Waverly

Tune Source

The stories behind the tunes. Where does the tune come from? Who wrote it? Who did I learn it from? Why do I love it? All vital parts of keeping oral traditions from around the world alive and vibrant.

• I learned Waverly initially from Tatiana Hargreaves, recording below.

• From the playing of Thomas Arthur "Art" Galbraith (1909 - 1993) of Greene Co., Missouri. 

• Galbraith worked for the US Post Office, and his father was a farmer. Both sides of his family came from TN, and they had strong Scots-Irish ancestry. The Galbraith side of the family included several fiddlers, including Art's great grandfather Andrew (a dance master and veteran of the War of 1812) and his uncle Tobe. 

• Regarding the tune Waverly (sometimes spelled "Waverley"), Traditional Tune Archive states: A similar tune is “Hell Agin' the Barn Door.” Beisswenger & McCann remark that Galbriath family lore has it that the tune is an old Scottish tune. There are perhaps associations with the town of Waverly, Lafayette County, central Missouri, founded in the 1840's by a settler whose home was Waverly, Illinois, a name inspired by the much admired Waverley series of novels of Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832), published from 1814. Art Galbraith (1909-1993) originally had the tune from his Uncle Tobe, but, since it wasn’t part of his on-going repertoire, he had to remember it and re-learn it later in life. The second strain is irregular. 
  
  Info from Paul Kirk (Youtube link below)