American Veteran Fifer

[Alan Lloyd]

Friends

I have been thinking about the book "The American Veteran Fifer" . I have based my conclusions on what is contained in the reprint that is commonly available. (If anyone has another version of the book, please let me know.)
This is just my opinion; please don't take offense if you disagree, but please do give your reasons.

AMERICAN VETERAN FIFER (AVF)

This book of fife tunes was published in 1905, and appears to have been edited by A.F.Hopkins. Hopkins is noted in the book, to have served with Co A, 154th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. This is confirmed on the Civil War Soldier and Sailor System, which shows Alburton F Hopkins as a Fifer in the 154th OVI. The 154th was in service from May to September 1864, and served primarily in West Virginia.

Hopkins is billed in the book as the Fife Major of the National Association of Civil War Musicians. (NACWM) No further information is available in regards to this organization.

The book consists of 80 pages, 139 fife tunes, and 19 tunes of the Camp Duty (plus the bugle call "Taps") There is no introduction or much in the way of explanatory material in the book.

The 139 tunes can be divided into the following categories
1) Original tunes "by A.F.Hopkins" (19 tunes)
2) Tunes attributed to A.F. Hopkins without "by" (4 tunes)
3) Original tunes "by" other persons (35 tunes)
4) Tunes "arranged by A.F. Hopkins" (6 tunes)
5) Tunes "dedicated to" persons by A. F. Hopkins (8 tunes)
6) Tunes "dedicated to" persons without a "by" (15 tunes)
7) Tunes "as played by" other persons (1 tune)
8) Tunes arranged by other persons ( 1 tune)
9) Tunes "donated by" various persons (22 tunes)
10) Unattributed tunes (22 tunes)

The Camp Duty is generally like that found in Howe's 1862 United States Regulation Drum and Fife Instructor

Among Ancient Fife and Drum Corps and many Civil War re-enactors, AVF is used as a source of Civil War period fife tunes. Apparently, based on the title of the book, the assumption is that the tunes in AVF were played by fifers during the Civil War, and then collected and presented in this book.

Unfortunately, the book itself makes no such claim, and the internal evidence does not support that conclusion.

Of the 139 tunes, 41% are original tunes. Other than Dixie, I am unable to find evidence that any of these original tunes were published before 1905.

"When We Go Down to Washington" is noted to be a product of 1862, and Libby Prison QS is stated to have been learned in Libby Prison on 1864, but again, there is no current evidence that these were published before 1905.

Of the tunes "donated by" veterans, 19 tunes (14% of the total) were donated by 5 individuals listed as Civil War Fifers. However, no claim is made that these donated tunes were played during the Civil War.

The other 44% of the tunes are also presented without claim of wartime use. Some of these tunes appear in known Civil War period publications. Others have not been found.

The most logical conclusion regarding AVF, is that it was created by the Fife Major of the NACWM in the early 20th century, to provide tunes to be played at Civil War Veterans functions.

The fact that so many of the tunes are original, and that no claim is made that the other tunes were played during the war, shows that this was not meant to be a collection of wartime tunes.

Therefore, AVF should not be used as evidence that any particular tune was known or played during the Civil War.

It may, however, provide evidence that certain tunes that are known to have been published before or during the War continued to be popular among Veterans.

[33rdaladrummer]

Re: American Veteran Fifer

Alan,

I've thought about the AVF quite a bit myself, and have done some research to find out which tunes are post-war. I believe that A.F. Hopkins composed many of them.

"Of the 139 tunes, 41% are original tunes."

Can you post a list of these tunes? Depending on which tunes you consider to be original, I may have evidence that some of these tunes are older than claimed by the editors of the AVF.

"Libby Prison QS is stated to have been learned in Libby Prison on 1864, but again, there is no current evidence that these were published before 1905."

Check out Rustic Reel in Howe's 1851 School for the Fife. It's basically the same tune.

"Therefore, AVF should not be used as evidence that any particular tune was known or played during the Civil War."

Unfortunately, the same can even be said about some of the fife and drum manuals published during the war. Some tunes from printed sources absolutely were played during the war, such as Girl I Left Behind Me and Rory O'More. On the other hand, Durang's Hornpipe shows up in Howe's 1851 School for the Fife and Howe's 1861 Army and Navy Fife Instructor, but most of the tunes from these manuals are identical to versions in his tutors for other instruments. Remember that Howe originally got into the music publishing business by transcribing what local fiddlers were playing. Just because it's in two fife manuals doesn't mean fifers actually played it during the war. One could try to apply the same logic to Miss McLeud's Reel, which is in the same two manuals by Howe. But McLeud's Reel is also in the AVF, so I would say chances are it was played by fifers during the war. So you're right that just because it's in the AVF doesn't mean it was played during the war, but if the tunes in question predate the war, then the fact that veterans played them greatly increases the likelihood that they also played them during the war.

[Alan Lloyd]

Re: American Veteran Fifer

Will
" "Of the 139 tunes, 41% are original tunes." Can you post a list of these tunes? "

I am simply counting the tunes labeled as "by -------" as original according to AVF. My contention is that these should be considered written by that person until a prior publication is found.

""Libby Prison QS is stated to have been learned in Libby Prison on 1864,....
Check out Rustic Reel in Howe's 1851 School for the Fife. It's basically the same tune."

This is an example of what I think needs to be done with all of the tunes from AVF, that we may choose to play at CW events. If we can find wartime or earlier sources, then that tune is fair game for CW Living History use....but not because it is in AVF. Thank you for the heads up on Rustic Reel. I will amend my essay.

""Therefore, AVF should not be used as evidence that any particular tune was known or played during the Civil War."
Unfortunately, the same can even be said about some of the fife and drum manuals published during the war. "

True . The fact that a tune was published in a wartime source does not guarantee that it was played during the war. But ,it does show that it was available to be played. Publication in AVF only shows that it was available to be played in 1905.


"Some tunes from printed sources absolutely were played during the war, such as Girl I Left Behind Me and Rory O'More. On the other hand, Durang's Hornpipe shows up in Howe's 1851 School for the Fife and Howe's 1861 Army and Navy Fife Instructor, but most of the tunes from these manuals are identical to versions in his tutors for other instruments. Remember that Howe originally got into the music publishing business by transcribing what local fiddlers were playing. Just because it's in two fife manuals doesn't mean fifers actually played it during the war. One could try to apply the same logic to Miss McLeud's Reel, which is in the same two manuals by Howe. But McLeud's Reel is also in the AVF, so I would say chances are it was played by fifers during the war. So you're right that just because it's in the AVF doesn't mean it was played during the war, but if the tunes in question predate the war, then the fact that veterans played them greatly increases the likelihood that they also played them during the war. "

Although I don't dismiss multiple wartime publication as increasing the likelihood of wartime play, as you seem to, we are in agereement that inclusion in AVF, of a known wartime tune, may be evidence of its overall popularity. This was my final point in the essay.
What my essay was really arguing against was taking a tune like "Ed Kellog" from AVF, and assuming it was a wartime tune when there is no known wartime publication of it. I disagree with the notion that AVF is a collection of tunes that veteran fifers remember playing during the War.

[33rdaladrummer]

Re: American Veteran Fifer

I found Post No. 2 G.A.R. Reel from the AVF at the Library of Congess in McCarthy's Fife and Drum Band Book, which was published in the 1880s. McCarthy notes that he composed this tune. That is proof that not all of the tunes in the AVF are from the war. But it is very likely that many of the tunes in the AVF are exactly the way the fifers who submitted them played them during the war. If a fifer played the Campbells are Coming one way during the war, why would he change it when submitting his version to be included in the AVF?

I think Ed Kellogg was discussed in another thread some time ago. I did find that Pinkell's Strathespey tune and didn't see the connection that Bill Bynum made. But he probably knows better than I.

Here some other tunes in the AVF that do not immediately stick out as being mid 19th century vintage or earlier:

Erin Forever- "Double Drag" in Winner's Tunes of the World
American Eagle Q.S. - "Barnet's Fancy" (hat-tip to Bill Bynum)
Old 76 Stop March - "Willie Weaver" aka "Will the Weaver" (hat-tip to Sue Cifaldi)
Jay Bird - "Lady's Breast Knot"
Fireman's Quick Step - "The Philadelphia Fireman's Cotillion" (hat-tip to Eric Marten)
Adam Bell's March - "Capt. Thompson's Q.S." (hat-tip to Joe Whitney)
Turkey Gobbler - "O'Connell's Welcome"??? (not sure about this one)
Burkholder Post No. 115 G.A.R. - "York Fusiliers"
Lassie of Gowrie "Wicklow's March" from Giles Gibbs' 1777 fife book (hat-tip to Joe Whitney)
F.D. Steel's "Johnny McGill" (Joe Whitney)
Lassie Art Thou Sleeping is in Howe's Preceptor for the Accordeon 1843
Comin' Thro' the Rye is in Weller's 1862 fife manual
Off She Goes is also in Howe's Accordeon
Soldier's Lament - the A-strain is Paddy Whack
Granny will your Dog Bite aka Congo Prince Jig, Camptown Hornpipe
Black Bird is in Abel Shattuck's 1801 fife book (Joe Whitney)
We Won't Go Home Till Morning aka Moll Brooks
Oyster River Hornpipe is also in Charles Robbins' 1812 drum and fife book
No Party aka Croppies Lie Down (Joe Whitney)
British Grenadiers No. 2 aka Worchester March, Hedingham Castle (Joe Whitney)
Off to Charleston - variant of "I'm Off for Charleston" by William Donaldson 1850 (Bill Bynum)
Squirrel Hunters - later version of Rumrille and Holton's U.S. March
Single Drag from Tattoo - Winner's Tunes of the World

Many tunes from the AVF are either in Hart's 1861 Army and Navy Fife Instructor or in Howe's 1862 U.S. Regulation Drum and Fife Instructor.

Here's the Willie Weaver drumbeat first published in 1939. The unfilled part sounds to me like it could have been pulled straight out of Hart's 1862 manual.

http://www.fifedrum.org/resources/music/76/d16.shtml

I know one tune in the AVF many wish could be traced back to the war- Corn Cob Clog. Killer tune, but who knows how old it is. The drumbeat everybody plays, on the other hand, was definitely composed many many years after the war.