"Rocky Mountain Goat", also known in several variations as "Railroad(ing) Through the Rocky Mountains", "Damon's Window/Winder", “Devil in Georgia”, "Drunken Billy Goat", “Grand Hornpipe”, "Mud Fence”, “Ride the Goat Over the Mountains” and “Swiss Chalet" is an old-time breakdown. It is known in Texas, Missouri, Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia. It is in 4/4 time and D Major. The parts are played AABB. The second part is similar to an untitled Pennsylvania-collected reel in Bayard (1981; No. 356).
At least one version is well-known as a West Virginia tune, while Charles Wolfe (1983) states it was a popular Kentucky tune. It was in fact recorded by a number of Kentucky fiddlers, including Jilson Setters (AKA Blind Bill Day), Ted Gossett, Charlie Wilson. and Cliff Gross.
It was recorded for Paramount in 1927 by Doc Roberts and his band the Kentucky Thoroughbreds ("Dick" Parman and "Ted" Chestnut) and later redone by him for Gennett (1929).
It was printed in R.P. Christeson's Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 1 (1973), Brody's Fiddler’s Fakebook (1983).
It was recorded by Doc Roberts, Mose Coffman, Buddy Young’s Kentuckians and Alan Jabbour and Ken Perlman.
I learned it from the Jabbour/Perlman recording Southern Summits. The version given here is from Alan Jabbour's transcription of Henry Reeds's playing which was irregular enough that Jabbour wrote it out without repeats. On the recording Jabbour plays a variation of the B part that doesn't match the transcription. In the first measures of the B part he goes up to the d but plays it as a harmonic and holds it for a full beat, then a half beat and then two 1/16th notes in a slightly different phrase.
The banjo tablature is by John Letscher. His notes:
"The version is from the author (Wade Jarvis) by way of himself, Light and Hitch and Bruce Molsky. I first learned it as 'Mud Fence' from Burt Feintuch."