C. Fox Smith Sea Poems (PermaThread)

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems (PermaThread)
From: r.padgett
Date: 23 May 21 - 11:59 AM

A reprint is needed I believe ~ a while ago the book was on ebay ~ not looked recently for £150

Ray

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems (PermaThread)
From: Daniel Kelly
Date: 23 May 21 - 08:17 AM

Someone let the cat on 'mudcat' again....

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems (PermaThread)
From: GUEST,Sarah O'Connor
Date: 13 Mar 14 - 11:39 PM

I just got my copy of "The Complete Poetry of Cicely Fox Smith" in the mail today and am already going through it with post-it notes to mark the ones I want to memorize. Such a fantastic resource!

~Sarah

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems (PermaThread)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 May 12 - 11:07 PM

The launching date for The Complete Poetry of Cicely Fox Smith is now set for the weekend of the Mystic Sea Music Festival 2012, June 7-10. As mentioned above this huge volume is published by Little Red Tree Publishing. In all about 640 poems are included with notes, hundreds of vintage graphics, and an updated biography of this intriguing British poet.

Here's a link to the book's cover:click here for book cover

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 28 Apr 11 - 09:04 AM

A number of updates for this thread:

Here's another PUBLIC Facebook link to illustrations and photos I have scanned associated with Cicely Fox Smith: click here for Facebook images!

The interest in this British poets continues to increase and now more than 90 of her 633 poems have been adapted for singing, several with multiple tune settings. Mike Kennedy is the latest singer to set more than a dozen of her poems to music and he is planning a recording session with my wife and myself this May. I've coordinated several C. Fox Smith workshops with Mike and he has a talent for matching the tune to her poem while retaining as much of the original wording as possible.

The next C. Fox Smith workshop will be associated with the Mystic Sea Music Festival, second weekend in June.

Jim Saville, my co-editor, and I have contracted with Little Red Tree Publishing in Mystic, Connecticut, to publish THE COMPLETE POEMS OF CICELY FOX SMITH, release date sometime this fall. This publisher did a find job earlier with a smaller volume focused on the poems of Jack London and we are in the final phase of editing the very long draft.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 29 Nov 10 - 02:22 PM

Here's a link to where most of the C. Fox Smith poetry books may be accessed for free at The Internet Archives: click here for on-line book

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 11 Oct 10 - 08:46 PM

Facebook requires email plus log in.

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: stallion
Date: 11 Oct 10 - 02:05 PM

got to get off Double Nelson

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 Oct 10 - 06:15 PM

Another non-subscriber.

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 10 Oct 10 - 05:40 PM

Ian-

I think the setting is already set for the general public. However, if someone wants to comment they would have to become a member first (which is free).

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Ian Hendrie
Date: 10 Oct 10 - 04:32 PM

Hi Charley,
As I don't subscribe to Facebook I am unable to view the images. Can you change a setting to allow non-subscribers to see them?
Cheers,
Ian

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 10 Oct 10 - 04:15 PM

Here's a link to some images I've posted to Facebook of C. Fox Smith that I was able to collect from the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich this year when my wife and I were visiting the UK: click here!

There is also a photo I took of her first home in Lymm, several illustrations drawn by her brother Philip W. Smith portraying her prowling the waterfronts of "sailortown," and a bird's eye view of where she worked on the waterfront of Victoria, British Columbia, from 1905 to 1913.

She was a cute little girl!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Artful Codger
Date: 13 May 10 - 09:52 AM

Then by all means, use them! How often does one get the chance?

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 May 10 - 08:30 AM

AC-

Remember, I do have editing powers on this dedicated thread. ;~)

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Artful Codger
Date: 13 May 10 - 03:09 AM

Dr. Scholl's foot powder should take care of chiasmus.

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Joe_F
Date: 12 May 10 - 05:59 PM

In addition to criticizing, I should have taken time to say: That's a beautiful line. It is the pleasantest example of chiasmus that I have seen.

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 11 May 10 - 08:56 PM

Joe F-

There's certainly logic in what you say and why change what CFS composed unless there is a compelling reason.

It really is a treat to go back to the beginning of this thread and rediscover how we all learned more about this fine nautical poet.

Now anyone can access the trove of poems on-line at her page at oldpoetry.com, some 626 at last count.

And there may be a few more poems lurking about in stray magazines.

I'll be heading over to the UK in September to sift through one additional stash. I hope it turns out as good as it's described.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Joe_F
Date: 11 May 10 - 05:10 PM

The first stanza of "So Long", which becomes the chorus of "All Coiled Down" as sung, has the third line

    Another ship for me, an' for her another crew --

In the song as usually sung, "me" has become "us". It seems to me that Ms. Smith has logic on her side. If the whole crew were going to another ship, there would be no point in saying goodbye; it has to be either as written, or "Other ships for us".

However, it turns out to be rather odd of me (perhaps even insane) to try to imagine the situation described by a song.

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: shipcmo
Date: 11 May 10 - 06:45 AM

refresh

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 22 Feb 10 - 05:07 PM

Chris-

Thanks for the feedback and I'm looking forward to helping coordinate the C. Fox Smith workshop with Mike at NEFFA in April.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: sciencegeek
Date: 22 Feb 10 - 04:01 PM

we were at a singing get-together this weekend & people got a look at your newest effort... many complements & hopefully will end in a few future sales.

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 22 Feb 10 - 02:26 PM

Brad-

And with your invaluable help as well!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: bradfordian
Date: 22 Feb 10 - 12:22 PM

Charley (& Jim),    CONGRATUATIONS !!! A very fine job. The fruits of a labour of love no doubt.

Brad

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 22 Feb 10 - 08:33 AM

The nautical poems of Cicely Fox Smith (UK) earned her by the 1920's a reputation comparable to Rudyard Kipling and John Masefield. Few poets have so successfully described the last years of the Great Age of Sail from the point of view of the deep-water sailor.

The Songs of Cicely Fox Smith songbook demonstrates how some of Smith's nautical poems have been successfully adapted for singing. Included are lyrics, musical notation, chords, notes for each song and period illustrations. Most of the 24 songs included have been adapted for singing by the editor but there is a sampling of other musical settings as well. See the sample Songbook linked to my website for more specific information: click here for Sample Songbook

This songbook may be ordered for about $25 from Camsco Music: Hickory Corner Road, East Windsor, NJ 08520 or from the editor: Charles Ipcar, 80 Main St., Richmond, ME 04357. Chantey Cabin in the UK is also reviewing a sample copy with regard to distributing the songbook there.

It is hoped that similar songbooks will be worked up this year by Bob Zentz, Danny McLeod and Alan Fitzsimmons, and by other musicians who have set a significant number of poems by C. Fox Smith to music. In all some 70 poems by C. Fox Smith have now been adapted for singing, some with multiple settings.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 04 Oct 09 - 12:09 PM

One of the newspapers which has earlier versions of some C. Fox Smith's poetry is evidently The Daily Colonist, published in Victoria, British Columbia. CFS was resident there between 1905 and 1913, and in a recent revisit (September, 2009) I found one of her poems, "The Long Road Home," published on December 17, 1912, p. 8. Since then one of my intrepid volunteers has turned up an article by CFS, "The Supreme Moment," about witnessing the unloading of a pair of heavy steam boilers from a Blue Funnel freighter in that same newspaper. Clearly there is more to harvest.

The real gold would be if someone discovered a good poem that was published nowhere else.

Typically such newspaper files are only available for viewing on microfilms but more recently some are now available on-line after being scanned and edited.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 18 Sep 09 - 12:29 PM

Q-

This poem was first published in Men of Men in 1900. Here's the reference in the Oldpoetry Website where some 625 C. Fox Smith poems are now on-line: Click here for website!

She certainly churned out some patriotic verse at the time.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 17 Sep 09 - 10:08 PM

The Herald, South Africa, is online. I haven't checked their archives for poems.
I believe the paper is in Port Elizabeth.

(aggression, aggression, agression, etc. etc.)

Subject: Lyr. Add: Jack Ashore - Ladysmith, 1900
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 17 Sep 09 - 09:57 PM

Lyr. Add: Jack Ashore - Ladysmith, 1900
Cicely Fox Smith. Boer War Poem

Ten thousand British, twenty thousand foe,
Boers on a hilltop, shelling all they know,
Navy men and navy guns quick and cool to aim.
Fit and fresh from off the seas to play a Tommy's game.

Chorus-
On shore, off shore, a man in fighting trim,
Jack ashore and Jack afloat, it's all the same to him,
Jack afloat and Jack ashore, the same thro' thick and thin,
On the sea and off the sea, he always fights to win.

Bluejackets cheery hearty, true and strong,
Come to fight for England and bring the guns along.
Lords of all the outer deep bold in word and deed,
Full of fight from off the sea to help in Tommy's need.

Chorus:

Silence on the hilltop, guns that shell no more,
Shew that Jack the sailor's man of war ashore,
Here's to him by land and sea - men and guns and all,
Hearts of oak from off the seas to come to Tommy's call.

Eastern Province Herald, November 2, 1908.

From the days of British agression.

http://blogs.theherald.co.za/100yrs/category/jack-tar/

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 16 Sep 09 - 08:19 PM

Not a pen name.
Both Chudleigh and Candish are old English families, mentions in historical records. Some were knighted, e. g., Lord Candish mentioned in litigation in 1624.
Some modern Chudleigh's have had an orchard west of Toronto, Canada, for three generations, and operate a commercial bakery. Ted Chudleigh is a member of the Ontario legislature.

Lady Mary Chudleigh (1656-1710) was a poet, famous for "To the Ladies," speaking of servitude to a husband...

Then but to look, to laugh, or speak,
Will the nuptial contract break.
Like mutes, she signs alone must make,
And never any freedom take:
But still be govern'd by a nod,
And fear her husband as a God:
Him still must serve, him still obey,
And nothing act and nothing say,
But what her haughty lord thinks fit,
Who with the power, has all the wit.
.....

Chudleigh is an old wool market town in Devon.

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 16 Sep 09 - 06:57 PM

Interesting!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: GUEST,taff
Date: 16 Sep 09 - 10:23 AM

was that his real name or a pen name?

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: bradfordian
Date: 16 Sep 09 - 07:24 AM

Chudleigh wrote "Up with the Jolly Roger Boys" refered to in this thread perhaps his most well known composition.

brad

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: GUEST,Taff
Date: 15 Sep 09 - 05:45 PM

CFS is credited with the words to Drake's Breed - with music by Chudleigh Candish (Apollo Club)? Who was Chudleigh Candish and did he write music for any other of CFS poems?

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 12 Jul 09 - 12:38 PM

It really should and let's reserve further comments until we do that.

Maybe I'll have a stab at doing it myself by copying and deleting posts.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Artful Codger
Date: 12 Jul 09 - 04:25 AM

Clicky for the above. Though the Hopgood stuff should really go in a separate thread.

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 Jul 09 - 05:59 PM

The Old Way and Other Poems, Adm. R. A. Hopwood, complete text on line:
http://www.archive.org/stream/oldwayotherpoems00hopwiala/oldwayotherpoems00hopwiala_djvu.txt

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 10 Jul 09 - 05:26 PM

Q-

Thanks! Some of the on-line poetry books you've noted I've already harvested but others will be interested. "Ship Logs" was the poem that we misattributed to C. Fox Smith above (which now has an alert note) and which we now know is by Admiral Hopwood.

And I've ordered the 1951 anthology, which has a nice introduction by Alfred Noyes, from a used book website.

I'm still hoping to find some biographical info about the Admiral.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 Jul 09 - 12:48 PM

"Ship Logs" and other poems by Adm. Hopwood C. B. on line, "The Laws of the Navy":
Ship Logs

Thirty-nine poems in all at this site:
Laws of the Navy

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 Jul 09 - 12:38 PM

Some first printings of Adm. Hopwood's volumes of poetry-
The Secret of Ships, 64 pp., 1918 and reprints- Includes poems "The Secret of Ships, The King's Messengers, The Mystery Ships, The Freak, The Wardens, The Galleon, The Bo'sun's Mate, The Outlaw, HMS Vanguard, The Vale; 10 poems in all.

The Old Way and other poems, 1916, 1917 and later reprint, 64pp.,
includes "The Boatswain's Call, The Oaks of England, and five other naval poems.

The New Navy and Other Poems, 1919, 96pp., poems.

Navis, a Ship. Content not known, may not be poetry. Rare.

The poem,"Th Laws of the Navy," is on line at
Laws of the Navy

"....virtually unknown outside Anglo-American naval officers' circles,..."

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 10 Jul 09 - 08:49 AM

Artful Codger-

You are correct with regard to an earlier 1918 publication. However, there's an even earlier reference to 1896; the poem originally appeared in the "Army and Navy Gazette", 23 July 1896.

The worthy Admiral Ronald A. Hopwood, RN (1868 - 1949) seems to have been a prolific poet. I've been reviewing some of his other poems which are available on-line and I'll start a page for him at the Oldpoetry Website, now that we know that he died some 50 years ago. If anyone finds a reference to his biography on-line, I'd be very interested.

The total poems in the CFS Anthology has now decreased to a mere 625.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Mysha
Date: 10 Jul 09 - 08:42 AM

Hi Artful,

Don't be fooled by the little red book Google shows in front of those entries. As far as I can tell, that's really their way of saying they do no have an image of the original publication. Considering these other entries are not from the publisher that published his other poetry, I expect that the little red book entries are really inclusions in other works.

I'm afraid I can't find the index: As is quite usual for me, googlebooks will only give me entries that don't include the words I searched for. But I'm glad you found confirmation. Do you think there are enough snippets to make looking for other unknown CFS poems feasible?

Regarding the 1951 first edition: I see the admiral passed away in 1949. The publication from 1951 is therefor likely to be the collection of his best poems, together with those poems didn't appear in one of his earlier books.

                                                                      Mysha

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Artful Codger
Date: 09 Jul 09 - 10:42 PM

Per a Google Books snippet view, the index for Punch, v. 189 (1935) shows Hopwood as the author of "Ship Logs". Goggle Books also catalogs several entries for The Laws of the Navy by Hopwood dated 1918. I suspect the 1951 edition is just a reprint.

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Mysha
Date: 09 Jul 09 - 10:02 AM

Hi,

British Library to the rescue (also at Library of Congress).

Laws of the Navy - and Other Poems
Admiral Ronald Arthur. Hopwood
John Murray: London, 1951.

Do you absolutely need the page? I don't have it, but I could probably ask, if it's essential.

                                                                                                                                                          Mysha

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 09 Jul 09 - 09:37 AM

Mysha-

Not to worry! I just researched the publication information myself, and ordered a used copy of the book: Laws of the Navy - and Other Poems, by Admiral Ronald A. Hopwood, published by John Murray, London, © 1951.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 09 Jul 09 - 09:19 AM

Mysha-

Ship Logs? Interesting.

Could you provide a full reference on that, publisher, date, and page?

Undoubtedly you are correct but we'd like to check it out as well.

And it is a good poem!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Mysha
Date: 09 Jul 09 - 08:31 AM

Hi,

First a few short remarks:
Barry, I fear I made a slight error in translation: It turns out that Dutch and English use the shortend name for different saints. So the proper date in English would be Saint Judith mass.

Shantyfreak, it's exacly that reading aloud that called up the tune. I expect that, over the years, that has been a very common occurence in the tradition, going back to bards reciting and singing the stories of heroes.


And now for the main message:

Charley, the book publication of the poem Ship Logs has been found: It's in Laws of the Navy - and Other Poems, by Admiral Ronald A. Hopwood. It's unlikely that he merely collected those poems, even though nobody bothered with saying the man actually wrote them. So, while it's a good poem, it's probably a stranger on this thread.

                                                                                                                                                       Mysha

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 27 Jun 09 - 03:40 PM

It's time to refresh this thread and provide an update.

The total of poems we've been able to find still stands at 626, as posted on the Oldpoetry Website (link above). There may be a few more miscellaneous poems that were only published in magazines other than Punch that we haven't been able to harvest but I certainly think we've gotten the vast majority of them.

I'm in the final stages of drafting a songbook of the poems I've set to music and recorded, along with some favorites set to music by others. I'll be discussing that soon on a new thread titled Sea Songs of Cicely Fox Smith. I have hopes that I can encourage Bob Zentz and Danny McLeod to edit similar songbooks. In this way we can help fan the flames for a Cicely Fox Smith revival!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 08 Jul 08 - 04:56 PM

Jim-

Thanks to Danny McLeod, Alan Fitzsimmons and Company we'll both be splashing and thrashing around in this sea of poetry for years!

Oh, and if anyone else is reading this thread, here's another link to the Oldpoetry website where you too can sift through 626 CFS poems: Click here for website!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Shantyfreak
Date: 08 Jul 08 - 01:02 PM

Absolutely Charlie.
I never forget that if it hadn't been for Danny, Fitz and Co. wih all those lovely SONGS on the Handspike Gruel and SeaBoot Duff tape (yep tape) all those years ago I may never have heard of the lady and had so much pleasure.
Jim

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 07 Jul 08 - 05:46 PM

Jim-

Very true. Not all the poems of our beloved C. Fox Smith lend themselves to singing, nor should they be. Recitation is an equal and venerable art.

Of course, it's hard for me to avoid hearing "Mobile Bay" recited in my mind as I've heard Robert Service poems recited, another strait-jacket!

Let's set this one aside and let it mull some more.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble