Coleman's March
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
"Coleman's March", also known as "Joe Coleman's March" is an American march in cut time<br> and D Major. It is played in either standard or DDad fiddle tuning. The parts are played<br> AA'BB or AA'BB'<br> D. K. Wilgus, in his article "The Hanged Fiddler Legend in Anglo-American Tradition" has<br> extensively researched this tune and legend, a variant of the hanged-fiddler legend of<br> "MacPherson's Farewell" or "Last of Callahan".<br> Joe Coleman, a shoemaker, was accused of stabbing his wife to death near the town of<br> Slate Fork, Adair County, Kentucky, as recorded in the Burkesville Herald Almanac for 1899.<br> Convicted on circumstantial evidence and the testimony of his sister-in-law who was living<br> with them at the time, Coleman was tried in nearby Cumberland County and sentenced to death.<br> While being driven to the place of execution in a two-wheeled ox cart, Coleman sat on his<br> coffin and played this tune that has come down as "Coleman's March". Coleman protested his<br> innocence to the last and there several stories exist of a man confessing, or of "an old<br> lady confessing on her death-bed she had killed Coleman's wife".<br> "Coal Creek March" is a related melody.<br> The banjo tablature is by John Letscher. John says "Coleman's March is one of the few<br> tunes that actually sounds good played at march tempo (120). It's one of the 'he played it<br> and they hung him' tunes."<br> It was printed in Fiddler Magazine, vol. 8, No. 3, Summer, 2001,<br> Lamancusa's The Gettysburg Collection of Old-Time Fiddle Tunes (2021) and<br> Phillips' Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 2 (1995).<br> It was recorded by Don Pedi on Mountain Magic: Fiddle Favorites for (Mountain) Dulcimer<br> (1990),<br> Falderal String Band on Step Right Up... Free Show Tonight! (1996),<br> Gingerthistle on Grandad's Porch (1998),<br> Ken Kolodner on Journey to the Heartland (2005),<br> Mary Custy & Eoin O'Neill on With a lot of help from their friends (1991) and<br> Pete Sutherland on Eight Miles from Town (1982).and<br> Poor Man's Dream (1984).<br>
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