C. Fox Smith Sea Poems (PermaThread)

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 27 Jan 03 - 08:07 PM

Good luck to you as well, Dennis, and join our search for her missing books and manuscripts. And report back with your finds!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From:
Date: 27 Jan 03 - 07:56 PM

Thanks everyone for your time in replying. We have now acquired the album we are have been looking for.

I have been looking through this forum and find there are a lot of very knowledgeable people out there. It's nice to know there are other people interested Cicely's works and she won't be forgotten like so many of today's so called talented writers.

Thanks again!

Dennis

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: GUEST,MCP
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 08:31 AM

Danny & Joyce did a version of this with Barry & Ingrid Temple in Salt of the Earth. CFS published a version in The Return of The "Cutty Sark", 1924, with slight differences in the wording.

Mick

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: shanty_steve
Date: 15 Jan 03 - 06:37 AM

You can order "Sea Boot Duff and Hand Spike Gruel" from chantey cabin (just look under pinch o'salt). I can't recommend this CD highly enough. It's one of my very favourites of all time.

Stephen

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 07:14 PM

Dennis-

You need to contact Danny and Joyce McLeod but I hesitate to post their e-mail address here without their permission. However, if you e-mail me at my address I will help you:[e-mail]

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From:
Date: 14 Jan 03 - 06:53 PM

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I have been fasinated by C Fox Smith and have been collecting her works for a while now. We have several and as previously mentioned they are getting expensive now.

Does anyone know where we can purchase a copy of the CD "Sea boot duff and hand spike gruel"? We have tried all our usual sorces without success.

Regards, Dennis

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 01 Nov 02 - 08:12 AM

Nice and peaceful round here this morning. Now previously I had fitted "Wool Fleet Chorus" to a version of "Bonney Ship the Diamond" but I really wasn't thrilled with the arrangement. I haven't heard anyone else's arrangement so far but a couple of months ago I was messing around with it again and was surprised to find it working really nicely with the old shanty "Doddle Let Me Go" (Hurrah, me Yellar Gals) (copy and repaste into WORD/TIMES/12 for chord placement):

A WOOL FLEET CHORUS
(Words by C. Fox Smith
In Full Sail: More Sea Songs & Ballads, © 1926
Tune: traditional "Doddle Let Me Go"
Adapted by Charlie Ipcar 2002
Key: Am (2/Gm))

Am
Now fare you well, you Sidney gals,
---D
It's time for us to go!
------Am
Blue Peter's at the fore truck,
---------------G----------------Am
There's five thousand bales below;
Am
We've a dozen shellbacks forrard,
-------D
And a skipper hard as nails,
------------Am
And we're bound for dear old England
----------G--------Am
And the January sales!

Chorus:
Am
Oh, the January sales, me boys,
-----D
The January sales,
-------Am
We're bound for dear old England
----------G--------Am
And the January sales.

We'll leave The Snares behind, me boys,
Blusterous and strong,
Up'll come the Westerlies,
And hustle 'er along;
She's running like a deer, me boys,
Through the thundering gales,
Racing under skys'ls
For the January sales!

Oh, the January sales, me boys,
The January sales,
Racing under skys'ls
For the January sales!

Cape Stiff will drop astern, me boys,
Like a blinking dream;
Sleet and snow and crashing seas,
Fog and ice a-beam;
We'll be snoring through the Tropics
Where the Tradewinds never fail,
Norrard on a bowline
For the January sales!

Oh, the January sales, me boys,
The January sales,
Norrard on a bowline
For the January sales!

Then, the gals will grab 'er towrope,
As she smells the land again,
And she'll reel the knots off steady
As a blessed railway train;
Seventy days from Sydney's Heads
The Lizard Light she hails –
First back to the Channel
For the January sales!

Oh, the January sales, me boys,
The January sales,
First back to the Channel
For the January sales!

What'cha think?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 31 Oct 02 - 08:48 AM

Nobby-

Thanks for the reference to ALL THE WAY ROUND. I'll see if I can ferret out a copy from the usual internet booksellers.

I've also been working up a musical arrangement for "Wool Fleet Chorus" which I'll post when I get a little more time.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Jeri
Date: 30 Oct 02 - 07:09 PM

Joe, thanks for posting the songs, and for the links - there's some beautiful work there. Not that it matters, but I was born the year C.F. Smith died.

Subject: ADD: Hastings Mill (C. Fox Smith)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Oct 02 - 06:29 PM

One more - found here (click)
-Joe Offer-

---

HASTINGS MILL
Cicely Fox Smith

As I went down by Hastings Mill I lingered in my going
To smell the smell of piled-up deals and feel the salt wind blowing,
To hear the cables fret and creak and the ropes stir and sigh
(Shipmate, my shipmate!) as in days gone by.

As I went down by Hastings Mill I saw a ship there lying,
About her tawny yards the little clouds of sunset flying;
And half I took her for the ghost of one I used to know
(Shipmate, my shipmate!) many years ago.

As I went down by Hastings Mill I saw while I stood dreaming
The flicker of her riding light along the ripples streaming,
The bollards where we made her fast and the berth where she did lie
(Shipmate, my shipmate!) in the days gone by.

As I went down by Hastings Mill I heard a fellow singing,
Chipping off the deep sea rust above the tide a-swinging,
And well I knew the queer old tune and well the song he sung
(Shipmate, my shipmate!) when the world was young.

And past the rowdy Union Wharf, and by the still tide sleeping,
To a randy dandy deep sea tune my heart in time was keeping,
To the thin far sound of a shadowy watch a-hauling,
And the voice of one I knew across the high tide calling
(Shipmate, my shipmate!) and the late dusk falling!

Cecily Fox-Smith [1882-1954]

Subject: ADD: A Dog's Life (C. Fox Smith)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Oct 02 - 06:17 PM

Want another? I found it here.
-Joe Offer-

A DOG'S LIFE
Cicely Fox Smith

Oh, a sailor's life's a dog's life, an' that's the truth, says Bill,
A sailor's life's a dog's life, look at it 'ow you will;
You break your back with workin' for 'arf a coolie's pay,
An' a sailor's life's a dog's life, look at it 'ow you may.

There's mates to kick an' 'aze you (an' you dursen't 'it 'em back)
There's cold to freeze your innards an' there's 'eat as burns you black;
There's junk as tough as green 'eart 'an weevils in the bread,
An' fistin' frozen canvas till you're wishin' you were dead.

But you bet I'm goin' to quit it next time I jump ashore;
As soon as I strike ol' 'Frisco you won't see me no more;
I'll set a course sou'westward to an island as I know,
Where we laid once loadin' copra - might be twenty year ago.

I'll lay out on the beach there where the sun is good an' 'ot,
An' I won't need no more trousis when I've wore out them I've got;
With a gunny round my middle an' a soul to call my own,
I wouldn't charge my fortune for the King's upon his throne.

But when we'd finished loading and sailing day came round,
With the pilotboat alongside and the mud hook off the ground,
And the towboat cast the hawser off and left us with a cheer,
Why, there'd be Bill a-growling as he'd done for twenty yerar.

Oh a sailor's life's a dog's life, an' that's a fact my son;
'Is pay's no more'n a coolie's, 'is work is never done;
But you bet I'm goin' to quit it fust chance as comes my way,
For a sailor's life's a dog's life, look at it 'ow you may.

Bob Zentz uses The Drunken Tailor or 3 Drunken Maidens as a melody for this.
http://www.bobzentz.com/songbook/a.dogslife.htm

Subject: ADD: British Merchant Service: C. Fox Smith
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Oct 02 - 06:08 PM

This site has some interesting sea poems, including one by Fox-Smith.
-Joe Offer-

---

British Merchant Service
(Cicely Fox-Smith)

Oh, down by Millwall Basin as I went the other day,
I met a skipper that I knew, and to him I did say:
"Now what's the cargo, Captain, that brings you up this way?"

"Oh, I've been up and down (said he) and round about also . . .
From Sydney to the Skagerack, and Kiel to Callao . . .
With a leaking steam-pipe all the way to Californ-i-o . . .


"With pots and pans and ivory fans and every kind of thing,
Rails and nails and cotton bales, and sewer pipes and string . . .
But now I'm through with cargoes, and I'm here to serve the King!

"And if it's sweeping mines (to which my fancy somewhat leans)
Or hanging out with booby-traps for the skulking submarines,
I'm here to do my blooming best and give the beggars beans!

"A rough job and a tough job is the best job for me,
And what or where I don't much care, I'll take what it may be,
For a tight place is the right place when it's foul weather at sea!"

. . . . . . . . . . . .

There's not a port he doen't know from Melbourne to New York;
He's as hard as a lump of harness beef, and as salt as pickled pork . . .
And he'll stand by a wreck in a murdering gale and count it part of his work!

He's the terror of the fo'c's'le when he heals its various ills
With turpentine and mustard leaves, and poultices and pills . . .
But he knows the sea like the palm of his hand, as a shepherd knows the hills.

He'll spin you yarns from dawn to dark -- and half of 'em are true!
He swears in a score of languages, and maybe talks in two!
And . . . he'll lower a boat in a hurricane to save a drowning crue.

A rough job or a tough job -- he's handled two or three --
And what or where he won't much care, nor ask what the risk may be . . .
For a tight place is the right place when it's wild weather at sea!

C.Fox Smith

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From:
Date: 11 Sep 02 - 06:54 AM

From Nobby
A poem by C.Fox Smith From SONGS OF GREATER BRITAIN, © 1899, pp. 115-116.
PENMAENMAWR

Betwixt twin forts by nature plann'd
Slumbers the little drowsy town
While wooded heights, serene and grand,
Slope down to meet the sand
From uplands wild and brown

Far out to sea the vessels lie,
Where wild white steeds are leaping free,
And far as roves the wand`ring eye
There is no cloud in yon clear sky,
No shadow on the sea

Peace,sweetest peace on sea and land
Save when,upon the laughing breeze,
There floats across the gleaming bay
A sound of children at their play
Beside the sunny seas.

Peace,sweetest peace on sea and land
Lulling to rest the wearied brain,
Amid the mountains calm and grand,
Grey cliff,and sickle-sweep of sand,
And everlasting main.


Penmaenmawr being in North Wales, west of Llandudno, UK.

`A Sea Burthen`has been put to music by Jacqui Haigh a local Bristol songwriter and performed in Harmony on the CD`Rolling Home To Bristol`by The Harry Browns Of Bristol.

I have found her most interesting book to be ALL THE WAY ROUND Published by Michael Joseph London 1938; it is somewhat autobiographical in its beginning, where CFS realises a childhood dream of visiting Africa, partly inspired by her reading of Rider Haggard novels, the adventures of`Allan Quatemain`and seeing the painting`The Last Trek` by J.G.Millais. She was a student at the Manchester School Of Art, a contemporary of the Pankhursts. CFS refers to herself as being more militant than the militants of the future in the persons of the Pankhursts who were looked upon in those days as`REDS`and the most `Aggressive of Pro-Boers.` CFS stuffed sheaves of propaganda down the lavatory of the Manchester School Of Art, the story goes on. Keep searchin, Nobby

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: GUEST,Charley Noble on the Road
Date: 10 Sep 02 - 07:09 PM

Nice work, Nobby. You should be comparing notes with Danny Macleod if you haven't already done so. When I get back home I'll see if I have anything missing from your list.

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Willa
Date: 10 Sep 02 - 03:01 PM

Went to harmony workshops at Whitby FF, led by Sarah Morgan, and we learnt CFS's Ryegrass and Clover, with additional words and music by Sarah. Sonded great sung in 4-part harrmony.

Subject: Index: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From:
Date: 10 Sep 02 - 09:39 AM

From Nobby Dye
I have found it immensely interesting to read the comments on C.Fox Smith,I would like to add some further information that collectors might find useful. She wrote many articles for various magazines e.g., The Sphere, Blue Peter, The Globe, Pall Mall, Punch, The Cunarder, nautical magazine, etc, etc, articles have been published in Sea Breezes about her, Folk on tap(with photograph)I have several of these articles and poems in my collection.
I came across an article which included a list of her known publications of which I have been able to add too *=in my collection

1. SONGS OF A GREATER BRITAIN 1899 *
2. THE FOREMOST TRAIL 1899
3. WINGS OF THE MORNING 1904 (COPY IN Plymouth library naval reference collection England)
4. LANCASHIRE HUNTING SONGS 1909*
5. SONGS IN SAIL AND OTHER SHANTIES 1914*
6. CITY OF HOPE 1914 (COPY IN Tasmania Library)
7. SAILOR TOWN 1914 London 1919 N.Y.*
8. THE NAVAL CROWN 1915*
9. FIGHTING MEN 1916 *
10.SMALL CRAFT 1917*(London)1919(n.y.)
11.SINGING SANDS 1918(May be only intro?)
12.SONGS AND SHANTIES 1914-1916*
13.RHYMES OF THE RED ENSIGN 1919*
14.SHIPS AND FOLKS 1920*
15.PEREGRINE IN LOVE 1920
16.ROVINGS 1921*
17.SAILOR TOWN DAYS 1923(London)1923(Boston)*
18.A BOOK OF FAMOUS SHIPS 1924(London)1924(Boston)*
19.RETURN OF THE CUTTY SARK 1924(London) 1935(Boston)*
20.SHIP ALLEY 1925(London)1925(Boston)*
21.FULL SAIL1926(London)1926(Boston)*
22.SEA SONGS AND BALLADS 1917-1922 1926(London)1926(Boston)*
23.TALES OF THE CLIPPER SHIPS 1926(London)1926(Boston)*
24.A BOOK OF SHANTIES 1927(London)1927(Boston)*
25.A SEA CHEST 1927(London)1927(Boston)*
26.ANCIENT MARINERS 1928*
27.THERE WAS A SHIP 1929(London)1930(Connecticut)*
28.SAIL HO 1931 (London) 1931(N.Y.)INTRO*
29.THE THAMES 1931*
30.SAILORS DELIGHT 1931*
31.OCEAN RACERS 1931(London) 1932(N.Y.)*
32.TRUE TALES OF THE SEA 1932*
33.ANCHOR LANE 1933*
34.ALL THE OTHER CHILDREN 1933*
35.PEACOCK PRIDE 1934(With her sister Madge Smith)
36.ADVENTURES AND PERILS 1936(London)1932(N.Y.)*
37.THREE GIRLS IN A BOAT 1938 (With her sister Madge Smith
38.ALL THE WAY ROUND 1938 *
39.THE SHIP AGROUND 1940*(London)1940(N.Y.)
40.THE VOYAGE OF THE TREVESSAS BOATS 1940*
41.THE STORY OF GRACE DARLING 1940
42.THAMESIDE YESTERDAYS 1945*
43.HERE AND THERE IN ENGLAND WITH THE PAINTER BRANGWYN 1945*
44.COUNTRY DAYS AND COUNTRY WAYS 1947*
45.PAINTED PORTS 19489 (London)1948(N.Y.)*
46.KNAVE- GO -BYE 1951 *
47.SHIP MODELS 1951*
48.SELDOM SEEN 1954 (With her sister Madge Smith)
49.THE VALIANT SAILOR 1955(London)1951(N.Y.)*
50.MEN OF MEN 1900(Poems of the Boer War)
51.WAYFARING FOLK 1945?
52.THE MAN BEFORE THE MAST (EDITOR)*
53.YARNS OF AN OLD SHELLBACK 1925 (INTRO)*
54.ALL CLEAR AFT 1936 (Includes short story PONTIFEX)*

ANY MORE I WONDER??

GOOD HUNTING, NOBBY

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems (Part 2)
From: radriano
Date: 11 Jun 02 - 06:42 PM

I've been singing the above noted song "So Long" at the shanty sings at San Francisco's Hyde Street Pier although I've never tried to accompany it. It makes an excellent a cappella number.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems (Part 2)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 11 Jun 02 - 10:05 AM

Here's the chorus Danny and Joyce prefer, rather than the one sung by The Keelers ( a group that Danny is a part of as well):

Chorus:

C----------Am------------Dm
All coiled down, an' it's time for us to go;
G------------G7---------F--------------C
Every sail's furled in a NEAT harbour stow;
--------------------Am--------Dm
Another ship for us, an' for her another crew –
----G---------G7---------F----------G-C
An' so long, sailorman, good luck to you!

Danny, at his Mystic Songs of the Sea Festival workshop, showed me his copy of C. Fox Smith's handwritten manuscript of sea poems and promised to send me a copy; there's sure to be some sea poems that she didn't publish or are unavailable because none of us can find them books. I had heard of this manuscript when I was talking to the manager of All at Sea Books in Sydney, Australia, and he mentioned that Danny had purchased it from him some two weeks before; you'll likely find Danny's tracks everywhere before you if you're actively searching. If you do turn up something special PM me, and I'll provide you with Danny's e-mail address so you can bring him up to date.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems (Part 2)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 01 Jun 02 - 08:13 PM

Thanks for posting the midi, Jeri. I'm still in love with this song. What joy!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems (Part 2)
From: Jeri
Date: 31 May 02 - 09:21 PM

Joe, you can move this as well. I didn't want to post it lyricless in the other thread. I think I got pretty close. The tune for the chorus and verses are pretty much the same.

---

MIDI file: SOLONG~1.MID

Timebase: 120

Name: So Long
Text: Alan Fitzsimmons
TimeSig: 2/4 24 8
Key: D
Tempo: 100 (600000 microsec/crotchet)
Start
0000 1 66 100 0120 0 66 000 0000 1 69 100 0120 0 69 000 0000 1 66 100 0060 0 66 000 0000 1 64 100 0060 0 64 000 0000 1 62 100 0060 0 62 000 0000 1 62 100 0060 0 62 000 0000 1 64 100 0090 0 64 000 0000 1 66 100 0030 0 66 000 0000 1 64 100 0060 0 64 000 0000 1 62 100 0060 0 62 000 0000 1 59 100 0180 0 59 000 0060 1 64 100 0060 0 64 000 0000 1 64 100 0060 0 64 000 0000 1 64 100 0120 0 64 000 0000 1 66 100 0060 0 66 000 0000 1 64 100 0060 0 64 000 0000 1 62 100 0060 0 62 000 0000 1 59 100 0060 0 59 000 0000 1 62 100 0060 0 62 000 0000 1 62 100 0120 0 62 000 0000 1 59 100 0060 0 59 000 0000 1 57 100 0180 0 57 000 0000 1 66 100 0060 0 66 000 0000 1 66 100 0060 0 66 000 0000 1 66 100 0060 0 66 000 0000 1 66 100 0060 0 66 000 0000 1 69 100 0060 0 69 000 0000 1 66 100 0120 0 66 000 0000 1 64 100 0060 0 64 000 0000 1 62 100 0060 0 62 000 0000 1 64 100 0090 0 64 000 0000 1 66 100 0030 0 66 000 0000 1 64 100 0060 0 64 000 0000 1 62 100 0060 0 62 000 0000 1 59 100 0180 0 59 000 0060 1 64 100 0120 0 64 000 0000 1 64 100 0120 0 64 000 0000 1 66 100 0060 0 66 000 0000 1 64 100 0120 0 64 000 0000 1 62 100 0060 0 62 000 0000 1 62 100 0090 0 62 000 0000 1 64 100 0030 0 64 000 0000 1 62 100 0120 0 62 000
End

This program is worth the effort of learning it.

To download the latest version of MIDItext and get instructions on how to use it click here               

ABC format:

X:1
T:So Long
M:2/4
Q:1/4=100
K:D
F4A4|F2E2D2D2|E3FE2D2|B,8|E2E2E4|F2E2D2B,2|
D2D4B,2|A,6F2|F2F2F2A2|F4E2D2|E3FE2D2|B,8|
E4E4|F2E4D2|D3ED4||

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems (Part 2)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 31 May 02 - 05:03 PM

That's true but the principal workshop leaders are, and should be, Danny and Joyce.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems (Part 2)
From: EBarnacle1
Date: 31 May 02 - 04:43 PM

According to the schedule I received, CharleyNoble will also be performng at Mystic in this workshop.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems (Part 2)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 31 May 02 - 02:56 PM

Fine by me, Joe.
Cheerily,
Charlie Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: So Long-another C.Fox Smith sea poem
From: Joe Offer
Date: 31 May 02 - 11:31 AM

Charley, I was wondering if it might be a good idea to have all our C. Fox Smith poems/songs in one thread. I hope you don't mind that I renamed this thread to "C. Fox Smith Sea Poems, Part 2." I see you did a great job on the original thread (click)
If you DO mind, I'll change it back.
-Joe Offer-

---

Parts 1 and 2 combined.

Subject: ADD: So Long (C.Fox Smith sea poem)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 31 May 02 - 10:34 AM

In another thread I was mentioning how I had been swept away by another sea poem by C. Fox Smith, as sung by Joyce and Danny McLeod at a house concert in York, Maine. The tune reminds me somewhat of Bob Franke's "Hard Love" but buy their CD and draw your own conclusions. They use this song as a closing song, and it's certainly a fine one for that, although it generated an encore (Copy and repaste into WORD/TIMES/12 to line up the chords):

SO LONG
(Words by C. Fox Smith in Sea Songs & Ballads © 1924 As sung by The Keelers: On the North Sea Ground © 1998 Keel Music; Tune by Alan Fitzsimmons; Key: F (5/C))

Chorus:
All coiled down, an' it's time for us to go;
Every sail's furled in a smart harbour stow;
Another ship for us, an' for her another crew –
An' so long, sailorman, good luck to you!

Fun an' friends I wish you, till the pay's all gone –
Pleasure while you spend it, an' content when it's done –
An' a chest that's never empty, when you're back to sea,
An' a better ship than she's been, an' a truer pal than me. (CHO)

A good berth I wish you, in a ship that's well found,
With a decent crowd forrard, an' her gear all sound,
Spars a man can trust, when it comes on to blow,
An' no bosun bawlin' when it's your watch below. (CHO)

A good Trade I wish you, an' a fair landfall,
Neither fog nor iceberg, nor long calm, nor squall,
A pleasant port to come to, when the work's all through –
An' so long, sailorman, good luck to you. (CHO)


Chorus:

C----------Am------------Dm
All coiled down, an' it's time for us to go;
G------------G7---------F-----------------C
Every sail's furled in a smart harbour stow;
--------------------Am--------Dm
Another ship for us, an' for her another crew –
----G---------G7---------F----------G-C
An' so long, sailorman, good luck to you!


Danny and Joyce will be singing more C. Fox Smith sea songs at the upcoming Mystic Sea Music Festival.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Madam Gashee
Date: 05 Mar 02 - 05:20 PM

Danny & Joyce are old friends and have had many discussions with them RE CFS.
Trust me, their workshop on the lady's work is heartfelt, very well researched, most impressive & NOT to be missed.
I shall be seeing them next week, Danny will be delighted in the interest shown here in her work.
I'll be there, in Mystic, please come & say Sh'mae!

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 05 Mar 02 - 01:43 PM

Ah, ha - "Scuttle Bob" is Bob Zentz! For a moment there I thought another C. Fox Smith admirer had surfaced.

I was talking with Craig Edwards today and he confirmed that Danny McLeod will be conducting a C. Fox Smith workshop at the Mystic Sea Music Festival (Mystic, CT), the second weekend of June (67 to 6/9). Who's attending besides me?

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: GUEST,ScuttleBob
Date: 04 Mar 02 - 10:35 PM

I must say, it sure is encouraging to see all this interest in Ms. Smith's Works. I have enjoyed Her Poetry and Prose for a number of years-and began setting her poems to music with the first being-I believe,'Tryphina's Extra Hand'. Since then I have set some 30 or so of her works to tunes, both Traditional and Original, and am currently recording an Album with some of these.

As a collector of traditional songs herself, many of her poems seem to be natural spinoffs of already existing songs and Chanties. [try 'A Sailor's Life's a Dog's Life'-to 'Three Drunken Maidens' 'Tryphina...', to 'Risin' of the Moon', 'Racing Clippers'-to 'The Biggler and even 'The Eternal Femenine' to 'Old Orange Flute' or 'Portsmouth Road' to the Old Scots 'Mormon Braes' and perhaps you'll see what I mean.

At the heart of her Lyricisim is an astute sense of observation and interpretation of things Nautical - that is unequaled in the World of Maritime Verse. It continues to amaze me, therefore, that she goes basically unrecognized in World and English Literary Circles, when, at the least, she 'could' be the World's foremost female Maritime Poet. [any others you'd suggest?]

All that said, I'd just like to say thanks for all of your continued interest and repoire on this topic. Thanks, Charlie, for the mp3's. I'm happy to share any of the above mentioned Lyrics, with anyone out there...I look forward to hearing from any and all!...

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: radriano
Date: 04 Mar 02 - 03:07 PM

My pleasure Jeri. I've gotten many a request for lyrics filled here at Mudcat and am happy to contribute when I can.

Richard

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 04 Mar 02 - 07:57 AM

Madam Gashee-

Send me a PM with your e-mail address. I'll have to send you 3 separate e-mails because as I've said above each file is about 1 mg, and tends to clog vulnerable internet lines, such as the one I send things through.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Madam Gashee
Date: 04 Mar 02 - 04:44 AM

I'm willing to be one of the few VERY VERY interested people!
If there's any chance? Please! Pretty please!

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Jeri
Date: 03 Mar 02 - 05:00 PM

Radriano, somehow I missed it when you posted the words I'd requested. Thank you VERY much! (Sheesh, did I ever Mondegreen 'em!)

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 03 Mar 02 - 04:18 PM

Well, I now have MP3 files of my adaptations of three C. Fox Smith poems:

Flying-Fish Sailor
Limehouse Reach
Shanghai Passage

Each one is about 1 mg in size, at a modest 32 kbts. I've recorded them directly into the computer via a Spirit Folio Notepad by Soundcraft – a new and exciting experience for myself, my partner, and our cat; the recording software is Cool Edit 2000. I've accompanied myself on 5-string banjo. I've also done a modest amount of adaptation with the lyrics, primarily to make them more singable.

I've already e-mailed copies to Danny McLeod and Bob Zentz but would be willing to do the same for a few other VERY interested people.

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: radriano
Date: 27 Feb 02 - 12:10 PM

Jeri, here's the poem as it appears in the "Pinch 0'Salt" booklet:

Sailor's Delight

Tall raking clipper ships driving hell-for-leather,
Swinging down the Forties in the easting weather,
Old wooden Indiamen leaking like baskets,
With half their ratlines missing and rotten slings and gaskets;
Big fourposters out of Mersey and Clyde,
Bound for grain to 'Frisco, not to be denied,
Thrashing to the westward through the great Horn seas,
With a crowd of husky reefers and a dozen A.B.'s.

Those were the ships Mike Murphy used to sail in,
Those were the sort he weathered many a gale in,
Handed, reefed and furled in from Timor to the Tongue
In the old days, the hard days, the done-with mast and yard days,
(And 'ah, but they were grand days, them days when he was young!)

Seal oil, whale oil, ivory an' grain,
Lumber out of Puget Sound, an' wine out of Spain,
Deer's horns and jaggery they used to load at lost,
God-forsaken ports on the Coromandel coast..
Copra from the South Seas, coal out of Wales,
Copper ore, cinnamon, monkey nuts and nails:
Sweet cloves from Zanzibar, beans from Peru,
And a young white elephant consigned to the Zoo...

Those were the freights he sailed the world around with,
Those were the things he's been everything but drowned with,
Scorched an' soaked an' frozen from Cork to Chittagong,
In the sail days, the old days, the hungry days, the cold days,
(And 'ah, but they were fine days, them days when he was young!')

Hard hairy sailormen with weather tanned faces,
Hands bent with hauling on sheets, tacks, and braces,
Brawny forearms tattooed with strange devices,
And tough fingers skilled in cunning knots and splices...
Full of rum yarns and superstitious notions,
And odd bits of lingo from half a dozen oceans,
And many an old shanty, and old sailor song,
To while away a dog-watch, twenty verses long...

Those were the blokes Mike Murphy went to sea with,
Those were the sort of chaps he used to be with,
Shared his trick and whack with, laughed and swore and sung,
In the old days, the tough days, salt junk and leathery duff days,
(And 'ah but them was great days, them days when he was young!')


I hope I got all the codes right on this.
Cheers,
Richard

---

Fixed bold commands. (Changed to <b> and </b>) --JoeClone

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Jeri
Date: 27 Feb 02 - 09:17 AM

I mentioned a poem/song up above that I wanted to learn. I have the Pinch o' Salt CD, and I have the booklet that comes with it - I just can't find it!
(The booklet - I suspect I carefully separated it from my other music books so I could get at the words, and the booklet got sucked into the black hole that roams around my property. I'll find it again when I don't need it.)

If anyone has it in a book and could help me out...please?

It starts out:

Tall, rakin' clipperships, drivin' hell for leather
Swingin' down the forties in the eastern weather
.........
Bound for greater Frisco, not to be denied,
(more missing from brain) Those were the ships like Murphy used to sail in
Those were the ships he'd weathered many a gale in
.....
In the old days, the hard days
The done with mast and yard days
And ah, but they were grand days
The days when he was young.

...and the verse I referred to in my above post:

Hard, hairy sailormen with weathered, tanned faces
Hands bent from haulin' on sheets, tacks and braces
Brawn forearms tattered with strange devices
....
Those were the men like Murphy used to be with
Those were the sort of blokes he used to be with
...

Sorry there's so much missing from my head. I'll try to transcribe it from the CD at some point, but there are still words - mostly place names - I can't make out.

I don't know if I'll ever manage to sing the song because the tune has quite a wide range. I don't necessarily want to change it. The tune on the CD is perfect for the song. I listen to both words and tune and can vividly imagine the salt spray and wind, and feel the excitement of a way of life gone by, eloquently and passionately described by someone who had been there to experience it.

Thanks!

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: GUEST,Hank Lay
Date: 27 Feb 02 - 08:06 AM

To Charley Noble:

Sorry it's taken me so long to answer your question; I've been out of town & off the Net. Your Q: What are the titles of the poems you have found in the book you have? ANS: Mine is "A Michael Head Song Album Volume III/Songs for Male Voices" (c1985,Boosey&Hawkes) and it contains only the one CFS work, "A Dog's Life", saying it's "from 'Six Sea Songs'. I've tried unsuccessfully to find that volume, to see if he'd set any more CFS poems to music. Don't know if it's out of print or if I've just not dug deep enough. Head (1900-'76) was almost a contemporary of Smith, and he wrote rather difficult but beautiful "art songs" as well as liturgical music. (Go to http://www.wargrave.net/stmarys/t2bcd.html and click on "The Singer" to hear a wonderful example.) He taught piano at the Royal Academy for most of his life, giving many recitals and concert tours, and composing mostly songs but also a few orchestral works. Surely he was familiar with much more of Smith's work, and probably wrote music for many poems, but I've yet to find it. HPL

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 15 Feb 02 - 04:23 PM

Here is the link to the article in "The Hindu" about Indians in Flanders. My clicky went astray in the last post.

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 15 Feb 02 - 04:20 PM

I did read that thread, with great interest - but I noticed that the reference to the rewriting (including India) was given as "possibly", and there was no indication of where the soldier in question might have been stationed that I saw.

Incidentally, here is an article about Indians who fought and died in Flanders.

I notice that the text gives Cuinchy as the place where "Dick" died, whereas it often seems to be sung as Givenchy, and the DT has it that way. Either would have ben quite possible, given their location - maybe is better known or something.

But Cuinchy deserves to be remembered. Here is a link to a site listing Victoria Cross winners - and there were four won at Cuinchy in 1915.

Here is a page with a photo of one of the Victoria Cross winners, Corporal O'Leary, a Canadian Irishman serving in the British Army, with an account of what happened:

"Lance-Corporal O'Leary was one of the storming party which advanced against the enemy's barricades. He rushed to the front and killed five Germans who were holding the first barricade, after which he attacked a second barricade 60 yards further on. This he captured after killing three of the enemy and taking two more of them prisoner. The lance-corporal thus practically took the position by himself and prevented the rest of the attacking party from being fired upon."

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Jeri
Date: 15 Feb 02 - 03:19 PM

Danny speculated on how Flanders got replaced by India, and I posted that, as well as the name and date of the magazine in the thread about the song which I linked to a couple of times. There's stuff in there - trust me.

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: lamarca
Date: 15 Feb 02 - 02:47 PM

McGrath, my understanding is that the poem was reprinted in a magazine or newpaper for British foreign service or military personnel stationed in India (something like the USA's Stars and Stripes?) with the line changes that seemed to make it fit the audience better and without attribution. Sarah Morgan saw it there and did the tune setting; it was only fairly recently that someone actually traced it back to the C. Fox Smith original.

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 15 Feb 02 - 12:25 PM

I've think I've probably heard it with Flanders more often than with India, most recently last weekend when Dave Bryant gave us a powerful rendering during Stony Stratford.

It certainly seems to make a lot more sense that way, rather than starting with India, and then going to Flanders later on. It'd be intersting to find out how India came into it, and whether my speculation about it not actually being geographical India at all has anything in it.

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: lamarca
Date: 15 Feb 02 - 10:45 AM

Jeri, Dave Webber and Anni Fentiman have started singing it with the Flanders line, too, now that the correct attribution is known - it makes it a more powerful piece, in my opinion.

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Jeri
Date: 15 Feb 02 - 09:41 AM

McGrath, no one sings the song with "Flanders" except Danny McCleod as far as I know.

The story from Danny and well as the words to the original poem, are in the thread I previously linked to.

Here it is again: Homeward

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 15 Feb 02 - 07:12 AM

So apparently "Home Lads Home/ Homeward" started out with "Flanders" in the first line, and was rewritten with "India" by some unknown person, who was probably a soldier stationed out there, and put in a magazine in that form. Then found by Sarah Morgan and made into a song still with "India".

And then moved back to Flanders by the people singing it? Either from instinct, or because someone went back and checked with the original?

Fascinating stuff. One thing I've wondered is whether "India" here actually means India itself, or whether it might possibly be a reference to some sector of the Western Front which was manned by Indian troops, and could have been given that as a nickname.

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Gervase
Date: 15 Feb 02 - 06:06 AM

Here's the words to "Homeward" on which "Home, Lads Home" was based...

---

HOMEWARD

Behind a trench in Flanders, the sun was dropping low,
With tramp and creak and jingle I heard the gun teams go;
And some thing seemed to 'mind me, a-dreaming as I lay,
Of my old Hampshire village at the quiet end of day.

Home, lad, home, all among the corn and clover!
Home, lad, home when the time for work is over!
Oh, there's rest for horse and man when the longest day is done,
And they go home together at setting of the sun!

Brown thatch and gardens blooming with lily and with rose,
And the cool shining river so pleasant where he flows,
Wide fields of oats and barley, and elderflower like foam,
And the sky gold with sunset, and the horses going home!

Old Captain, Prince and Blossom, I see them all so plain,
With tasselled ear-caps nodding along the leafy lane,
There's a bird somewhere calling, and the swallows flying low,
And the lads sitting sideways, and singing as they go.

Well, gone is many a lad now, and many a horse gone too,
Of all the lads and horses in those old fields I new;
There's Dick that died at Cuinchy, and Prince beside the guns,
On the red road of glory, a mile or two from Mons!

Dead lads and shadowy horses --- I see them just the same,
I see them and I know them, and name them each by name,
Going down to shining waters when all the West's aglow,
And the lads sitting sideways and singing as they go.

Home, lad, home…with the sunlight on their faces !
Home, lad, home…to the quiet happy places!
There's rest for horse and man when the hardest fight is done,
And they go home together at setting of the sun!

Somehow the line "Going down to shinging waters" seems nicer than "While riding down to Swanmore" in the now well-known song.
Dave Webber and Anni Fentiman have covered a number of C Fox Smith's poems - if anyone wants their email address, just ping me and I'll pass it on.

Subject: ADD: Flying-Fish Sailor (C. Fox Smith)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 14 Feb 02 - 04:51 PM

Here's another reworking of the C. Fox Smith sea poem "Flying Fish Sailor"; the tune is a variant of "Cold Frosty Morning", just one A-part and one B-part for you contradance fans (copy & paste into WORD/TIMES/12):

FLYING-FISH SAILOR
(By Cicely Fox Smith in Sea Songs & Ballads, © 1924; words slightly adapted by Charles Ipcar, © 2001; tune adapted from Cold Frosty Morning by Charles Ipcar, © 2001)

Dm-------------------------C----Dm
The Western Ocean roars and rolls
------C---------------------Dm-C
With all its deeps and all its shoals,
-----Dm-----------------------C---Dm
And many a thundering win-try gale,
-------------------------------C---Dm
And many a storm of sleet and hail;
--------------------------------C---Dm
But let who likes have rain and snow,
-----------G—C—G—Dm-F--C
And driv-ing fog and drift-ing floe,
----Dm---------------C---------Dm
For South away and Eastward Ho!
---------------------C-----------Dm
Is the road for the flying-fish sailor.

In Blackwall Dock our ship is moored,
Her hatches on, her stores aboard,
In Blackwall Dock she lies today,
And she'll sail out with the morning's grey –
For Sunda Strait and Singapore,
Palembang and Kuala Lumpur,
And many a swarming Eastern shore
That's known to the flying-fish sailor.

The girls they'll cry and the lads'll shout
As the sidewheel tug warps her out;
We'll drop the pilot off the Nore
With fond farewells to those ashore –
To mothers, wives and sweethearts too –
Love to Sally and love to Sue –
And that's the last for a year or two
You'll hear from the flying-fish sailor.

We'll slip the tow and bear away,
Down the Channel, across the Bay;
The Western Isles we'll leave behind
And cross the Line with the Trade Winds kind;
Then we'll watch the dolphins sport and play,
And haul our yards ten times a day,
While South'ard still we beat our way –
The way of the flying-fish sailor.

At Forty South when she swings past,
Her easting down she'll run at last,
Where the great whales swim in the far South Sea,
And the Westerlies blow full and free;
Those good old winds they bluster and blow
The same as they did years ago,
And the good old stars that we all know
Look down on the flying-fish sailor.

The darned old hooker will log sixteen,
She'll ship it heavy and ship it green,
She'll roll along with her lee-rail under,
While the big seas break aboard like thunder;
The pots and pans they'll carry away,
And the cook'll go down on his knees to pray,
But let the seas roar as they may,
All's one to the flying-fish sailor.

Next, old Sydney's Heads we'll see,
And greet a pal on Circular Quay;
We'll wave at Java Head as we go,
And Fuji's crest of frozen snow;
Then black-eyed girls in far Japan,
Wun Lee, Wang Ho and little Yo San,
With shining hair and twinkling fan,
Will smile on a flying-fish sailor.

When at last the day comes round,
We'll yank the mudhook from the ground,
And to old England we'll return,
Our pockets filled with pay to burn;
With a painted fan and an ivory comb
From foreign lands beyond the foam,
And a golden ring for the girl at home
That waits for the flying-fish sailor.

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: ChanteyMatt
Date: 14 Feb 02 - 03:48 PM

Capt. Chris Flavel who operates "Sea Ocean Book Berth" here in Seattle, claims that all of the C.Fox Smith books can be had if you're willing to pay. Ain't that always the truth!

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Michael in Swansea
Date: 14 Feb 02 - 06:48 AM

I counted 48 books with another couple where she just did the foreword. Lancashire Hunting Songs was first published in 1909.

Mike

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: GUEST,JohnB
Date: 13 Feb 02 - 04:27 PM

I have a friend with a collection of approx 18+/-1 C Fox Smith books. He reckons she published about 27. There is one which he has called "Lancashire Hunting Songs and Other Moorland Lays" he has found no other reference to it anywhere. It was published in Manchester somewhere about 1905. Well being from Manchester, which is in Lancashire if you don't know your English geography. I sat down fascinated by this book, several times over a couple of days last September. I then came up with tunes to 4 of the poems. Something I have never done before. I guess where I am leading is, if I can do it anyone who wishes to probably can too. JohnB

Subject: RE: C. Fox Smith Sea Poems
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 Feb 02 - 09:39 AM

While I was recently in Oz, I made my way to the All at Sea nautical bookshop in Sydney and was told by the propriator there that he had recently sold a manuscript of C. Fox Smith sea poems, some not included in her books, with notes by her sister, to some collector; hopefully it was to a collector who will do something with it other than file it away. A pity that I hadn't arrived a month sooner.