San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-05-18
THE CREASED FIDDLE.
Gen. Eoratio Kings "Reminiscences of the
Old Days on the Hill.

Old Days on the Hill.
Next am to relate that in this lively "city"
we had an embryo band, consisting of one
printer, a judge Of probate, the principal
landlord of the place, and one or two other
musical geniuses. Their Instruments were a
bass viol, clarionet and two or three flddles;
and they used occasionally of pleasant
evening to risk their necks by climbing to
and giving a concert on the bell deck Of the
old Baptist meeting house belfry, which was
very high, and with its massive hewn tim
bers, could they have been sawed in pieces as
at present, they would have afforded enough
material to build a small cathedral AS al
ready intimated, to reach that height was no
slight undertaking, and not little dangerous;
nevertheless, those were very enjoyable con-
certs, for the musicians as well as for most of
the citizens who listened to the sweet har
mony waited through the summer air.
There was, however, one maiden lady, well
along in years-a very good, pious body, at
least in her own estimation-'Aunt Kelly"
who regarded the fiddle as the DEVILS instru-
ment, and she missed no occasion of giving
expression to disapprobation of all that sort
of music. She at length carried her opposi-
toni might say resentment-so far that, re-
turning one evening from a religious meeting
and finding on the card table in the sitting
room of her boarding house fiddle, she de-
liberately took it and, with tallow candle,
creased both bow and strings and then kicked
it across the roOml
This coming to the knowledge of the boys
in the printing office, the junior partner, who
while at the country school had been some
what addicted to rhyminS penchant which,
al ln
entirely to suppress set about writing a song
which was printed and sung to the tune Of
Aud Lang Syne" wits violin accompani-
ment by the landlord at his hotel, evening
after evening, not only to a crowded barroom
of Jolly fellows, but to scores of other citizens
embracing doctors, lawyers and judges within
hearing out Of doors.
wish had a complete copy of this popu-
lar ballad that | might reproduce it here. /
can give only six stanzas. the first four of
which, and several Immediately following,
know were written by the junior partner; the
fifth was by Henry Carter. the bright APP
prentice, and the sixth, or chorus, by the
senior partner HANNIBAL Hamlin), as | am
gratified from his letter before me to be able
wildly to recall as he has given it to me |
am the more pleased, having in my previous
lNS5llludDie power W d
specimen of his handiwork in that time No
one will venture to say that, mounting their
Pegasus as he did, behind both the junior and
apprentice, he failed in the slightest degree to
compass the height of their soaring genius.
The song commenced:
Awake ye muses. and attend,
While l a tale narrate;
Poetic gods, assistance lend,
To make the whole sedate.
Then, as my memory serves me, after a
brief mention of local events and biograph-
ical sketch of Aunt Kelly" the song ended
as follows:
At church. one night some hours she spent
So much revived was she,
She thought, when to her home she went
A fiddler she must be-
So to her neighbor's room she few,
AS if'on unknown wings,
fiddle from the table drew
And CREASED the bow and strings
But finding 'twould not go at that,
And being hard to learn,
She lied her foot to greasy gut
And made its bowels yearnl
Thus she her piety did show
To all within the place,
By trying with her fiddle bow
To aid the cause Of grace.
CHORUS.
Come grease again the fiddle bow
And grease again the strings
For further shall the fiddle go
And louder shall it ring.
OF course Aunt Kelly" was not little an
noyed, and Brother Walton" sober, Sc
date and kind old gentleman, who wore deep
green spectacles and walked with dignified
gait, finally came to her aid in a long poem
long, l remember in length of lines and
number of verses, in which he resolutely took
up the cudgels for her. We got the job of
printing it, he then not suspecting the rogueS.
This was rich for us boys, and we at once
Went in for response, devoting, remember,
several evenings to the work. We had in
our Office wood stove anthracite coal for
fuel was unknown), and not to suffer hunger
during our laudable undertaking, we bought
with Brother Waltonis contribution any
quantity Of eggs at 90 cents a dozen, cooked
them in a tin gan over the stove and with
Medford crackers and a sprinkfing of salt we
Jared sumptuOusly.
| would not undertake 70 say how many
stanzas we got off, but am sure they woul1
have filled half a column Of our paper at
least, all of which, together with the body of
the ballad and the whole of Brother Walton's
eHusion, are unfortunately lost to the litera-
ture of the age. Some of the "ald folksn got
wind of the.c9ntempleted rsioindey, ard on