Chickens a-crowin on Sourwood Mountain –
Oh diddle di di diddle di do (or Hi ho diddle I day…take your pick)

So many pretty girls I can’t count-em –
Oh di diddle dee Diddle di do

Climbing up old Sourwood Mountain –
Oh diddle di di diddle di do

Find me a pretty gal and I’ll go courtin –
Oh diddle di di diddle di do

As with so many “Old Time” tunes, there are countless versions and verses. I’m learning a clawhammer version now, so I’ve been studying up different approaches to the tune. Here are some I really like…

Here are Carolina Chocolate Drops. We saw this group a few years ago at Hugh’s Room in Toronto. They’re great fun to watch and listen to. This is from a show down in Florida.

This next video is a fellow named Andy Sayers playing the tune on a fretless banjo. Once upon a time all banjos were fretless and then everything went to hell.

Now check out American honey with an excellent buckdancer! A lot of groups play this tune at lightning speed. I like the lazy pace of this version.