Old French
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Standard Notation
ABC Notation
Accomp. Notation
Banjo Tablature
Mandolin Tablature
Violin Tablature
traditional
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
Popular belief has it that the "Old French" title derived<br> from a remark by an old Vermont fiddler who, when asked its<br> title, said it was "just an old French tune".<br> That's probably right, for the reel was known in Canada prior<br> to the "folk revival" that fed American contra dancing, and<br> was in Maritime fiddler Don Messer's "Down-East" repertoire<br> (probably the source for the American "revival" musicians).<br> The original provenance is in Québécois repertoire, where it<br> was recorded in 1929 under the title "Reel de St-Tite" on a<br> 78 RPM recording by Sotère Mongrain and Ida Mongrain (violin<br> with piano accompaniment). Ottawa Valley fiddlers know it as<br> "Rambler's Hornpipe" or "Little Old Man," while Cape Breton<br> fiddlers call it "The Old French Reel".<br> I learned this initially from some print source that I have<br> forgotten and later relearned it from Don Wisniewski's collection.<br> I don't usually play this on the banjo so the banjo tab is from<br> Ken Perlman's Melodic Clawhammer Banjo (1979). Ken plays banjo<br> a little like classic guitar and frequently uses off-string<br> pull-offs that have always given me trouble. This is a really<br> nice banjo arrangement and some day I will learn to play it.<br>
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