Lyr Req: Rosario (C. Fox Smith)

Subject: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 Sep 05 - 01:06 PM

I'm been trying unsuccessfully to identify what poem by Cicely Fox Smith is related to
a fragment quoted by sea shanty collector and editor Joanna Colcord.

"Rosario" is a little port in Argintina on the Rio de la Plata where Capt. Lincoln Colcord and his family aboard the barkentine Clara E. McGilvery arrived in 1889 to deliver and pick up cargo.

Years after, in "Childhood at Sea," Colcord says the whole experience was brought back when her friend C. Fox Smith wrote:

"Oh, wake her – oh, shake her! – and it's good-bye to the shore,
With the north wind in her topsails and the whole wide world before…
Sou'west an' a half west and steady as you go….
For we've a long road to travel to Rosario!"

I've gone through several of C. Fox Smith's poetry books and can't find a reference to "Rosario" or the lines above. I don't have all her poetry books but I may well have missed the lines in one of the ones I do have.

I would appreciate any help.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 20 Sep 05 - 07:47 PM

I don't think this poem is on this site - but there's a bibliography that might be helpful.

I wish someone could get together a collected poems edition. And republish some of the other books. And a biography would be fascinating - there's a potted one on that site I linked to, just enough to whet the appetite.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 Sep 05 - 08:13 PM

McGrath-

I agree that a new collected edition of her poems would be a wonderful service. Her old poetry books that are avalable frequently overlap and some of them are getting quite costly. Most were only published in the 1920's or early 1930's.

I added some notes on how she supported herself and where she most likely worked in Victoria, BC, during her 10 years there in the early 1900's; you can find my notes near the end of the regular C. Fox Smith thread.

So far I've only seen the most bare bones biography, put together by Alan Hardy, which is at least a start. I'm sure she kept a journal but unfortunately it hasn't surfaced.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 20 Sep 05 - 08:23 PM

Charley, if we list the books we have, maybe the one with the bit about 'Rosario' will be left. A published poems edition would be valuable because a few are buried in her novels and historical works.

I have only "A Sea Chest," Sea Songs and Ballads," and "Full Sail."

Others include "Sailor Town Days," "More Sailor Town Days," "Ship Alley," "A Book of Famous Ships," "Tales of the Clipper Ships," A Book of Shanties," "The Return of the "Cutty Sark.""
Others (mostly fiction and descriptive)
The Ship Aground
The Valiant Sailor
Painted Ports
Ocean Racers
Ancient Mariners
There Was a Ship
Knave-Go-By
Ship Models
Adventurea and Perils
And more??

The books were popular; most are available at reasonable prices.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 20 Sep 05 - 08:42 PM

Correction- "A Book of Shanties" is not reasonable in price; much inflated because of those shanty singers.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 Sep 05 - 09:06 PM

The CFS poetry books I have include:

SAILOR TOWN: Sea Songs & Ballads, 1919
SMALL CRAFT: Sailor Ballads & Chantys, 1919
SEA SONGS & BALLADS: 1917-22, 1924
ROVINGS: Sea Songs & Ballads, 1921
FULL SAIL: More Sea Songs & Ballads, 1926
SAILOR'S DELIGHT, 1931

There are occasional CFS poems sprinkled in among other people's sea poems in A SEA CHEST: An Anthology of Ships & Sailormen, 1927

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: Deckman
Date: 20 Sep 05 - 09:15 PM

Charlie ...I hope that this is a good tip for you. "Rosario" is also the name of a very famous early developement (now a fancy resort), in the American San Juans, just south of Vancouver. If you google "Rosario" and search for the development of the limestone kilns, I'm sure you'll pick up the track. Again, I hope this clue helps. CHEERS to you and Judy! Bob(deckman)Nelson

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 20 Sep 05 - 11:36 PM

Rosario, Argentina is quite the city now, with a number of 4-star hotels, and even a Howard Johnson hotel. It has 1.3 million people, but many of them are desperately poor.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 21 Sep 05 - 09:45 AM

At least in the context of the fragment I posted, it seems certain CFS was refering to Rosario, Argentina.

I went through my collection of CFS poetry books again last night, and other than being diverted for several hours I turned up no relevant clues.

I may do better if I can gain access to the Joanne Colcord archives here in Maine at the Penobscot Maritime Museum. The poem may be in a private letter from CFS to Colcord. The poem fragment was actually cited, pp. 16-17, in a recently published collection of Colcord family letters entitled LETTERS FROM SEA 1882-1901, edited by Parker Bishop Albee, Jr., Tilbury House, Gardener, ME, 1999.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: Dave Earl
Date: 21 Sep 05 - 10:24 AM

Have you contacted Danny Mcleod?

He has the most complete CFS collection that I am aware of.

Dave Earl

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 21 Sep 05 - 07:20 PM

It'd be a good thing if someone could organise a C.Fox Smith website which could gather together and make available online all the C Fox Smith songs and books that are scattered around on various people's bookshelves.

If that trod on the toes of anybody with copyright to them, that could maybe serve as a spur to getting them published once more in tangible form - and unless someone was thinking of doing that I can't see why they would be likely to kick up a fuss about web publication.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 21 Sep 05 - 10:37 PM

Dave-

I'm not sure that Danny and Joyce are back yet from the Pacific Northwest. But I'll certainly ask them to search their files. I agree that they have the most comprehensive collection, and the interest to do something with it.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: Dave Earl
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 08:46 AM

Sorry Charley,

I overlooked the fact that D & J are your side of the water.

Hope you find what you are looking for.

Have you had a chance to look at the handwritten manuscript book by CFS that Danny found somewhere (I think in Australia or New Zealand).

Could be that a fuller version of what you need is in that.

At D & Js CFS workshops that I have been to over the last year or two I have had a chance look through the manuscript. There are a number of poems that were published in her books but also some otherwise unpublished things.

Dave Earl

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 09:22 AM

Dave-

I am hopeful that the fragment may be among the unpublished poems in the manuscript that Danny got from a book dealer in Sydney. Otherwise this may be a very challenging search.

The line "Oh, wake her – oh, shake her!" is, of course, from the traditional shanty "Johnnie Went Down to Hilo.

The poem may well be a sister to "Rio Grande" which is found in SAILOR TOWN: Sea Songs & Ballads, 1919, pp. 28-29, or an earlier draft.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: Dave Earl
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 09:34 AM

Charley

Hope so.

Post the words here if you find them (permission from D Mc if needed).

Always interesting to unearth CFS stuff.

Happy hunting

Dave Earl

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: Shantyfreak
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 11:25 AM

I sem to recollect Rosario in the singing of Pint and Dale on their new CD.
I am gradually posting Cicely Fox Smith onto the web at
http://oldpoetry.com/authors/Cicely%20Fox%20Smith
I will add more as time goes by. Their is a Bibliography but not a full poem list as my collection is not fully comprehensive.
I'll add to this thread if I find the right words.
Jim (Shantyfreak) Saville

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 22 Sep 05 - 08:28 PM

Jim-

Good to hear there is another interested person working on C. Fox Smith poems. Where are you based?

What is the name of the Pint & Dale CD you are referring to?

I've also added some commentary to Oldpoetry.com; it seems like a worthwhile website, though I haven't the patience to deal with their forum. I should probably start adding some of the original CFS poems that I have already processed to that website.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: Shantyfreak
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 12:48 PM

C.N.
The album is called Round the Corner I believe but it is only a guess that it was on that particular CD. I've heard a number of their live concerts so am not sure.
However it is worth it for "The Tryphena's Extra Hand" which is a moving rendition of CFS's marvellous poem. (Although I prefer the pure poetry myself).
I am based in W Yorkshire, England.
As the weekend is upon us I will have a Trawl through my books. I have constructed a database of first lines but that's no help here so have to go back to basics.
Will post here and on Oldpoetry if I find anything relevant.
Jim S

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 01:24 PM

Funnily enough, I just came across Rosario in a setting by Joy Rennie of the English family group Dogwatch. They don't indicate which book it comes from as far as I can see. Though you might ask them.

I don't find a recording by Pint & Dale of this song. Their albums are listed here.

They did do another Fox Smith poem called Blue Peter. That on's on "Round The Corner."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: Anglo
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 02:05 PM

Oops, Don't know why that last post was from "guest." It was I.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 03:15 PM

Anglo-

I suspect you've nailed it. I listened to the snippet of "Rosario" on Dogwatch's CD and it seems consistent with the fragment. I've sent them an e-mail with a request for the original poem and the lyrics to what they're singing, and where they found it.

I will report back, hopefully soon. What joy!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 07:27 PM

Dave-

You are also right! There is a poem entitled "Rosario" in the manuscript that Danny McLeod has, at least there was from the detailed descrirption of that manuscript when it was offered for sale by Sainbury's Books back in 2000. I don't have a copy of the manuscript and Danny says it's too fragile to copy.

So one way or the other we're going to see the full set of verses.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 23 Sep 05 - 08:43 PM

That "old poems" site is an excellent resource - and the potted biography of Fox Smith contained in the link to it I posted earlier is fascinating.

But I'd like a chance to read more of her stuff than the handful of poems which have been turned into songs, or posted on the net. I'd like to see some of her stories and so forth. I'd like to see a picture of what she looked like.

The Internet would make it possible to bring together the stuff enthusiasts have been able to obtain. Isn't it time for an Internet based salvage operation to enable Cicely Fox Smith to rise again, like the Mary Ellen Carter?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 24 Sep 05 - 08:04 AM

I heard from John and Joy Rennie of Dogwatch and they say they'll be happy to provide the full poem, as soon as they get back from their current gig.

Bob Zentz also thinks the poem title is familiar but he's off playing at the Virginia State Fair and won't be back til next weekend.

Meanwhile...It's back to re-painting the bathroom!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: Lyr Add: ROSARIO (C. Fox Smith)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 09:19 PM

Anglo-

You did nail this one!

Here's what John & Joy Rennie of Dogwatch sent me. First, the original poem as distributed to the schools in the UK as a set of "Five Chantey Songs" in 1920 with music by Easthope Martin:

ROSARIO (Anchor Song)

(By Cicely Fox Smith, © 1920)
   
Early in the morning as the moon was in the sky,
Early in the morning I kiss'd my girl goodbye,
For kissing-time is over and it's time and time to go
When you've a long road to travel to Rosario!

Oh wake her, oh shake her! And the Peter's flying free,
And the pilot's come aboard her, and she's hungry for the sea.
Kissing time is over; And it's time and time to go
When you've a long road to travel to Rosario!

The summer'll soon be dead, lass, the leaves'll fade and die,
And white on ev'ry furrow the winter snows'll lie,
But we're bound for the long furrow where never lies the snow,
And we've a long road to travel to Rosario!

Oh wake her – oh shake her! The anchor chain comes in
To a roaring chanty chorus we make the capstan spin.
Sou' west and a half west, and steady as we go,
And we've a long road to travel to Rosario!

And now she smells the deep sea, and now she's gathering way,
And now she meets the rollers in a white smother of spray,
Sou' west and a half west and steady as we go,
And we've a long road to travel to Rosario!

I note that the original fragment:

Oh, wake her – oh, shake her! – and it's good-bye to the shore,
With the north wind in her topsails and the whole wide world before…
Sou'west an' a half west and steady as you go….
For we've a long road to travel to Rosario!"

is not included in these verses and may have been dropped for this publication or added later. Danny McLeod's manuscript of C. Fox Smith's poems lists "Rosario" and we may learn from him if this verse was included there.

Here's the version that Dogwatch worked up for singing on their CD of the same name:

Rosario-2

(Modified and new tune by John and Joy Rennie)

Early in the morning, as the moon was in the sky,
Early in the morning; I kissed my girl goodbye,
For kissing time is over and it's time and time to go
And we've a long, long road to travel to Rosario!
Oh wake her - oh shake her! The Peter's flying free,
The pilot's come aboard her, and she's hungry for the sea.
For kissing time is over and it's time and time to go
And we've a long, long road to travel to Rosario!

The summer'll soon be dead, lass, the leaves'll fade and die,
And white on ev'ry furrow, the winter snows'll lie,
But we're bound for the long, long furrow; where never lies the snow,
And we've a long, long road to travel to Rosario!
Oh wake her - oh shake her! The anchor chain comes in
To a roaring chanty chorus, we make the capstan spin.
For kissing time is over and it's time and time to go
And we've a long, long road to travel to Rosario!

And now she smells the deep sea, and now she's gathering way,
And now she meets the rollers – in a white smother of spray,
It's sou' west and a half west, and steady as we go,
And we've a long, long road to travel to Rosario!
Oh wake her - oh shake her! The moon was in the sky,
Early in the morning; I kissed my girl goodbye,
For kissing time is over and it's time and time to go
And we've a long, long road to travel to Rosario!
Oh wake her - oh shake her! The moon was in the sky,
Early in the morning; I kissed my girl goodbye,
For kissing time is over and it's time and time to go
And we've a long, long road to travel to Rosario!

This has been a gratifying haul, delivered with grace and skill from our collective Mudcat crew. Thank you all very much!

I'm going to ask a Joe Clone to re-name this thread so it includes "Rosario"

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem Fragment?
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 09:27 PM

So - a compilation of SHANTY SONGS - would be a hot item on the e-bay auctions?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem: Rosario
From: Dave Earl
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 03:48 AM

Well done team (and others)

An answer has been found.

Maybe if you ask nicely Danny can transcribe the poem from the manusript.

Dave Earl

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem: Rosario
From: Charley Noble
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 09:27 AM

Dave-

Danny McLeod has been very helpful to those of us who have questions about CFS poems and her life. I think we can depend on him to work up a more comprehensive biography and I know he wants to see her poems republished.

In turn, I've been sending him, and Bob Zentz, copies of everything I've been working on or have turned up independently.

Here's a link back to the regular C. Fox Smith Thread: Click here!

So, Anglo, how did you find "Rosario"? It didn't turn up in my Google searches.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem: Rosario
From: Dave Earl
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 10:07 AM

Charley,

you said "I think we can depend on him to work up a more comprehensive biography and I know he wants to see her poems republished."

I see Danny from time to time during the UK festival season. I have been suggesting to him that he put the results of his research into print. He has said that the idea is great but finding the time to do it will be the problem.

Work is a four letter word!! :-(

Dave Earl

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem: Rosario
From: Charley Noble
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 07:29 PM

Well, Dave, maybe you should pitch in and see what you can come up with as a supplement!

I note that Stan Hugill in his wonderful book SAILORTOWN, p. 244, describes the difficult passage up the river to Rosario:

Rosario de Santa Fe – the "Rosary of Saint Faith" – lies a long way up the Rio Plata and Parana. Nevertheless, in the seventies and eighties, and even later, windbags made the long tedious trip up the river to load grain or Quebracho-wood. They usually anchored every night, and would take from six to thirty days to do the passage. It must be remembered that in those days there were no tugs to be had.

Stan added that ..."when sailors got ashore in the Rosario of Saint Faith, they found the place anything but holy."

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem: Rosario
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 08:42 PM

Publication doesn't have to wait on getting into print. The Internet provides an instant way of publishing anything, once it has been entered on a keyboard.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem: Rosario
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 10:42 PM

Holy Faith, not Saint Faith.
(I was born in Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asisi- the Royal City of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi, so I know the translation).

More than you want to know-
Rosario, Argentina, was founded at a house which stood at the intersection of the roads to Buenos Aires and Santa Fe (About 1700, when it was called Pago de los Arroyos). It is in the federal province called Santa Fe. Closed to non-Argentine traffic from 1841-1850, it didn't become a port of entry and trade until 1850, and was named a city in 1852 (only about 3000 inhabitants). In the 1870s and later, it was a very important port. Officially it is Ciudad De Rosario.
The River has to be dredged periodically to keep it navigable for modern ships. The passage must have been difficult and subject to change in the days of sail.


The 'Holy Faith' seems to be a poetic addition to the name, never an official designation.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem: Rosario
From: JohnB
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 11:54 PM

Prior snippet "First, the original poem as distributed to the schools in the UK as a set of "Five Chantey Songs" in 1920 with music by Easthope Martin:" any chance of a copy of the tune appearing in some sort of format?
JohnB

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem: Rosario
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Sep 05 - 01:57 AM

Martin Easthope (names reversed above). His sets of songs about Fairs, and a set of four or five love songs, are perhaps his best known.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem: Rosario
From: Charley Noble
Date: 27 Sep 05 - 08:29 AM

Q-

The scanned image that John and Joy sent me of the title page says "the music by Easthope Martin" and what looks like his signature is handwritten below. Are you certain the names are reversed.

JohnB-

I'm sure that John and Joy Rennie would be happy to provide a scanned image of Easthope's musical arrangement. They were less than thrilled by it. Contact them at their website: Dogwatch Website

The only outstanding issue seems to be the extra verse I began this thread with, and I guess we'll have to await Danny McLeod's return to the UK to settle that one. But then it might be worthwhile, even fun, to review the Joanne and Lincoln Colcord archives; see you all in 6 months!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem: Rosario
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Sep 05 - 11:33 AM

Easthope Martin is correct- I took the reversal from a music dealers list, which proved to be wrong. Martin has a number of mentions on Google.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem: Rosario
From: Charley Noble
Date: 27 Sep 05 - 11:44 AM

Q-

"Easthope Martin is correct"

Thanks for re-checking. It is an unusual name and I was wondering about it myself.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr. Add.: C. Fox Smith- Rosario (manuscript)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 29 Sep 05 - 02:46 PM

Finally, we get a chance to update this thread! Danny McLeod just got back to the Uk and was gracious enough to immediately send me the words for "Rosario" as they appear in his CFS poetry manuscript and the mystery fragment is the last verse! Here is the complete poem:

Rosario

(Original Poem by Cicely Fox Smith, Danny McLeod's Manuscript, circa 1920)

Early in the morning as the moon was in the sky,
Early in the morning I kissed my girl goodbye,
For kissing-time is over and it's time and time to go
When you've a long road to travel to Rosario!

Oh wake her, oh shake her! And the Peter's flying free,
And the pilot's come aboard her, and she's hungry for the sea.
Kissing time is over; And it's time and time to go
And "a long road to travel to Rosario!"

Summer'll soon be over, the leaves'll fade and die,
And white on every furrow the winter snows'll lie,
But we're bound for the long furrows where never lies the snow,
And we've a long road to travel to Rosario!

Oh wake her – oh shake her! And the cable surges in
To the roar of a chanty chorus as we make the handspikes spin.
Oh she's bound for the long furrows where never lies the snow.
And "a long road to travel to Rosario!"

And now she smells the deep sea, and now she's gathering way,
And now she meets the rollers in a white smother of spray,
Sou'west an' a half west, and steady as we go,
And "a long road to travel to Rosario!"

Oh, wake her – oh, shake her! – and it's good-bye to the shore,
With the north wind in her topsails, and the whole wide world before…
Sou'west an' a half west, and steady as you go….
And a long road to travel to Rosario!"

I would suggest that the version of the poem that was published in FIVE CHANTEY SONGS, Enoch & Sons, © 1920, was edited for distribution to the school children, and in my opinion the editing did not improve the poem.

Now I think I'll see what I can do to adapt this poem for singing.

Thanks again for all the help and interest. I'm also posting this poem to Oldpoetry.com which has recently experienced a great surge of CFS poems being posted.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem: Rosario
From: Charley Noble
Date: 30 Sep 05 - 05:57 PM

"Early" in the first line, of course, should be pronounced "earl-eye" as it is in "Drunken Sailor."

Well, that's one way to refresh this thread before it disappears into oblivion.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem: Rosario
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 30 Sep 05 - 06:54 PM

Since Rosario is in Santa Fe, calling it "Rosario of Holy Faith" isn't "a poetic addition", it's a geographical expression, since that's what Santa Fe means. Like saying "Harlow in Essex" or "New York, New York".

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: C. Fox Smith Poem: Rosario
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 30 Sep 05 - 08:27 PM

My main objection was to the incorrect translation 'saint faith'.

One may say Rosario, in Santa Fe, but not 'of' Santa Fe, but such an addition causes confusion with Santa Fe, the capital city of the Province of Santa Fe. In comparison with Rosario, Santa Fe (city) has remained small. Its original 16c name was Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz (Holy Faith of the true cross).

(Santa Fe (city) has an FM radio station which may be heard online- www.antena1.com.ar

www.fmtangorosario.com.ar occasionally has good music (but carries hard-driving machine-gun delivery advertisements).
The University Nacional de Rosario also has an online station, which can be listened to by a link through www.unr.edu.ar/popradio.htm. Unfortunately, the music is pop, except when they play hard rock (ear plugs required).

Subject: Lyr Add: ROSARIO (C. Fox Smith)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 04 Oct 05 - 05:12 PM

Well, I've done some radical changes to this poem, in adapting it for singing. I was probably heavily influenced by the introductory fragment, "Oh wake her, oh shake her!", from the traditional shanty "Johnny Come Down to Hilo." What I've ended up with is more shanty like than the original poem (copy and paste into WORD/TIMES/12 to line up chords):


Poem by Cicely Fox Smith, Danny McLeod's Manuscript, circa 1920
Adapted by Charles Ipcar, © 2005
Tune after traditional sea shanty chorus "Johnny Come Down to Hilo"
Key: C (7/F)

ROSARIO-3 – Anchor Shanty


C------F----C----------F------C-----F----------C---------Am
Oooh, wake her! Oh, shake her! – Kiss your gal good-bye,
---C----------------F------C---------F---C-----G---C-F--C
So earl-eye in the morn-ing, with the moon still in the sky.

Chorus:

Oooh, wake her! Oh, shake her! – It's time to roll and go;
We've a long road to travel, 'fore we reach Ro-sa-ri-o!

Oooh, wake her! Oh, shake her! - Blue Peter's flying free;
The pilot's come aboard her, and she's hungry for the sea. (CHO)

Oooh, wake her! Oh, shake her! – The cable surges in,
To a roaring shanty chorus we make that capstan spin. (CHO)

Oooh, wake her! Oh, shake her! – See her gather way;
Now she' splits the rollers in a rainbow cloud of spray, (CHO)

Oooh, wake her! Oh, shake her! – It's farewell to the shore,
With the north wind in her tops'ls, and the whole wide world before! (CHO)

Oooh, wake her! Oh, shake her! – And steady as you go;
We've a long road to travel, 'fore we reach Rosario!

If you'd like to hear a MP3 sample of how I sing this, you can hear one on my personal website: Click here!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: Lyr. Add: ROSARIO (C. Fox Smith)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Oct 05 - 02:07 PM

Rosario didn't bring up this thread when entered in the Lyrics and Knowledge Search box.
Curious to see it this might work.
The poem was posted by Charley Noble in this thread 25 Sept 05, 09:19 PM.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rosario (C. Fox Smith)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 28 Oct 05 - 05:06 PM

I agree. The only way to find this thread is by inserting "Rosario" in the filter box and going back a month or so.

I'll add a new thread in the HELP section about this. I'm sure it's not a unique problem.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rosario (C. Fox Smith)
From: GUEST,Eleanor Australia
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 07:37 AM

Hello I think I have found this thread 6 years too late, BUT I have an original copy of the 'Five Chantey Songs' (including poems and sheet music). Would you like me to scan it and email to you?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rosario (C. Fox Smith)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 09:06 AM

Eleanor-

Not to worry. I do have a copy now. Nice to have this old thread revived.

Here's the full citation for the poem:

From Ships and Folks, edited by Cicely Fox Smith, published by Elkin Mathews, London, UK, © 1920, pp. 50-51.

"Oh, wake her – oh, shake her!" are lines from the traditional shanty "Johnny Go Down to Hilo." There are similarities between this poem and "The Long Road Home," especially so in the third verse. A version of this poem was sent by the poet to her friend the American sea music collector Joanna Colcord.

This poem in abridged form, lacking the last verse, was set to music by Easthope Martin and published for school children in Five Chantey Songs, Enoch & Sons, London, UK, © 1920.

Re-adapted for singing by John and Joy Rennie of Dogwatch, as recorded on England Expects, © 2004. An alternative setting was subsequently done by Charles Ipcar as recorded on More Uncommon Sailor Songs, © 2005.

Since 2005, admirers of Cicely Fox Smith around the world have collected about 640 of her poems which are available on her page at the Oldpoetry website. (http://oldpoetry.com/home). We have also learned a lot more details about her life in England and in Victoria, British Columbia, which is summarized in her biography at Oldpoetry. Unfortunately, her journals have not surfaced but we can still hope. An anthology of her poems will be finally published next spring, as edited by myself and Jim Saville (who I first encountered in this thread!) by Little Red Tree Publishing in Mystic, Connecticut.

I have also published a songbook of the CFS poems, primarily the ones that I have set to music and recorded, available from my website (http://www.charlieipcar.com/) and Bob Zentz is in the final stages of publishing volume 2. In all over 70 CFS poems have already been recorded as songs in the last 15 years, with more in process.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rosario (C. Fox Smith)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 09:32 AM

refresh!