Urgent request for song set in 1779 (or so)!

Subject: Urgent request for song set in 1779 (or so)!
From: RS
Date: 26 Dec 97 - 11:17 PM

Here's a challenger for you all. My daughter is writing a story set in the U.S. in 1779, which opens with a father who has been away to war, returning to his family. He is in disguise, so when his daughter in the story first sees him she does not recognise him. But she recognises the tune of the song he is humming, and starts singing the words to herself - something about someone who has been away for a long time and is now returning home.

Of course my daughter could just invent some appropriate songwords, or even leave it vague, but I thought it would be really neat if she could quote an actual period song, which would give her story greater realism.

And this is for a story competition which closes at year-end! ... any ideas???

[ By the way, the other quandrary she has had, has been about the money used in those days. Would it have been dollars, pounds, pence, or others? And how much would the fare have been, for example, to take a boat across Lake Ontario, in the currency of the times? ... not really a musical question, but maybe someone out there will know! ]

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!

- R.S.

Subject: RE: Urgent request for song set in 1779 (or so)!
From: rosebrook
Date: 26 Dec 97 - 11:55 PM

R.S.

I don't know how appropriate this is, but I immediately thought of Barrett's Privateers, which begins,

O the year was 1778...

and I just bet you can find it in the database! Other than the "goddamn them all!" (my favorite) part, it might work!

Rosebrook

Subject: RE: Urgent request for song set in 1779 (or so)!
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Dec 97 - 12:02 AM

Of course, "Barrett's Privateers" was written by Stan Rogers in the late 20th century - but it does fit the period quite well. I sure like that song. Why not skip the accuracy and go for a good song?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Urgent request for song set in 1779 (or so)!
From: Murray
Date: 27 Dec 97 - 02:05 AM

I suggest something more like "The Lover Returns in Disguise" [motif--there's plenty songs on the theme]--and PLEASE don't use Stan Rogers' song. Accuracy every time! Besides, it isn't really a terribly good song, in my opinion.

Subject: RE: Urgent request for song set in 1779 (or so)!
From: Barry
Date: 27 Dec 97 - 02:15 AM

The Bold Benjamin, first printed in the 1680's, Sailing In The Lowlands or The Golden Vanity appeared around the same time. Leaping another 40 yrs ahead you'd hear Captain Kidd, with the same tune came Admiral Benbow around the end of 1700's. The Bold Princess Royal (J.Colcord claims) comes from around the time of the American Revolution or right after, the song Jack Tar coming on the scene just before that. Fare Ye Well, Lovely Nancy in one form or another goes back as far as the 1680's. Predating that is Sir Francis Drake, Captain Mansfield's Fight With The Turks At Sea a version of The Royal Oak would come a little later, in the 1760's William Taylor & Spanish Ladies were humming they're way about, with The Ship In Distress not far behind. The tunes to some of these are probly in the DT. Barry

Subject: RE: Urgent request for song set in 1779 (or so)!
From: Barry
Date: 27 Dec 97 - 02:18 AM

I should've mentioned that I took that bunck from the Oxford Book Of Sea Song by Roy Palmer,Oxford Univ. Press, 1986 Barry

Subject: RE: Urgent request for song set in 1779 (or so)!
From:
Date: 29 Dec 97 - 06:46 PM

I think Barrett's Privateers is a great song, but hardly suitable. It is a Nova Scotian returning home after fighting the Americans, so it is unlikely an American would be singing it. It also isn't like sea songs of the period I have heard.

I'll stand corrected on this, but I don't think the Americans in 1779 would have crossed Lake Ontario to fight, for the simple reason that there was very little on the Canadian side to fight for. Ontario really wasn't settled until after Loyalists came up after the Revolutionary War. Americans did go and attack Quebec City, but unfortunately for them in a blizzard and they took a licking from the English and the French-Canadians. (They had alienated the French Canadians by not paying for food they took, and the English convinced the French Canadians that the Americans would not tolerate Catholicism.) They did take Montreal at one point and Ben Franklin took the opportunity to introduce the first printing press in Canada. There were plenty of battles around the Great Lakes during the War of 1812, however.

There was some action on the east coast. Washington was unhappy that American privateers were raiding Nova Scotia, as he had hoped to get the Bluenosers to join the cause. The Yankee privateers weren't all bad, though. When they raided Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, they looted the bakery and handed out sweets to the village children.

How about Dark-Eyed Sailor, as performed by Steeleye Span? It is about a sailor who returns and is not instantly recognized by his girlfriend.

Subject: RE: Urgent request for song set in 1779 (or so)!
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 29 Dec 97 - 08:57 PM

Sorry I didn't get into this earlier, but if you search for 177* you'll come up with a mess of songs from that decade. Dam' versatile database!

Subject: RE: Urgent request for song set in 1779 (or so)!
From: Selene
Date: 30 Dec 97 - 05:44 PM

I believe "streets of Laredo" has been along for a while, maybe that would work? I also believe that Simple Gifts (yes, it's a fav. of mine) has been around for a while, but I'm not sure how long

In which country is this story set?

Selene

Subject: RE: Urgent request for song set in 1779 (or so)!
From: RS
Date: 31 Dec 97 - 05:26 PM

Well thanks to all for your suggestions ... in the end my daughter described the song, rather than actually quoting lyrics. But it was fun looking through the songs suggested, & I learned quite a few new ones I might otherwise never have discovered!

I will take the liberty of quoting from my daughter's story ...

"Joan trudged after Mary, drying her eyes on her apron. In the sudden tranquillity, Joan realized that someone was singing a song that was vaguely familiar. A sad song, hauntingly beautiful. She glanced up, and saw an old, limping man, with a long white beard, carrying only a cane and a small cloth bag, wearing threadbare clothes. Why was anybody on this little back road at all? It only went from the farm to the house. The man must have come out of the woods. But the song! It was about returning home after many years away. That's where she had heard it before! When she was very small, Father used to sing it while Uncle David played the fiddle, before they both left to fight for the King against the revolutionaries. The song brought back so many memories, it almost felt as though the war had never happened."

The old man turns out to be Joan's father, returning home in disguise, and the rest of the story chronicles the family's flight from the United States, to settle as Loyalists in Upper Canada.

Happy New Year to you all!

- R.S.

Subject: RE: Urgent request for song set in 1779 (or so)!
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Jan 98 - 01:53 AM

I'd say your daughter really has a gift, RS. I'll bet you're proud of her. That was terrific!
-Joe Offer-