"Lady of the Lake/Colonel Crockett" fiddle tunes from Knauff's Virginia Reels Batteaux & Banjos 2026

A set of fiddle tunes, "Lady of the Lake" and "Colonel Crockett" from Knauff's Virginia Reels (1839), performed Monday, July 22, 2026 at Batteaux and Banjos as part of a presentation "Old Songs and Stories of the James River.” Barrow Wheary: fiddle Caroline Wheary: fiddle George P. Knauff, our source for these tunes, was a German-born music teacher who settled in Farmville, Virginia in the early 1800s and taught at the nearby Buckingham Female Collegiate Institute in Buckingham County. Between 1839 and 1844, Knauff published a four volume collection of traditional fiddle tunes arranged for piano entitled “Virginia Reels.” Collected from local sources in Southside Virginia, Knauff's Virginia Reels constitutes the first published collection of Southern fiddle music. Numerous fiddle tunes which now form core repertoire in the old time or Appalachian fiddle tradition — tunes like Natchez on the Hill, Mississippi Sawyer, Forked Deer, Billy in the Low Grounds, and more — make their first appearance in the collection. "Lady of the Lake" and "Colonel Crockett" also make their first appearance here and survive in the old time Southern fiddling tradition to this day with only slight differences from Knauff's settings. Despite the very Scottish sound of both tunes, no Old World cognates have been clearly identified which leaves open the possibility that they are native Virginia fiddle tunes. It is very possible they considerably predate their 1839 publication date, perhaps going back to the 18th century, maybe under different titles. “Lady of the Lake" may owe its title to the Sir Walter Scott poem published in 1810. I wonder if it might have been the name of a James River batteau. Fiddler Norman Edmunds and others in Southwestern Virginia played versions of the tune under the same title well into the 20th century. Henry Reed, also of Southwestern Virginia played a related tune which he called "Ducks on the Pond." “Colonel Crockett" probably refers to the famous Tennessee frontiersman and politician, Davy Crockett, although it could potentially refer to a local hero from the Revolutionary War or War of 1812, Crockett being an old and respected family in Virginia. Today, fiddlers in West Virginia and Southwestern Virginia know "Colonel Crockett" as "The Route." The Mississippi string band Carter Brothers and Son recorded a nearly identical tune in the 1920s which they called "Jenny on the Railroad," and Capt. M.J. Bonner of Texas (a Confederate veteran born in Franklin County, Alabama in 1847) recorded the tune as "Gal on a Log." Batteaux and Banjos is a living history program hosted by the Southeastern Coalition of Authentic Reenactors, held annually the third weekend in June to coincide with the James River Batteau Festival. For three days, some of the finest historical interpreters and period musicians gather to portray life and music along the river circa 1850 and honor the African American boatmen who were the lifeblood of Virginia's economy and major source of her unique musical contribution to the world in the form of the banjo. The event is held at James River State Park, a half hour drive from Appomattox and the grave of Joel Walker Sweeney, “the father of the five string banjo.” Musical selections focus on the songs of Sweeney, who was born and raised nearby and learned the banjo from black musicians in the region in the early 1800s, and dance music from Knauff's Virginia Reels which was compiled locally in the 1830s and is the first published collection of Southern fiddle tunes. 2026 saw our most exciting musical lineup to date with featured musicians John Allin, Carl Anderton (‪‪@oldcremona‬ ‬), Bryan Gordy (‪@Yallquietendown‬, Clifton Hicks (‪‪@CliftonHicksbanjo‬), Knox Phillippe (‪‪@knoxphillippe‬), and Cameron Smith (‪@BanjerCam‬) joining our usual cast of Carson Hudson, James Pentecost (‪‪@jamespentecost6941‬), Mark Weems (‪‪@markweems1‬), and Barrow and Caroline Wheary.