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Paul Gifford wrote ... > I've seen old photos and descriptions of gourd fiddles, but have > never actually seen one. The ones I'm thinking of were taken in > Kentucky in the '20s, and I think there's one in Marion Thede's > *Fiddle Book*, and possibly also in J. R. Irwin's *Instruments of > Appalachia.* Up North I've seen an old one made from an oxhorn, > and also cigar boxes, but no gourds. I know I've seen gourd dippers > in at least one Southern home (Tennessee). What is the geographical > range of gourd fiddles? Was it an African-American thing originally? > Just curious. If anyone would have a clue, I would suggest Clark Buehling, last known to be residing in Fayetteville, Arkansas. I've known Clark for over 20 yrs and he is a wealth of info on history of tunes and instruments. Last time I saw him, we were playing for a dance at the Battle of Honey Springs (Civil War reenactment) in Checotah, Oklahoma, circa 1994 or so. He was plunking on his homemade gourd banjo and was in the business of making them and selling tapes of the music. Clark gave me a couple of phone #'s for himself at the time: 501-443-0444 or 501-442-5368. Area code might have changed to 870- up there. If anyone reading this has something more recent or complete on Clark's latest whereabouts, please post it. <<Henry>> ************************* <<Henry T. Fiddler>> ************************ [log in to unmask] ... checked every few days [log in to unmask] ... always good, checked every couple weeks *********************************************************************** ================================================================= URL: http://www-openmap.bbn.com/users/gkeith/fiddles/fiddle-l.html Please mail any questions/problems to: [log in to unmask]