Natchez Under the Hill
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
"Natchez Under the Hill" refers to the area along the Mississippi river that once contained<br> all of Natchez. Gradually houses were built on the bluffs above, an "Upper Town" emerged and<br> eventually the center of Natchez shifted.<br> The "under the hill" area was frequented by gamblers, river pirates, highwaymen and<br> prostitutes and was described, in 1810, as a place such that "...for the size of it, there<br> is not, perhaps in the world, a more dissipated spot". It was also described as the place where<br> "the wild and lawless boatmen knowing no restraint...indulged in their caprices in every<br> kind of rowdyism known to man...thus did those specimens of American freemen spend their<br> leisure hours in drinking whiskey, yelling, fiddling, dancing, and fist-fighting...". <br> There are many versions of "Natchez Under the Hill", most of them variants of "Turkey in the<br> Straw" or the minstrel song "Old Zip Coon". Alan Jabbour sees the roots of the tune in the<br> English country dance melody "The Rose Tree" while others note the similarities to the<br> English morris dance tune "Old Mother Oxford".<br> It was first published in this country in George P. Knauff's Virginia Reels, volume I (1839).<br> It was also printed in Beisswenger & McCann's Ozarks Fiddle Music (2008), Chase's <br> American Folk Tales and Songs (1956), Thede's The Fiddle Book (1967), Ford's <br> Traditional Music in America (1940), Phillips's Traditional American Fiddle Tunes (1994) and<br> Silberberg's Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern (2002).<br> My favorite version is the one played by Adam Hurt and Megan Lynch Chowning on their<br> Inside Out CD. I haven't been able to track down the sheet music or abc file version of it yet<br> so the version given here is, I think, from John Hartford. It sounds less like "Turkey in the<br> Straw" than most of the others. Somehow, when I think of Adam Hurt's version I also recall<br> "Johnnie Don't Get Drunk".<br>
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