Mississippi Sawyer is an old fiddle tune that has been around since the mid-19th Century, but I don’t know much about its origins. I’ve only heard it as an instrumental and I don’t know if there are any lyrics kicking around for this one. I know a sawyer is someone who cuts wood but I read that Mark Twain describes sawyers as treacherous snags in the river that can spell disaster for a boat.

Here it is on fiddle performed by Rex McGee

Here’s Cathy Moore on clawhammer, messing with this one. Ms Moore posted a number of videos quite a while back then disappeared from the YouTube machine. I like her playing a lot.

Here’s a lovely version performed by Annie and Mac on guitar and clawhammer.

And one more…..a version featuring the hammered dulcimer…Ken Ward and Bob Bence