7369 old music 2402 - KET

Program 9
Rich Kirby,
Tom Bledsoe,
and Joy D’Elia
Instruments: fiddle, bones, banjo,
guitar, jaw harp, bodhran
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
We’ve all known this song since early childhood. But when we looked in a book,
we were surprised to find that the tune was written by Mozart, with words by Jane
Taylor. The fiddle tune in the program is a square-dance version of the tune played
by a lot of fiddlers around our home in southwest Virginia.
Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.
And the traveler in the dark thanks you for your tiny spark
He could not see where to go if you did not twinkle so
Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.
Skip to My Lou
(Traditional)
This is an old play-party game. In some parts of the country in earlier times,
church members objected to round and square dancing. The fiddle was sometimes
called an instrument of the devil, and dancing itself was thought to be sinful. Playparty
games were invented to get around strict rules. The dancers provided their
own music by singing and clapping, and the lyrics told them how to move.
Here’s how to play “Skip to My Lou.” Everyone finds a partner, then all get
together to form a circle. Choose someone who doesn’t have a partner to get in the
middle. Each couple joins hands and skips to the right while singing the song. The
person in the middle then takes the hand of someone’s partner and joins the circle.
The newly partnerless player now goes to the middle of the circle, and the game
continues.
Lost my partner, what’ll I do (3 times)
Skip to my Lou my darling
Chorus:
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou (3 times)
Skip to my Lou my darling.
I’ll get another one, a pretty one, too (3 times)
Skip to my Lou my darling
Little red wagon painted blue (3 times)
Skip to my Lou my darling
Flies in the buttermilk, shoo fly shoo (3 times)
Skip to my Lou my darling
KET, The Kentucky Network 35