“Texas/Newcastle” is a crooked fiddle tune collected and recorded by researcher Alan Jabbour from the playing of Glen Lyn, VA fiddler Henry Reed (1884-1967). But why does it have two names? Let’s explore the story of how this developed. 

When Jabbour first heard the tune played by Reed on August 27, 1966, he asked, “Is that the one they/you call Texas?” And Reed answered, “Yeah.” You can hear that recording and answer by Reed here. In addition, in the field notes from that same day, Jabbour wrote that Reed said he learned the tune from a “Mr. Drummond(s) from Texas.” 

Jabbour’s band, The Hollow Rock String Band, began playing the tune and recorded it under the “Texas” name. It was subsequently picked up and popularized by the growing Old Time revival community of that era. 

Jabbour continued to collect and record many tunes from Henry Reed. In Jabbour’s field notes of May 6, 1967, he wrote that Reed told him that the title of the Texas tune he thought was something like “Granny” was actually named “Newcastle.” During an October 28, 1967 interview, Reed was talking about other tunes and fiddlers, including Quincey Dillon, and played a tune for Jabbour that he called “Newcastle.” Jabbour recognized the tune as the one Reed previously called “Texas” and said, “...you played that once for me before…,”...who did you learn it from?” Reed said, "Oh I don’t know - them old fiddlers over there in the bushes - I don’t know (laughs) what their name was.” “What’s that named after?” “That’s the county seat of Craig County.” You can hear Reed play it during that interview in the mp3 file below.

Jabbour’s field notes from October 28 also show the correction from “Texas” to “Newcastle.” In later interviews, Jabbour acknowledges he may have originally misheard or misunderstood the original “Texas” title. 

By that time though, the tune was already well known as “Texas,” so the “Newcastle” title was just added on.

As Reed did not write the tune, but learned it from other fiddlers whose names he did not remember, is it possible to know where the tune originated? Probably not, but one likely theory comes from the melody being very similar to the popular song, “Charleston Gals/Girls,” a minstrel staple dating from the 1840s, which suggests a black folk song origin. “Charleston Gals” differs from “Texas/Newcastle” only in that it is played square and has lyrics. 

In addition to the song being widely performed by traveling troupes, the sheet music to “Charleston Gals” was available as early as 1844, and also appeared in Phil Rice‘s 1858 “Method for the Banjo With or Without a Master,” and in the 1867 anthology “Slave Songs of the United States.” So there was ample opportunity for many players to hear this melody and/or have the written notation. 

There are several cities named Charleston, including the one that is now the capital of West Virginia, somewhat close to Henry Reed’s home. Ed.Note: West Virginia did not become a separate state from Virginia until 1863. But that does not really help much in determining the origin, because minstrel troupes would routinely substitute the name of the city where they were performing the song, as was often done in “Buffalo Gals,” another minstrel favorite. 

No matter where it came from, it’s a good tune. Henry Reed played it in the key of A, as a crooked tune with 17 beats in the first strain and 13 in the second. Ed. Note: It’s not jam busting crooked. It’s a good, upbeat tune, open to experimenting with harmonies. Plus, you can play it square as “Charleston Gals,” and make it a group sing-along.

The entire Henry Reed collection of recordings is available from the Library of Congress.

Texas/Newcastle

David Bragger and Susan Platz