"Nancy Dawson", also known as "Nancy Dalton" is an old-time breakdown in D Major. It is played in standard or ADae fiddle tunings. The parts are played AABB. The tune was in the repertoire of Monroe County, south-central Kentucky, fiddler Jim Bowles (1903-1997) who learned it from local musicians. Fiddlers Isham Monday (1879-1964) and Sammie Walker (1910-1987), both of whom were also from Monroe County, played the tune and called it "Nancy Dawson" (Monday's 1959 field recording is in the Western Kentucky University archive). As a variant of a larger tune family, it was not widely known outside the Monroe County region, however, Jeff Titon (2001) identifies it as a member of the "Old Dubuque" family of tunes which is more widespread. Of the three performances, Monday's is the most archaic sounding, followed by Bowles's version; the youngest member of the trio, Sammie Walker, had a version markedly more influenced by more modern styles of fiddling. The tune family includes "Dubuque", "Hell Up Coal Holler", "Old Dubuque" and "Duck River". The banjo tablature is by John Letscher who got it from Bruce Greenes playing on a tape from Burt Feintuch. It was printed in Phillips' Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1 (1994), Silberberg's 93 Tunes I Didn't Learn at the Tractor Tavern (2004) and Titon's Old-Time Kentucky Fiddler Tunes (2001). It was recorded by Jim Bowles on Railroading Through the Rocky Mountains (1994) and Pat Kingery on I Kind of Believe It's a Gift (c. 1986).