This tune comes from West Virginia fiddler Tom Whit of Mingo County. In 1940 Louis Watson Chappell recorded 22 tunes in the town of Kirk. (These tunes and many others now reside in the “West Virginia and Regional History Collection” at West Virginia University at Morgantown.) In the recording Whit does say “Come back boys,” and then his words become unintelligible. So we improvised and came up with this simple pre-tune verse. We hope the cover painting aptly portrays the sentiment of our verse. We have no information on its provenance, but the title words that implore the youth to carry out their responsibility are timeless.
