It’s Sonny Boy Williamson I singing Ground Hog Blues. He was born John Lee Curtis in 1914 and died in 1948. Wikipedia says he is known as the father of modern blues harp, best known for Good Morning, School Girl, and Stop Breaking Down. He and Muddy Waters played together. He was shot and killed in a robbery. I have one of his records I’ll get to later.
Doc Watson gathers the family around to sing about hunting a groundhog. The lyrics call it a whistle pig. The Dictionary of American Regional English confirms that the usage was widespread in Appalachia. My Random House unabridged dictionary tells me groundhogs are marmots, derived from the Old French for murmur, referring to the whistling noises such animals make. I never knew. In German to sleep like a marmot is to sleep long and hard, with no mention of whistling. I hope you enjoy this break from a steady stream of Punxsutawney Phil and the movie Groundhog Day.
converselyspeaking 