[NOTSBA Friends] Rattlesnake Rattles

Wed May 7 07:46:42 CDT 2008

Thanks Rick, 

I'm collecting such items and have added yours to my list.

Here's what I have so far.

Why Rattlesnake Rattles? A rattlesnake rattle in your fiddle:

Wards off evil

Keeps the Devil out of your fiddle (which is, after all, the Devil's instrument)

Makes your fiddle sound sweeter

Gives the fiddler good luck

Attracts money

Prevents fights from breaking out

Gives the fiddler courage (for contests?)

Makes the fiddle (a feminine instrument) more masculine and hence more suitable for a man to play

Absorbs excess moisture inside the fiddle

Keeps cobwebs and hence spiders out*

Smells like a rattlesnake and deters mice that might chew the f-holes larger and make a nest inside the fiddle* (I've seen at least three fiddles with the f-holes chewed out by mice.)

 *These attributes may actually be factual.

(-: Phil

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Forbes, Rick J.<mailto:forbesrj at ornl.gov> 
  To: Friends and Members of NOTSBA<mailto:friends at nashvilleoldtime.org> 
  Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 6:13 AM
  Subject: Re: [NOTSBA Friends] Rattlesnake Rattles

  Folks,

  I have a friend from West Virginia who is a great banjo and fiddle
  performer, Dwight Diller.  He told the story that at one time (even
  today in the mountains) the fiddle was considered the devils'
  instrument.  The story goes that rattlesnake rattles were dropped into
  the fiddle to ward off the devil when playing.

  Rick 

  -----Original Message-----
  From: friends-bounces at nashvilleoldtime.org<mailto:friends-bounces at nashvilleoldtime.org>
  [mailto:friends-bounces at nashvilleoldtime.org] On Behalf Of
  nboone at mtsu.edu<mailto:nboone at mtsu.edu>
  Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 6:00 PM
  To: Friends and Members of NOTSBA
  Subject: Re: [NOTSBA Friends] Rattlesnake Rattles

  Can you remove my name from this email list?

  Many thanks.
  nancy boone allsbrook

  ---- Original message ----
  >Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 14:41:13 -0500
  >From: "phillip sparks" <kpsparks at msn.com<mailto:kpsparks at msn.com>>
  >Subject: Re: [NOTSBA Friends] Rattlesnake Rattles
  >To: "Friends and Members of NOTSBA" <friends at nashvilleoldtime.org<mailto:friends at nashvilleoldtime.org>>
  >
  >Jack,
  >
  >I just noticed your question about whether the rattle is glued or left 
  >loose in
  the fiddle. 
  >
  >It is left loose,
  >
  >(-: Phil
  >  ----- Original Message -----
  >  From: Jack Montgomery<mailto:jack.montgomery at wku.edu<mailto:jack.montgomery at wku.edu>>
  >  To: Friends and Members of 
  >NOTSBA<mailto:friends at nashvilleoldtime.org<mailto:friends at nashvilleoldtime.org>>
  >  Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 9:28 AM
  >  Subject: Re: [NOTSBA Friends] Rattlesnake Rattles
  >
  >
  >  Hi folks, 
  >     This is Jack Montgomery of Western Kentucky University.  I mostly

  > lurk on this page but when I heard of the rattlesnake rattles, my  
  > folklorist ears perked up!  I checked a site run by a acquaintance of

  > mine and found the following piece:
  >
  >  > *RATTLESNAKE RATTLES*
  >  > The rattler has a reputation for bravery because it warns its 
  > victim  > before it strikes. The famous Revolutionary War flag 
  > depicting the  > rattlesnake and the slogan "Don't Tread On Me" 
  > probably expresses the  > sort of bravado that led 19th century men to

  > use rattlesnake rattles  > (or gold facsimiles of them) as lucky watch

  > fobs. It may also be as an  > emblem of bravery -- or as a remnant of 
  > African snake-worship -- that  > rattlesnake rattles are placed in 
  > *hoodoo*  >
  <http://www.luckymojo.com/hoodoo.html<http://www.luckymojo.com/hoodo<http://www.luckymojo.com/hoodoo.html%3Chttp://www.luckymojo.com/hoodo>
  o.html>> style *conjure bags* 
  >  >
  <http://www.luckymojo.com/mojo.html<http://www.luckymojo.com/mojo.htm<http://www.luckymojo.com/mojo.html%3Chttp://www.luckymojo.com/mojo.htm>
  l>> designed to produce *gambling
  >  > luck*
  <http://www.luckymojo.com/gamblersluck.html<http://www.luckymojo.com/g<http://www.luckymojo.com/gamblersluck.html%3Chttp://www.luckymojo.com/g>
  amblersluck.html>>, especially by 
  >  > poker players, for whom a bluff or show of strength is part of the
  game.
  >  >
  >  > My favourite use for rattlesnake rattles is the Appalachian  > 
  > fiddle-players' custom of placing them in one's instrument before  > 
  > entering a fiddle contest. Even folks who do not believe the rattles  
  > > will help them win a contest may add a rattle to their fiddle to 
  > make  > it "sound better." The origin of this belief is unknown, but 
  > it is  > quite commonly encountered, even to the present day. In the 
  > South,  > rattlesnake rattles are sometimes placed in guitars for the 
  > same  > reason. In 1999, James Beverly
  (dulcijlb at tsixroads.com<mailto:dulcijlb at tsixroads.com<mailto:dulcijlb at tsixroads.com%3Cmailto:dulcijlb at tsixroads.com>>), who had 
  >  > purchased some rattles from me to use in his instruments, wrote 
  > with  > this information:
  >  >
  >  >     I just got back from the music festival in Owensboro, KY. A lot
  of
  >  >     elder (over 70) fiddle players from Appalachia were there and I
  >  >     asked about the rattlesnake rattles in the fiddles (which most
  >  >     had). Here were the responses:
  >  >
  >  >     1) All mentioned that the rattles inside "sang along" with the
  >  >     music giving it a better & sweeter sound.
  >  >
  >  >     2) One wonderful old gentleman from North Carolina said that
  his
  >  >     grandfather told him that "way back, the fiddle used to be a
  >  >     woman's instrument and putting the rattles inside
  'masculinizes'
  >  >     it for men folk to play".
  >  >
  >  > To correspond with musicians about the folkloric use of rattlesnake

  > > rattles in fiddles, see *Phil Campbell's Rattlesnakes and Fiddles  >

  > page*
  <http://www.infopoint.com/people/phil/rattler_bait.html<http://www.infop<http://www.infopoint.com/people/phil/rattler_bait.html%3Chttp://www.infop>
  oin
  t.com/people/phil/rattler_bait.html>>. 
  >
  >  
  http://www.luckymojo.com/rattlesnake.html<http://www.luckymojo.com/rattl<http://www.luckymojo.com/rattlesnake.html%3Chttp://www.luckymojo.com/rattl>
  e
  snake.html>
  >
  >  This is really cool stuff!  Does this agree with your views?  Is the 
  >  rattle glued in place or left loose inside the instrument?   I am 
  >  getting ready to start fiddle lessons and this is so interesting.
  >
  >  Best wishes,  Jack
  >
  >
  >
  >
  >  Don wrote:
  >
  >  >Phil:
  >  >Pick out 3 sets for me.
  >  >Don
  >  >
  >  >-----Original Message-----
  >  >From: friends-bounces at nashvilleoldtime.org<mailto:friends<mailto:friends-bounces at nashvilleoldtime.org%3Cmailto:friends>-
  bounces at nashvilleoldtime.org<mailto:bounces at nashvilleoldtime.org>>
  >  >[mailto:friends-bounces at nashvilleoldtime.org] On Behalf Of phillip 
  > sparks
  >  >Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 6:07 PM
  >  >To: Notsba Group; Old-Time at Pegram
  >  >Subject: [NOTSBA Friends] Rattlesnake Rattles  >  >Friends,  >  
  > >Once again, I have a good supply of rattlesnake rattles.
  >  >
  >  >They are all of good quality and are all the right size for fiddles.
  >  >
  >  >I paind $5 each for them and will sell them for $10 each. (The 
  > quality is  >better and the price is lower than my previous batch.)  >

  > >If you would like one or more, let me know. They may all disappear 
  > when I
  go
  >  >to Mt Airy and Clifftop.
  >  >
  >  >(-: Phil Sparks
  >  >_______________________________________________
  >  >Friends mailing list
  >  >Friends at nashvilleoldtime.org
  >  
  > >http://nashvilleoldtime.org/mailman/listinfo/friends_nashvilleoldtime
  > .org
  >  >
  >  >
  >  >_______________________________________________
  >  >Friends mailing list
  >  >Friends at nashvilleoldtime.org
  >  
  > >http://nashvilleoldtime.org/mailman/listinfo/friends_nashvilleoldtime
  > .org
  >  >
  >  >
  >  _______________________________________________
  >  Friends mailing list
  >  Friends at nashvilleoldtime.org<mailto:Friends at nashvilleoldtime.org<mailto:Friends at nashvilleoldtime.org%3Cmailto:Friends at nashvilleoldtime.org>>
  >  
  http://nashvilleoldtime.org/mailman/listinfo/friends_nashvilleoldtime.or<http://nashvilleoldtime.org/mailman/listinfo/friends_nashvilleoldtime.or>
  g<http:
  //nashvilleoldtime.org/mailman/listinfo/friends_nashvilleoldtime.org>
  >_______________________________________________
  >Friends mailing list
  >Friends at nashvilleoldtime.org
  >http://nashvilleoldtime.org/mailman/listinfo/friends_nashvilleoldtime.o
  >rg

  _______________________________________________
  Friends mailing list
  Friends at nashvilleoldtime.org<mailto:Friends at nashvilleoldtime.org>
  http://nashvilleoldtime.org/mailman/listinfo/friends_nashvilleoldtime.or<http://nashvilleoldtime.org/mailman/listinfo/friends_nashvilleoldtime.or>
  g

  _______________________________________________
  Friends mailing list
  Friends at nashvilleoldtime.org<mailto:Friends at nashvilleoldtime.org>
  http://nashvilleoldtime.org/mailman/listinfo/friends_nashvilleoldtime.org<http://nashvilleoldtime.org/mailman/listinfo/friends_nashvilleoldtime.org>