Hell Among the Yearlings
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
"Hell Among the Yearlings, also known as "Trouble among the Yearlings", "Hell After the<br> Yearlings", "Devil Among the Yearlings", "Round Up the Yearlings" or "Hell Among the Indians"<br> is an old-time breakdown. It is widely known in many states in many variations. It is played<br> in G Major (Thede), D Major (Bayard, Brody, Christeson, Fiddler Magazine, John Hatcher,<br> Phillips) or C Major (Christeson/1984, Songer). The parts are played AB (Christeson, 1984),<br> AA'B (Bayard), AABB (Thede), AA'BB (Phillips), AA'BB' (Fiddler Magazine) or AABBCCDD (Songer).<br> The version given here is played AABB.<br> Several unrelated tunes in various parts of the United States carry the name "Hell Among(st)<br> the Yearlings," apparently a memorable title in rural communities. The title has two<br> interpretations. It is thought by some to represent 'trouble with the cattle'<br> (yearlings being young cattle that are bred for the first time and quite rambunctious).<br> Another interpretation hinges on 'hell' as a term for dense underbrush and thicketed country,<br> with the title meaning that the yearlings are in the underbrush, thus making it quite a chore<br> to round them up.<br> The 'A' part generally has nine measures instead of the usual eight. What is the 'B' part<br> for most of the versions is usually quite a bit different than some other versions, and is<br> very seldom similar from region to region or collection to collection. However, the title<br> (or variations on it) is often a floater and appears for totally unrelated tunes.<br> The most influential version historically was recorded by Kanawha County, West Virginia,<br> fiddler Clark Kessinger (1896-1975) who recorded it (backed with "Turkey in the Straw")<br> in 1928 for the Brunswick label (#235), his second recording for the company. It was the<br> first commercial recording of the tune and featured Kessinger's much imitated technique of<br> brushing the stings of the fiddle with his forefinger, creating a pizzicato effect.<br> Alan Jabbour says that most modern versions seem to stem from the Kessinger recording.<br> It was printed in Bayard's Dance to the Fiddle (1981)(as "Round Up the Yearlings"), Brody's<br> Fiddler's Fakebook (1983), Christeson's Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 1 (1973),<br> Christeson's Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 2 (1984), Fiddler Magazine, Spring 1994,<br> Fiddler Magazine, Spring 2007, (a contest setting with numerous variations), Phillips'<br> Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1 (1994), Songer's Portland Collection (1997) and<br> Thede's The Fiddle Book (1967) (a very different tune). <br> It was recorded by Ernie Carpenter, The Kessinger Brothers (1928), Eck Robertson,<br> Laurie Lewis, Arthur Smith, Clark Kessinger, Ralph Blizard and the New Southern Ramblers,<br> Dilly and His Dill Pickles (AKA John Dilleshaw) (1930), Charlie Walden, American Cafe<br> Orchestra, Fiddlin' Van Kidwell (1930), Bill Mitchell, Howard Marshall & John Williams. <br>
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