- Style
- Old-time
- Tradition
- American old-time
- Form
- Reel
- Key
- D
- Level
- 4
- Played on
- Fiddle
In the public domain. Source
Music
90bpm
Click any note to start from there
Chord chart
History
Samuel Bayard collected many versions from fifers and fiddlers in southwestern Pennsylvania, who played it both as a march and as a reel. He traced it to the British tune "The Ladies' Breast Knot." The second part is also the tune of "Skip to My Lou" and "Bobby Shafto."
Banjo players and fiddlers in the revival, including Art Rosenbaum and John Burke, made it popular again around 1970. Rosenbaum learned it from Indiana fiddler John Summers.
Jay bird, jay bird, sittin' on a limb, He winked at me and I winked at him. I picked up a rock and I hit his shin, Sez he: "You'd better not do that agin."