TOTW 6/15/12 - The Hog Got Through the Fence With the Whole Yoke On

I first heard the tune a couple of years ago, at my weekly local jam. Although the melody immediately appealed to me, at the time it caught my attention as much for its very specific, descriptive - and thus classically old-time - title, and because what was being described piqued my curiosity, as I could not help but wonder why a hog would be wearing a yoke. To my city-bred mind, a yoke is only used on oxen or other draft animals, and I couldn't quite picture an Appalachian farmer hitching his hogs up to a plow. But a little research revealed that, back in the day, hogs sometimes wore a type of yoke designed to prevent them from slipping through the fence. In my limited experience with hogs - on a relative's farm as a child and more recently at my brother-in-law's farm - I have never seen a hog wearing a yoke, and my guess is that with today's availability of cheap, effective, mass-produced fencing, there is little need for such a thing. Perhaps back when the hog pen fence was more likely to be a somewhat haphazard affair, constructed out of whatever pieces of wood were on hand, escaping hogs were more of a problem. Indeed, the three 'hogs-with-yokes' photos I found during a brief Internet search all feature such  fences, and are all from what appear to be rather poor areas of developing countries - Nicaragua, The Philippines, and Laos. The only American example I came across - without the hog - is one in the State Museum of Indiana collection.

 

As mentioned above, this tune comes to us from Luther Strong (1892-1963), a noted old-time fiddler from Hazard, Kentucky, who was recorded by Alan and Elizabeth Lomax for the Library of Congress in 1937 - the only time, as far as I can determine, that he recorded. The 28 tunes from that session include many very familiar selections (Cripple Creek, Sally Goodin, Old Joe Clark, etc.) but also several more obscure tunes, including today's Tune of the Week - according to Jeff Titon's book "Old Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes", Luther Strong is the only source for The Hog Went Through the Fence With the Whole Yoke On.  Lomax described him as "lanky and shy and our favorite fiddler". There is a story that Luther, who was known to enjoy alcohol on occasion, had to be bailed out of jail and loaned a fiddle for the Lomax session, but I have no idea if that is true or not. For a bit more information about him, see Bruce Greene's article in Fiddler Magazine: http://www.fiddle.com/articles.page?index=25&articleid=18986

Below are the various versions I found online. I have not yet found a solo banjo version, nor any banjo tablature. I had considered doing this tune for my most recent official TOTW slot, but decided to wait until I had some more banjo-centric information to share. Given the last minute nature of this post, I've gone ahead with the tune, in hopes that somebody else may know of some solo banjo versions, or have come across tab for it somewhere.

 

 

Solo Fiddle

 

Luther Strong: http://www.juneberry78s.com/sounds/ListenToLutherStrong.htm

Luther Strong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BKQWXzrKbY&feature=related 

fiddlinred: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zu4iJirPlN8

familynoise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8opo7VldYM 

 

(Luther Strong's version is also available on Yazoo Record's "Music of Kentucky, Volume 2")

 

Fiddle/Banjo

 

Clare Milliner and Walt Koken: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1BPjsCQT4M

 

Band

 

Streak of Lean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eoV3KEnZbY

 

Fiddler and Dulcimer

Don Pedi: http://www.allmusic.com/album/hog-went-through-the-fence-yoke-all-mw0000242428