"Old Man and Old Woman"
(Le Bonhomme Et La Bonne Femme, Le Viellard Et La Vielle Dame, The Bottom of the Punch Bowl, The Christmas Rum, Let's Go Rustico!, Quebec Reel.)
![[image of music]](FFsniply-Old Man and Old Woman.png)
Reel, G (D), AABBAB.
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Playing or Personal Notes:
No personal notes.
History
The first trick with this tune is identifying which it is - there is another tune called "The Grumbling Old Man and Old Woman", but checking the original, this is not the tune we have in mind. No, the tune we are interested in is The Session tune # 4382 (see link, below).
Apparently common in Newfoundland, as well as the Acadian area of PEI and New Brunswick, as well as the Ottawa Valley and Quebec, and is found in the Don Messer Collection. In French it is known as "le viellard et la vielle dame" or "le bonhomme et la bonne femme".
There is some indication it may have been written (as "Le bonhomme et la bonne femme") in 1930 by Mary Bolduc (nee Travis), the first author-composer-singer of French Canada (from Newport, gaspesia, province of quebec). Links; http://www.labolduc.qc.ca/, http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/14402.mp3
The Fiddler's Companion claims it is also known as The Bottom of the Punch Bowl, The Christmas Rum, Let's Go Rustico!, and Quebec Reel. It also claims that it is;
Sometimes confused with "The Growling Old Man and Woman" which is very similar in parts, although the two may have derived from a common ancestor.
On the Web:
| the Session | Fiddler's Companion | Cape Breton Fiddler |
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