Sailing Through Song LONG

SAILING THROUGH SONG

a musical journey from the british isles to the modern united states

why did people migrate?

what do we take with us?

what do we leave behind?

ENGLAND

SCOTLAND

WALES

IRELAND

THE BRITISH ISLES

ENGLISH COLONIZATION AND IMMIGRATION

The Lost Colony

The Jamestown Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony

The 13 Original Colonies

key moments

ENGLand

May it please you, her Majesties subjects of England, we your friends and countrey-men, the planters of Virginia, doe by these presents let you and every of you to understand, that for the present and speedy supply of certaine our knowen and apparent lackes and needes, most requisite and necessary for the good and happie planting of us, or any other in this land of Virginia, wee all of one minde & consent, have most earnestly intreated, and uncessantly requested John White, Governour of the planters in Virginia, to passe into England, for the better and more assured helpe, and setting forward of the foresayd supplies. The 25 of August 1587.

Roanoke Colonists’ Appeal to John White

Traditional naval song, first registered in 1624 but first appears in its current form in 1796

spanish ladies

VIDEO

LYRICS

SEA SHANTIES

SHEET MUSIC

RESOURCES

england

Polyphony and Medieval Music Here are some modern examples ... Sting & Edin Karamazov. Come Again. John Dowland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMDURI-mumI Have you seen the lily grow Robert Johnson 1616 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czOBMOP44w0 Grantchester meadows. Pink Floyd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DAdWcsM7Po

The Highland clearances

The Act of Union 1707

The Jacobite Rebellion

The Highland Clearances

key moments

scotland

1750-1850

"Henry Mayer ... by these Presents doth bind ... himself Servant to the said Abraham Hestant .... [or] his Executors and Assigns, from ... the Date hereof, for ... the full Term of Three Years... During all which Term, the said Servant ... faithfully shall serve ... honestly, and obediently in all Things, as a good and dutiful Servant ought to do. AND the said Abraham Hestant [or] his Executors and Assigns, during the said Term, shall find and provide for the said Henry Mayer sufficient Meat, Drink, Apparrell [sic], Washing and Lodging, and at the Expiration of the said term ... Henry Mayer [is] to be Made free and [to] Recieve [sic] from the said Abraham Hestant two suits of Apparrell [sic] one whereof to be new..."

Indenture of Henry Mayer to Abraham Hestant

Lyrics: attributed to Scottish poet Robert Burns (1788); traditionalTune: first appeared with these lyrics in 1799

auld lang syne

VIDEO

LYRICS

HOGMANAY

SHEET MUSIC

RESOURCES

scotland

Traditional Scottish Music http://www.danzasescocesas.com/p/la-musica.html The most typical rhythmns in Scottish music are: - Reel https://app.box.com/s/ftvy8qgmge - Jig https://app.box.com/s/q5u8461i6m - Strathspey https://app.box.com/s/kv7z6chjax Example: Sailor’s Hornpipe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt9KAuu4KsU https://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/video/wests-hornpipe.html

WELSH immigration to north america

King Charles II and religious intolerance

Cambria (Western Pennsylvania)

American Presidents with Welsh roots

key facts

wALES

1642 - Present Day

Thomas Jefferson James Monroe Abraham Lincoln Calvin Coolidge Richard Nixon

Lyrics: Daniel James (Gwyrosydd) 1890sTune: by Welsh composer Landore John Hughes (1872–1914)

CALON LâN (A pUre Heart)

VIDEO

LYRICS

SHEET MUSIC

RESOURCES

wALES

Cymraeg (WELSH LANGUAGE)

Did you know that Tom Jones, Bonnie Tyler, Shirley Bassey, John Cale and Stereophonics are all Welsh?

key facts

IRELAND

the great famine

A famine that occurred in Ireland from 1845–49 when the potato crop failed.

NEARLY 1 MILLION DIED

UP TO 2 MILLION EMIGRATED

1841-1850 HALF OF THE IMMIGRANTS TO THE USA WERE IRISH

Many and deep are the wounds that the sensitive heart inflicts upon its possessor, as he journeys through life's pilgrimage but on few occasions are they so acutely felt as when one is about to part from those who formed a portion of his existence; deeper still pierces the pang as the idea presents itself that the separation may be for ever, but when one feels a father's nervous grasp, a dear sister's tender, sobbing embrace and the eye wanders around the apartment, drinking in each familiar object, until it rests upon the vacant chair which she who nursed his helpless infancy was wont to occupy, then the agony he wishes to conceal becomes insupportable. But as the skilful surgeon tears off the bandage which the hand of affection gently withdraws from the wound, thereby unconsciously inflicting greater pain, so it is better not to linger upon the affecting scene but rush suddenly away.Too soon I arrived at the quay and left my last footprint on my native land. The boat pushed off and in a few minutes I was on board the brig that was to waft me across the wide Atlantic.

Robert Whyte's 1847 Famine Ship Diary

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper/SADLIER/IRISH/RWhyte.htm

A folk song written by Pete St. John in 1979 based on the story of the Great Famine

the fields of athenry

VIDEO

LYRICS

RUGBY

SHEET MUSIC

RESOURCES

IRELAND

60 minutes Irish Jigs, Reels & polkas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boFfRjaZXQ0

The Transatlantic Slave Trade

Moonshine and Appalachia

The Great Depression and Delta Blues

American Folk Music

NORTH AMERICA

key facts

transatlantic slave trade

The transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people to the Americas 15th-19th Century

FORCIBLY BROUGHT +10 MILLION AFRICANS

TRIANGULAR TRADE & THE MIDDLE PASSAGE

THE LEGACY OF SLAVERY IN AMERICA

At last, when the ship we were in had got in all her cargo, they made ready with many fearful noises, and we were all put under deck, so that we could not see how they managed the vessel. But this disappointment was the least of my sorrow. The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so intolerably loathsome, that it was dangerous to remain there for any time, and some of us had been permitted to stay on the deck for the fresh air; but now that the whole ship’s cargo were confined together, it became absolutely pestilential. The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us. This produced copious perspirations, so that the air soon became unfit for respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died, thus falling victims to the improvident avarice, as I may call it, of their purchasers.

Olaudah Equiano Describes the Middle Passage, 1789

Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton

amazing grace

VIDEO

LYRICS

SHEET MUSIC

RESOURCES

transatlantic slave trade

THE BANJO AND BLACK AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC

key facts

moonshine and appalachia

Prohibition Era 1920-1933

ORIGINATED IN THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT

LED TO MOONSHINERS AND BOOTLEGGERS

NASCAR

A folk song said to originate in both Appalachia and Ireland, it was first recorded in 1927.

the moonshiner

VIDEO

LYRICS

RESOURCES

moonshine and appalachia

SCOTS IRISH MUSIC IN APPALACHIA

key facts

The great depression and DELTA blues

Worldwide economic downturn1929-1939

LONGEST AND MOST SEVERE ECONOMIC CRISIS IN MODERN HISTORY

THE NUMBERS

THE "DUST BOWL"

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION FELL 47% THE GDP FELL 30% UNEMPLOYMENT REACHED 20%

Dust clouds over Texas, 1936 (Library of Congress)

A Delta Blues song written and recorded by Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James in 1931.

hard time killing floor blues

VIDEO

LYRICS

RESOURCES

DELTA BLUES

The great depression and delta blues

SHEET MUSIC

Think that American Blues has nothing to do with traditional music from the British Isles? Check out the song "Oh Death" performed here by Ralph Stanley: A capella: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMHB40N3ejc Guitar, Banjo and Vocals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7q5SHNDJAc

One of the most famous American folk songs, written by Woody Guthrie in 1940.

Woody Guthrie, American Folk Singer (1912 - 1967)

this land is your land

VIDEO

LYRICS

RESOURCES

SHEET MUSIC

AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC

Different styles of American Folk Music Appalachian clogging: Min 2:30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nU54oas9Lk Appalachian Journey Alan Lomax 1991 Songs (minute 3:15 and minute 48) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXh8SDp0H-E Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys: Waltz in D, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL6Jo3CJAhE Gambling polka dot blues https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwCFu4Y4Y6I Ida Red: excellent example of a mix of styles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtbZ8dp2AIw Spanish Two step:1935 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvjoaUKt1MY

what will you take with you?