2001: A Texas Folklore Odyssey Page: 57

                                
The Origins of the Texas Style of Traditional Old-Time Fiddling * 57
that helps in providing some insight (crude as it might be) into
early Texas fiddling. For example, there is a 1907 photo of "Eck"
Robertson with fiddle and his wife, Nettie, with a guitar that may
indicate he was performing very early in the twentieth century
and with guitar accompaniment.
Also, about the same time, in the backwoods of Deep East
Texas, fiddlers often referred to the E, A, D, and G strings of the
instrument as "treble," "tenor," "counter," and "bass." This is ter-
minology used in Sacred Harp vocal music and might raise a ques-
tion as to whether or not there might have been a connection
between it and folk fiddling.
Early Texas fiddlers who were influential in the development
of the Texas style were Reverend A. McGary and Matt Brown.
The Reverend A. McGary, originally from Huntsville, was a
Campbellite preacher and a very good fiddler. He quit fiddling
while he was a preacher, and when he retired from preaching, he
took up the fiddle again. He claims to have learned to fiddle from
a Negro slave who belonged to his grandfather.
Matt Brown, a fiddler who lived near Amarillo, is credited
with the very popular fiddle tune "Done Gone" that he composed
during the infancy of the automobile. The tale relates to Brown's
attempt to hitch a ride in a Model T but is unsuccessful, and as
the autos pass him by, he remarks, "Done gone!" The tune is still
very popular within the Texas fiddling repertoire. He is also cred-
ited with a waltz, "Brown's Kelly Waltz," which is also very popu-
lar with the Texas fiddlers.
Also, there is the story about a fiddler, George Booker, and a
tune entitled "George Booker," that is occasionally performed by
Texas fiddlers. George Booker was a well-known fiddler from
Nacogdoches who was being held in jail there for murder. On the
day before he was to be executed, he talked the sheriff into allow-
ing him to play for a dance with the sheriff as a chaperone. Booker
performed well, probably knowing this would be his last time to
play in the area. About three o'clock in the morning, Booker went
out on the porch for some air, and that was the last anyone had
ever seen of him. The last tune he played at the dance was one of