Shove The Pig’s Foot A Little Closer To The Fire reel

For you below D challenged folk out there, well, there is this other way with measure 2 of the A-part ~

~ | GAGE D2 DE | ~

For you mad purists out there who swear off or swear about anything not fully certified ‘Irish’, I learned this here tune, or actually, re-learned it, off uh some guy with a strong Irish accent, though he may have been fakin‘ it, but he was from the ’Emerald Isle", extremely short, dressed in green, smoked a clay pipe, was a damned smart dancer, wouldn’t let me touch his pot of gold or his fiddle, and swore he’d learned this here tune offa the fairy folk, which he also claimed were personal friends. Hell, I wouldn’t have ever been able to play his fiddle anyway, as it was only a few inches long. Cute little guy, but I wasn’t going to say that to his face. The last person who did didn’t fare well at all, plagued with warts in places I can’t say…

Anyway, it’s obvious that the title is Irish, isn’t it? Who else would barbecue pigs feet when they are so much better pickled? 😏

I suspect this here fella also learned it via similar means…

Digital Library of Appalachia: Appalachian College Association Central Library

http://www.aca-dla.org/index.php

“Shove the Pig’s Foot A Little Farther In The Fire”
~ Marcus Martin, fiddler, Swannanoa, North Carolina, U.S. of A.

http://www.aca-dla.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/WarrenWilson&CISOPTR=201&REC=2

A great tune and some dance accompaniment too ~

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=20653155

X: 2
T: Shove the Pig’s Foot a Little Bit Further Into the Fire
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: G Major
|: B2- |
BcBA GDEF | GAGE D3 E | DE G2 B2 A/B/c | B2 A2- A2 B2- |
BcBA G2 D/E/F | GA G/F/E D2 DE | DE G2 B3 G | A2 G2- G2 :|
B2- |:
BddB d3 g | ed B2 d2 GA | Bd- d2 g3 d | e2 d2- d2 F/G/A |
Bd- dB d2 dg | edBc d2 g2 | B3 c BA G/A/B |[1 A2 G2- G2 GA :|[2 A2 G2- G2 |]

Ease up yuh little twerp, there’s pigs feet and whiskey enough for us both. Ow! Those damned buckles on your shoes hurt. Look, you’ve drawn blood. We’ll see who gets the last shuffle-the-buckle here. Finish that whiskey and it’s out on the slates to see who can raise the most and brightest sparks… We’re away!

For those of you similarly bothered by the wee folk, don’t worry, the threats are mostly just talk, but I would worry if they start talking warts…

Pleasant dreams to you all… 😉

Well, I woke up this morning in a bit of a daze and with my calves aching. I realize now that I may have made a common mistake with listening and could have been confusing an Appalachian accent with an Irish one. But, this little guy with the large buckled shoes and the old stewpot full of gold is dressed all in green and in his haze is now claiming he’s a fluent speaker of the Irish and knew my great, great, great Irish grandparents. Yeah, pull the other one… 😏

Our legs no longer able to carry much dancing this morning, and him having taken off lilting to hisself while preparing breakies, we’re planning a sing fest later, after a bit of food and a heafty portion of the hair-of-the-dog… Hmmm, maybe it’s too early for the latter? Nah!

Makes a nice barndancey sorta thing…

Yeah, it’s sweet, idn’t it…

No, I haven’t forgotten the polkas. I have plans… 😉

yeh shurie’s a nice one.
I’ll let you know what I put it with and am sure, if you have no objection, we’ll use it.

For those unfamiliar with this set of 6 programs, shown recently on RTÉ & BBC, this is the opening tune used and was featured in one of the programs played beautifully by Bruce Molsky, Sharon Shannon & Jim Murray…

Programme 6 on RTÉ ~

http://www.rte.ie/tv/transatlanticsessions/prog6.html

In the movie Cold Mountain, this was called “Ruby With the Dancing Eyes.” I guess they thought Ruby was a little more romantic title to play for his daughter in the movie. However, “Shove the Pig’s Foot . . .” is the real name for it.

What’s not romantic about a nice fire and a feed of pigs feet?

As played (I think) by Buce Molsky on the intro:

X: 3
T: Shove the Pig’s Foot a Little Further into the Fire
M: C|
L: 1/8
Q: 1/2=96
K: G
[D2-B2-]|[DB][Dc][DB][DA] [G,2G2] [G,E][G,F]|[G,G][G,A][G,G][G,E] [G,3D3][G,D]|[G,E][G,F][G,2G2] [D3B3][Dc]|[D2B2][D2A2] [D2A2][D2-B2]-|
[DB][Dc][DB][DA] [G,2G2] [G,E][G,F]|[G,G][G,A][G,G][G,E] [G,3D3][G,D]|[G,E][G,F][G,2G2] [D3B3]F|[D2A2][G,2G2] [G,2G2][D2-B2-]
[DB][Dc][DB][DA] [G,2G2] [G,E][G,F]|[G,G][G,A][G,G][G,E] [G,3D3][G,D]|[G,E][G,F][G,2G2] [G3B3][Gc]|[G2B2][F2A2] [F2A2][D2-B2]-|
[DB][Dc][DB][DA] [G,2G2] [G,E][G,F]|[G,G][G,A][G,G][G,E] [B,3D3][G,D]|[G,E][G,F][G,2G2] [G3B3]F|[D2A2][G,2G2] [G,2G2][G,G][DA]|
|:[DB][D2d2][De] [D3d3][Dd]|[De][Dd][DB][Dc] [D2d2][DB][DA]|[DB][Dc][D2d2] [d3g3][dg]|[A2e2][D2d2] [D2d2][DB][DA]|
[DB][D2d2][De] [D3d3][Dd]|[De][Dd][DB][Dc] [D2d2][d2g2]|[D3B3][Dc] [DB][DA]G[DB]|[D2A2][G,2G2] [G,2G2][G,G][DA]:|

And, of course, played with swing!

Apologies for the lack of gaps round the bar lines!

Whew! What bar lines? 😉

This tune has become a recent favorite of mine… Lovely, lovely tune, I’d say.. Sounds kinda like an old-time tune, or is it?

I think that the pigs foot refers to pig iron and that the fire is a blacksmith’s furnace. This according to my OT fiddle playing blacksmith friend.

Mike Keyes
http://www.mikekeyes.com

Further research shows that a “pig’s foot” is a blacksmith’s tool that looks like a crowbar used to hold a small peice of pig iron.

Mike Keyes

I much prefer the edible variety, but thanks for the added comment, much appreciated…

I suspect the general consensus amongst fiddlers would be for food rather than work, and hot work. It wouldn’t be good for the fiddle, the bow, or the fiddler. 😉

I have no doubt whatsoever that is is American, and to my ears it has a definite English feel to it. As I was reading down the thread I thought I must post because it has nothing to do with food, but everything to do with iron. Maybe it’s because I’m an engineer (Not an Engine driver).

Pig iron ~ but I’ll still take a smoky bit of pork foot first, with crispy bits, however much I have a high regard for the forge and the blacksmith…

‘crackling’! 🙂 mmmmmmmm!

I learned this tune from attending a NOTSBA (Nashville Old-Time String Band Assoc.,) jam.
It’s almost always played here in a “medley” (set) with “Nail That Catfish to a Tree”,https://thesession.org/tunes/8979, and they call it out as “Surf n’ Turf”.

Love it! That gave me a good chuckle… 😀

Am I imagining it, or is this tune a bit like “The Barren Rocks of Aden” (https://thesession.org/tunes/3640)?

Never before thought of any resemblance between the 2 tunes, but while “Pig’s Foot” has many more notes in all those quaver runs, you could possibly say that both tunes head in the same direction melodically….?? (More so in the first section of both).

Can’t see Pig’s Foot as a Scottish pipe march somehow, but one never knows.

The title has been a subject of much debate. John Hartford used to perform a tune with the title “Shove That Hog’s Foot Further In The Bed”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95tEtxLG0Oc&feature=youtu.be&t=315

play video

It’s not the same tune, but the folk process has given us many instances of the same title being used for two or more melodies. Pushing a hog’s foot under a bed seems to be the earliest form of the title. There is a legend that relates it to a slave hiding food pilfered from the master, and the title “Push the Hog’s Feet under the Bed” appears in the index of Thomas Talley’s 1922 book “Negro Folk Rhymes.” (There is no page number and no such rhyme appears in the book, suggesting Talley had heard of the title and had itended to include it but failed to.)

I’ve found an even earlier reference - Dec. 7. 1900 the Semi-Weekly Interior Journal of Stanford, Kentucky ran this social note on page 1:

“The bachelors of Cedar Creek neighborhood are preparing to give a big dance during the Christmas holidays. Nobody but old maids and widows will be invited. James T. Pleasants will be employed as fiddler and he can only play one tune and that Is ‘Push Up the Hog Foot Under the Bed.’”

It’s my conjecture that folks who did not understand the older title thought “fire” might make more sense than “bed” and made the change.

Goes well with Turkey in the Straw, especially if you are talking pork rather than iron.

‘Push the Hog’s Foot Under the Bed’ I only just found this - it’s so obviously a version of Orange Blossom Special I’m amazed no-one spotted it before!