The 19th-century minstrel entertainer Dan Emmett composed many pieces that are still familiar today, including “Dixie,” “Old Dan Tucker,” and “The Boatsman’s Dance.” The latter has survived both as a song with lyrics and as an instrumental fiddle tune. There are numerous versions of “The Boatsman” in different tunings, keys, structures circulating in the old-time music scene, including popular ones by Melvin Wine, Marcus Martin, and Mike Seeger. In this lesson, Bruce teaches a lovely setting that comes by way of Ed Haley, an early 20th-century Kentucky fiddler (b. 1885 in West Virginia) whose intricate bowing and expressive phasing made him what some have called “the greatest fiddler of his time.” You can listen to a field recording of him playing “Boatsman”  in his unique style on the Slippery-Hill website. For this setting, the fiddle is in “sawmill” tuning, with the two low strings up a full step to AEAE. Although the melody typically has three parts, Bruce teaches Haley’s version, which repeats the B section at the end, rendering it a four-part tune with an AABBCCBB structure. In this video, Bruce talks about Ed Haley’s legacy and teaches the A part of the tune. He also offers some specific tips for emulating Haley’s remarkable bowing.