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"Over the Stump and Back Again" is an American breakdown or reel in D Major.
The parts are played AABB.
It was collected from Mrs. Sarah Armstrong, (near) Derry, Pennsylvania on November 18, 1943 by Samuel Bayard. His comment: "The story Mrs. Armstrong tells concerning this tune illustrates the extremely casual way in which a country dance tune can acquire a new name. On one occasion, when the player was a small girl, her uncle Laney Gray was sitting in their home playing this tune on his fiddle. Someone came into the house with the news that old Dan Riffle (a local character still well remembered by many people in the Derry neighborhood) was trying to drive a team back and forth across a stump. The team was reluctant and Dan was yelling and swearing at the animals in a great passion. When Laney heard this, he at once exclaimed, 'There's a name for my tune--'Over the Stump and Back Again!' Mrs. Armstrong did not state that her uncle had composed this air; in all likelihood he was merely casting about for some suitable name to give to it and this little incident inspired him!"The banjo tablature is by John Letscher. His comment: From the playing of Todd Cewell on John Lamancusa's tune site.It was printed in Bayard's Hill Country Tunes (1944). |