Appalachian music. Stony Point [music transcription]. Note sheet.

Meter: 4/4
Transcribed by Alan Jabbour, from a performance by Henry Reed.
Key: G
Compass: 11
Strains: 3 (low-middle-high, 2-2-2)
Rendition: 1r-3r-1r-2r-3r-1r-2r-3r-1r-2r-tag
Phrase Structure: AB QR UV (abab qrq's uvuw)
Stylistic features: Slurs, many variations in bowing.
Handwritten: Total played: ACABCABCAB + 1-measure ending. Underlined strains transcribed. Bowing not easy to follow. Many little variations in bowing.
This is a widely circulated American fiddle tune, but, unlike most tunes that are widely known, it seems to go by many titles in various localities. Northern sets are often called "Pigtown Fling," but in the South there are many titles. Henry Reed's title "Stony Point" has been recorded from others as well in his region--but so have other titles such as "Wild Horse" or "Old Dad." The third strain that he inserts between the two usual strains is also known from others in the Upper South. "Stony Point" as a title may refer to any number of localities, and Henry Reed did not localize it. But it also happens to be the name of a well-known battle in the Revolutionary War, when Mad Anthony Wayne and his Pennsylvania troops surprised and defeated the British at Stony Point on the Hudson River in New York. This tune can be traced back to the early nineteenth century in America, and it resembles certain British instrumental tunes, but no clear derivation has been shown beyond American borders. The notes to "Old Dad" in American Fiddle Tunes (Library of Congress, AFS L62) contain additional notes and citations.