“Flop-Eared Mule” is a widely played American fiddle tune of disputed but probably-19th-century origin. The earliest documented connection is to Adam Couse’s 1854 publication “Detroit Schottische,” and some musicologists treat the Couse piece as the tune’s progenitor. The piece functions as a schottische, polka, quadrille, or breakdown depending on tradition, with the rhythm typically straightened into a driving reel in modern bluegrass and old-time settings.
The tune has been recorded continuously since the early 78-rpm era. William B. Houchens (1884–1949) made one of the earliest recordings; he was followed in quick succession by Uncle Jimmy Thompson (1926), Ernest Stoneman (1927), Fiddlin’ John Powers (1927), Doc Roberts (1928), the Kessinger Brothers (1929), and the Skillet Lickers (1930) — an unusual concentration of early commercial recordings that fixed the tune in the early country music canon.
“Flop-Eared Mule” has been played throughout the South, including the Ozarks, North Carolina, and the Galax, Virginia area, and originally served as a barn-dance and square-dance tune at community gatherings. It crosses comfortably between the old-time and bluegrass repertoires, and is also known under various alternate titles including “The Donkey Reel.” The Polish–Central European theory of origin (sometimes proposed) is undocumented; the more solid trail is to Couse’s 1854 Detroit publication.