Appalachian Dulcimer Traditions

203 Pages·2010·3.08 MB·English

by  Ralph Lee Smith

American Folk Music and Musicians Series
series editor: ralph lee smith
1. Wasn’t That a Time!: Firsthand Accounts of the Folk Music Revival, edited
by Ronald D. Cohen. 1995, paperback edition, 2002.
2. Appalachian Dulcimer Traditions, by Ralph Lee Smith. 1997, paperback
edition, 2001.
series editors: ralph lee smith and ronald d. cohen
3. Ballad of an American: The Autobiography of Earl Robinson, by Earl
Robinson with Eric A. Gordon. 1998.
4. American Folk Music and Left-Wing Politics, 1927–1957, by Richard A.
Reuss with JoAnne C. Reuss. 2000.
5. The Hammered Dulcimer: A History, by Paul M. Gifford. 2001.
series editors: ronald d. cohen and ed kahn
6. The Unbroken Circle: Tradition and Innovation in the Music of Ry Cooder
and Taj Majal, by Fred Metting. 2001.
7. The Formative Dylan: Transmission and Stylistic Influences, 1961–1963,
by Todd Harvey. 2001.
series editor: ronald d. cohen
8. Exploring Roots Music: Twenty Years of the JEMF Quarterly, edited by
Nolan Porterfield. 2004.
9. Revolutionizing Children’s Records: The Young People’s Records and
Children’s Record Guild Series, 1946–1977, by David Bonner. 2007.
10. Paul Clayton and the Folksong Revival, by Bob Coltman. 2008.
11. A History of Folk Music Festivals in the United States: Feasts of Musical
Celebration, by Ronald D. Cohen. 2008.
12. Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: The Never-Ending Highway, by Hank Reineke.
2010.
13. Appalachian Dulcimer Traditions: Second Edition, by Ralph Lee Smith.
2010.

Appalachian Dulcimer
Traditions
Second Edition
Ralph Lee Smith
American Folk Music and Musicians, No. 13
THE SCARECROW PRESS, INC.
Lanham (cid:129) Toronto (cid:129) Plymouth, UK
2010
Published by Scarecrow Press, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefi eld Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
http://www.scarecrowpress.com
Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2010 by Ralph Lee Smith
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval
systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer
who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Smith, Ralph Lee, 1927–
Appalachian dulcimer traditions / Ralph Lee Smith. — 2nd ed.
p. cm. — (American folk music and musicians ; No. 13)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8108-7411-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8108-7412-1 (ebook)
1. Appalachian dulcimer—History. I. Title.
ML1015.A6S63 2010
787.7'4—dc22 2009049513
(cid:2)
™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992
Printed in the United States of America
To the people of the Southern Appalachian Mountains,
known and unknown, who developed the dulcimer
and preserved its traditions,
and
To my parents, Hugh and Barbara Smith,
Pennsylvania rare book and antique dealers,
who taught me to love old things,
and
To my wife, Shizuko, and my daughter, Koyuki,
who took the wonderful Appalachian journeys with me.

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Series Editor’s Foreword xi
Preface: A Note about the New Edition xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Prologue: A Talk with Patrick Gainer in 1980 xvii
1 An American Heritage 1
2 Where Did the Dulcimer Come From? 15
3 Early Traces and Trails 35
4 Virginia Traditions 57
5 West Virginia and North Carolina Traditions 73
6 Dulcimers of Yesterday in the Cumberlands 93
7 Dulcimer Makers of the Folk Revival Transition 113
8 Some Interesting Types 131
Appendixes
A. Library of Congress Dulcimer Recordings 147
B. Measurements of Instruments 155
vii
viii Contents
C. The Ache Scheitholt: A Closer Look 163
D. Winners of the Dulcimer Contest, Old Time Fiddlers
Convention, Galax, Virginia 167
E. Newspaper Story on Nineveh Presnell and His Dulcimer 171
F. Ordering Dulcimers from Old-Time Makers 173
Annotated Bibliography 175
Index 179
About the Author 183
Illustrations
Figure 1.1 Dulcimer made by Frank Glenn, Beech Mountain,
North Carolina, c. 1957 11
Figure 2.1 Langeleik player in traditional Norwegian dress,
Minnesota, second half of the 19th century 20
Figure 2.2 Swedish Psalmodikon from Bishop Hill Colony in
Illinois, founded in the 1840s 21
Figure 2.3 “Scheidholtt,” in woodcut from Syntagma Musicum
by Michael Pretorius, 1619 23
Figure 2.4 Tintype photograph of a scheitholt player 26
Figure 2.5 Scheitholt, Pennsylvania, 1781 29
Figure 2.6 Scheitholt with decoration and inscription, made
by Samuel Ache, Pennsylvania, 1788 31
Figure 2.7 Scheitholt made by Samuel Shank, 1861, with list of
songs inside lid 33
Figure 3.1 Maps of the Philadelphia Wagon Road and the
Wilderness Road 36
Figure 3.2 Scheitholt from Shenandoah Valley, Virginia 39
Figure 3.3 Dulcimer made by John Scales Jr., Floyd County,
Virginia, 1832 42
Figure 3.4 Inscription on Scales dulcimer 43
Figure 3.5 Headless scheitholt from Woodstock, Shenandoah
Valley, Virginia 49
Figure 3.6 Headless dulcimer, probably from southwestern
Virginia 50
Figure 3.7 Scheitholt on a soundbox 51
ix