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Red Buck/The Vance Song
Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, West Virginia.
ARTIST: from Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 69.
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: Negro Poems By William C. Blades 1921; Dates back to minstrel era; published in 1967 by Thede;
RECORDING INFO: Shanachie Records 6040, Gerry Milnes & Lorriane Lee Hammond - "Hell Up Coal Holler" (1999. Learned from Pocahontas County, West Virginia, fiddler Burl Hammons).
OTHER NAMES/RELATED TO: "Carve Dat Possum," "Bile Them Cabbage Down."
SOURCES: Thede; Ceolas; Folk Index;
NOTES: Gerry Milnes says the name derives from an old ballad called variously "Vance's Confession," "Vance No More," and "The Death of Abner Vance." Abner Vance was a West Virginia preacher near the Sandy River on the Kentucky/West Virginia border. He had a daughter and discovered that she had been molested by a man. Catching up with the perpetrator Vance killed him as he attempted to escape. Vance was tried and hanged for the crime, despite considerable public sentiment that his sentence be mitigated.
Abner Vance b. abt 1759/60 Surrey Co NC, d. Jul 16 1819 Abington VA
Swore the Oath of Allegiance in Chatham VA on Jul 29 1777. Abner Vance
and Thomas Vance were on tax the lists of 1782-87 in Montgomery Co VA.
Abner enumerated on the 1789, 1791-99 and 1802 Russell Co VA Personal
Property tax list. Other Vances who lived in Russell Co bef 1800 were
Matthew Vance, Phillip Vance, Samuel Vance, and John Vance. 1784 Abner
Vance and James Howard were on the Surry Co NC tax list as owning 250
acres of land. The Southwest Virginia Folk Lore Society at Appalachia
VA, acknowledges Abner Vance's Death Ballad as the oldest song, still
in existence which was written west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The
Lynchburg Press of Jul 27 1819 had this to say, "On Friday the 16th
Instant, Abner Vance was executed at Abingdon, in pursuance of his
sentence, for the murder of Lewis Horton. He addressed the spectators,
about four thousand, for an hour and a half with considerable ability;
he died with the most heroic fortitude. He accused some of giving false
evidence against him; and said that if he had obtained a fair trial,
and nothing but the truth had been sworn against him, he thought the
penitentiary would have been proper punishment for his offense."
Several details concerning "The Vance Song" are sketchy, but the story centers around the murder of Lewis Horton in 1817. According to oral history, Abner Vance was a hunter and/or a preacher. His daughter had a sexual encounter with either neighbor Lewis Horton or Lewis' brother Daniel. As a result, Vance quarreled with the Hortons and ended up shooting Lewis off his horse at the Clinch River. Again, oral history suggests that Vance may have actually intended to kill Daniel Horton.
Both Vance and his wife were tried in Russell County for the murder, but only Abner was convicted. After a series of appeals, the original conviction was upheld, and Vance was hung in Washington County in 1819.
"The Vance Song" is unusual in that it is autobiographical. Abner Vance reportedly composed and sang it while awaiting his execution. The song went into oral tradition and was still known in Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky more than a century after Vance's death. It has also been collected under the titles "Vance's Song," and "Vance's Farewell."
"Red Buck" from Kuntz:
Green are the woods where Sandy flows,
And Peace it dwelleth there;
In the valley the bear they lie secure,
The red buck roves the knobs.
"The Vance Song"
Bright shines the sun on Clinch's Hill.
So soft the west wind blows.
The valleys are lined with flowers gay,
Perfumed with the wild rose.
Green are the woods through which Sandy flows.
Peace dwells in the land.
The bear doth live in the laurel green.
The red buck roves the hills.
But Vance no more on Sandy behold
Nor drink its crystal waves.
The partial judge announced his doom.
The hunters found his grave.
There's Daniel, Bill, and Lewis,
A lie against me swore
In order to take my life away
That I may be no more.
But I and them shall meet again
When Immanuel's trumpet shall blow.
Perhaps I'll be wrapped in Abraham's bosom
When they roll in the gulf below.
My body it will be laid in the tomb.
My flesh it will decay,
But the blood that was shed on Calvary
Has washed my sins away.
Farewell, farewell, my old sweetheart,
Your face I'll see no more.
I'll meet you in the world above,
Where parting is no more.
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