Whitter, Henry Reed, Tommy Jarrell, Kyle Creed, Fred <br> Cockerham, Frank Proffitt and others.<br> Other poultry tunes in this collection are:<br> Cacklin' Hen<br> Chicken Reel<br> Turkey in the Straw.<br>
Click
here
for a full page view.