"The source is the source, of course of course...."

[Tim Twiss]

One of my favorite topics...source material. I found this one, which I believe to be the inspiration for Briggs' "Ethiopian Cracovienne". I really like that tune, but have always thought "where the heck did that come from??" I think this is it. Change the key to put it in a lower more banjo-friendly range, add the thumb string notes where appropriate to bring out that Minstrel style, and there it is. I am always please to find another connection that helps put this picture together. I'll be on the prowl for others. Some are quite obviously lifted from the fiddle repertoire with no changes made except the name. We start to see a lot of this in Buckley's 1860 book. The Briggs' Book really did the world a great service by it's homongenous styling of vocal song arrangements (Dan Tucker, Lucy Neal, Keemo Kimo, Alabama Joe, etc.) and instrumentals (Ethiopian Cracovienne, Congo Prince Jig, Briggs' Breakdown etc.) The tunes have a feel that make them fit together, rather than a forced arrangement that sticks to the original song too closely. That is DAMN GOOD ARRANGING.
PS...I noticed the opening melody in the "Cracovienne Quickstep" is similar to the Camptown Shakers version of the first line in "Walk Jawbone", if anybody has heard the band do this tune. It's really cool. The 2 songs are obviously similar ("Walk Jawbone" and "Cracovienne"), but the Shakers treatment of the opening line is different than I hear elsewhere.

[Rob MacKillop]

Well done, Sherlock. Looks convincing.

[Tim Twiss]

I am responding to Rob's comments on the video over here. First, we don't know if Briggs arranged it, although it comes from the book bearing his name. That is another mystery. I believe that the source I posted is the original tune, and it is not a fiddle score, but rather a "lead sheet" meant for anybody to play the melody. If there is a parallel in modern times, it is the famous "Real Book" originating in Boston and sold underground with a wink. It is now legit (with some changes) and available from Hal Leonard. Anyway, this book contains the tunes that everybody plays. You can go anywhere in the country and play tunes from the Real Book, and a common language is established. Tunes get various treatments and tempos, but the song remains the same. I think this must have been the case from earlier times. This was just another tune in an entertainer's repertoire.
The arrangement is a result of making the song specifically fit the banjo to utilize the the thumb string and avoid the high register. You can see the general treatment of a song in Briggs if you look at all the tunes that are originally vocal songs, and see how it is fit to the proper key, and then adding the thumb string for rhythmic enhancement. I might repost "Coal Black Rose", as this was my attempt to "Briggsize" a tune from another key that was originally a vocal song.

[Tim Twiss]

Here is Coal Black Rose as arranged for Briggs style banjo.

[Tim Twiss]

Here is another source...from the Buckley 1860 Book. This is the last song called Tulluchgorum. Here is the hand script from James Scott Skinner. This is a very old theme. Notice the continuation of the dotted rhythm all the way through, as apposed to the Buckley, which stops. I guess this implies to keep it going (in Buckley). So...we have a different key and a few phrases different, but everything else stays intact. Notice the interval from the pickup note to the downbeat of the first bar...that is changed. I actually think this one (Skinner) lays as well (or better) than the other). It's hard to read, but you can get used to it. It is also an interesting way to use a key signature (only a natural sign on F). This song is in "G" but always has the b7 for a modal effect, and the Buckley is keyed in A, but uses the accidentals on the staff as the music goes (G natural).

[Rob MacKillop]

Tullochgoram (various spellings) goes back much further but is still played by fiddlers here in Edinburgh to this day.

There needs na' be sae great a phrase
Wi' dringing dull Italian lays
I wadna gie our ain Strathspeys
For half a hundred score o'em:
They're douff and dowie at the best,
Douff and dowie, douff and dowie;
They're douff and dowie at the best,
Wi' a' their variorum:
They're douff and dowie at the best,
Their Allegros, and a' the rest,
They cannot please a Scottish taste,
Compar'd wi' Tullochgorum.