Groundhog

Appalachian old-time modified for the garlic patch

Led by Bennett Konesni with Edith Gawler, Shepsi Eaton, Harbor Eaton, Noah Fishman, Nate Martin, and Samantha.

A beloved Appalachian folk song about hunting groundhogs (woodchucks), sung throughout the mountains of Virginia, North Carolina, and surrounding states. The song doubles as a fiddle tune and has been a standard in old-time and bluegrass circles for over a century.

Lyrics

One in the hole and two in the log
One in the hole and two in the log
Gonna get my gun gonna get the groundhog
OH Groundhog!

Shoulder up your gun and whistle up your dog,
I'm a going to the mountain, going to get a groundhog,

Yonder comes Sal with a big long pole,
Gonna get that groundhog out of his hole,

Meat's in the kitchen and the butter's in the churn
If that ain't groundhog I'll be durned

Well I dug down but I didn't dig deep,
There lay a whistlepig fast asleep,

Meat's in the kitchen and the butter's in the churn
If that ain't groundhog I'll be durned

Here comes Edith with a snicker and a grin
Groundhog gravy all over her chin

I know a gal her name's Edoes
Gotta huge smile keeps it neath her nose

I know a fella his name is Nate
He's always on time he's never late

I know a fella his name is Noah
Ask Samantha if he Snoa (snores)

I know a fella his name's Shepsi
Drinks a lot a water and then he gotta pee

I know a gal named Samantha
Gotta a memory as sharp as a pantha

I know a guy, his name's Benoir
Comes across the sea in an old beatup car

Wa wakka wa wakka wa
Dumpa dumpa da dumpa dumpa dumpa da
Rampampa pa rampa rampa pampa pa
OH groundhog

Scrape off the meat and you tan the hide
Best dang groundhog I ever did try

Sources

Roud see VWML archives

• Southern Appalachian tradition (Georgia, Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia)
• First collected circa 1911 (Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore)
• Earliest commercial recording: Land Norris (1924)
• Marion Reece - Library of Congress field recording on fife (1936)

Notable Recordings

• Doc Watson & Family - The Watson Family (Folkways, 1963)
• The Dillards - Back Porch Bluegrass (1963)
• Tommy Jarrell, Fred Cockerham & Oscar Jenkins - Stay All Night (County, 1973)
• New Lost City Ramblers - Twenty Years (Flying Fish, 1978)
• Pete Seeger - American Favorite Ballads (Smithsonian Folkways)
• Billy Strings - live performances (2023+)

The Story

Old-time songs don't always arrive ready for the field. This one needed some room to breathe, so I added some space, a couple of claps, and slowed it down. Looking back at this day in the garlic patch I think it really captures some of the magic of worksonging. I taught the song quickly at the edge of the field, then we got after it and got some work done.

The song has a form, a melody, some harmonies that are "classics". Pretty quickly the crew started improvising harmonies that are unusual in the old-timey version. We typically like to make things a little crunchier than usual, with some tonal clusters, parallel voice movement. Not articulated ahead of time, but as an emergent property. The space that we added by slowing the song down allows you to hear those spring birds chirping.

Looking closer you can see several things happening at once: the crew moving across the bed together (not spread out, so the rhythm stays tight and we know what's been done), I'm calling out names of people in the group, a classic technique for pulling everyone in. Then we take a brass break (imitating horns)- fun for everyone. Then back to the early verses, which gives a sense of completion. When you're out there with people who are saying "yes" to the improvisation, the song starts going somewhere new.