Fisher’s Hornpipe/Old Leather Britches – Song Download

MP3 Download

Here are two more tunes taught to us by our departed neighbor Joe Dawson (1928-2012). This very unusual version of Fisher’s Hornpipe seems distantly related to the tune as it is commonly played in the U.S. and Ireland. Old Leather Britches is one of a number of Joe’s tunes that seems to be unique to southern Indiana. We’ve never heard it played by anyone but Joe, who learned it from his grandfather.  Joe didn’t have a name for it, so Grey and his friends gave it this one because Joe’s grandmother sang the following words to the first half: “Old leather britches full of stitches, kicked him out of bed ’cause he had his trousers on.”

Grey: fiddle; Cindy: guitar