"Saddle Old Kate" is an American reel in cut time and A Major. The parts are played AA’BB’. The title appears in a list of traditional Ozarks Mountains fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. The melody seems to have had wide currency in the region. Arkansas fiddler Jesse Wallace learned the version he plays from a fiddler named Frank Watkins in the mid-1930’s. Ozarks fiddler Fred Stoneking told the story of two brothers who resolved their 1920’s dispute about how the tune should be played by calling one version “Saddle Old Kate” and the other “Saddle Old Spike”. Drew Beisswenger (2008) sees similarities to some versions of "Got a Little Home to Go to" while Mark Wilson sees resemblances in the Skillet Lickers’ 1930's tune "Don't You Cry My Honey" The banjo tablature is by John Letscher. His commenmts: From the Fog Horn Duo. A fairly staight-forward tune with a lot of neat moves on the inside. Title-wise Mike, Spike and Old Pait also get saddled. It was printed in Beisswenger & McCann's Ozarks Fiddle Music (2008), Clare Milliner & Walt Koken's Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes (2011) and Lamancusa's The Gettysburg Collection of Old-Time Fiddle Tunes (2021). It was recorded by Lonnie Robertson on Lonnie’s Breakdown (1996 Originally recorded 1976) and Fred Stoneking on Saddle Old Spike - Fiddle Music From Missouri (1996 as "Saddle Old Spike").