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genealogy and folk music
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genealogy and folk music |
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Subject: geneolgy and folk music From: wilco Date: 19 Mar 03 - 11:30 AM My interest in "folk music" grew out of my interest in geneology. When I would go into schools to make presentations to kids, I found that historical songs made it more interesting for them. Anyone else doing this? If so, what do you use? Do you dress in historically accurate costumes? What grades or ages? I've found this a great way to teach cultural sensititivity too. |
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Subject: RE: geneolgy and folk music From: open mike Date: 19 Mar 03 - 11:42 AM I am interested in genealogy also. the old songs were possibly listened to and played by my ancestors, in fact one of my great-uncles was said to be a fiddler, though i never heard himplay--wich i knew what tunes he played so i could learn those and think about him when i play them! druinig the times that bards were the "news reporters" oral (aural?) tradition was the source of stories about ancestors, etc. |
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Subject: ADD: Just Another Rebel (Steve Sedberry) From: sed Date: 19 Mar 03 - 12:52 PM JUST ANOTHER REBEL? words and music by Charles Stephen Sedberry A standing stone upon the hillside, Coosa flows along below. Such a peaceful-looking river where this youth drowned long ago. Chorus: Was he just another rebel back before that bloody civil war or did-- he understand that freedom is something we-- must all keep fighting for--? On the stone it should say, "William," for that was my-- uncle's name, but it just gives his initials to abbre--viate his pa--rents pain. Anna Jane was his mother, Shadrack Hogan was his pa; his brother* was my great grandfather in the years-- before the great-- civil war--. Had he lived he'd have been a soldier, but he drowned at-- seventeen. Was his death an early blessing to save-- him from some gory battle scene--? © Copyright 1986, 1990 Steve Sedberry *(my great, grandfather's oldest brother, William H. Sedberry, was born in North Carolina on 21 July 1840. As an infant he was moved to Wetumpka, AL then to Cherokee County, AL shortly after the Cherokees were "removed". Charles Augustus Sedberry, my great-grandfather and partial namesake, was born in 1849 but died in 1883 less than two months after his last child, my grandfather, John Gaston Sedberry, Sr., was born. When William, or "Billy" ,as he may have been called, drowned in the Coosa River near Leesburg on 12 Dec 1857, his body was buried behind what is now Cedar Hill Methodist Church Cemetery. Perhaps he drowned as did my great, great, great grandfather, Moses Rushton, (Jan. 1859, Montg. Co., AL) by attempting to cross without the benefit of a bridge. One recording of this song is by Rebekah Stober and her Down Home Family Band. Contact: Carol Stober, Box 1275, Talladega, AL 35160. It's also on my out of print cassette album: What We Dream. |
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Subject: RE: geneolgy and folk music From: katlaughing Date: 19 Mar 03 - 01:16 PM How wonderful! Thanks for sharing it. I don't go out, but I do share the songs I've learned from my dad, some of which he learned from his dad and grandpas. My sister, bet, has helped me to remember some of them, plus we also learned some from our mom. Hollowfox was kind enough to pick me up a tape called Folk music & lore of the Civil War from field recordings which is really incredible to listen to as it is specific to West Virginia where my great-grandfather, Abraham Forsythe, was a rebel scout/spy and must have known/sung some of these songs: Camp Chase Jesse Hammons of Williams River Camp Chase Hiram Herbert The Federal Soldier Three Forks of Hell Little Rose is gone Stacked Them Up in Pieces Abe's Retreat Old Dan Tucker Brother Green Who's Been Here Since I've Been Gone Battle of Droop Mountain Battle of Mill Springs Zolly's Retreat Incident at Tate Creek Old Joe Hooker Shilo Hill It was put out by the Augusta Heritage Center of Davis & Elkins College Elkins, W VA 26241 304.636.1903 I am very much into genealogy and enjoy helping others to start their research into the past. Thanks for starting this thread! kat |
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Subject: RE: genealogy and folk music From: open mike Date: 19 Mar 03 - 01:52 PM wonderful song steve... and glad to know there are other family tree researchers on here.. i got started into it by trying to find \clues to a disappeared grandfather. have found lots of other info and met new people I did not know before thru my searches... also found a cousin who makes music and hope to jam with him at a family reunion this summer may be a great discovery!@ also found a book about a girl who becomes a teacher in a sod house...my grandma was a teacher in a one room school in early 1900's |
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Subject: RE: genealogy and folk music From: Stewart Date: 19 Mar 03 - 03:09 PM Here's a song my friend Cathy Ross wrote after her first trip to her ancestral home in Ireland. It is on her recent self-released CD "Times of Summer Sun". You can email her about purchasing a copy.
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Subject: RE: genealogy and folk music From: GUEST,Les B. Date: 19 Mar 03 - 05:03 PM I'm interested in genealogy too, but never thought of combining my love for music with it. What songs do you do, and what era costuming? I discovered recently that my grandfather used to sing "Preacher & the Bear" - probably c. 1920, and that he also sang a phrase or two of "The Dying Soldier of Buena Vista" a song about the 1848 Mexican-American war, in which his father served as a Tennessee Volunteer. On my dad's side, he had an uncle who lost a leg in a mining accident and was a barber, a magician in a traveling tent show, and a fiddler (my dad also rode bucking horses in the same show). One of the tunes this great uncle apparently played on the fiddle, and sang, was a version of the "Farmer's Cursed Wife". My elderly aunt,in remembering this, would chuckle at the line "sez he old woman, you're a hell of a load!" |
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Subject: RE: genealogy and folk music From: wilco Date: 19 Mar 03 - 05:28 PM Songs depend on the age of the kids, teacher's lesson plan, school festival theme, etc. Bera in mind that I'm in USA, so nearly everything that I do goes back to a multicultural theme. I like to use Black jack avey in it's many incarnations. Play "How old are you my pretty little Miss," explainin that that kind of song, where kids can make up the evrses as they go along, was the kind of entertainment that kids had for millions of years, before TV and video games. Have them do a few spontaneous verses. Explain then that it probably came from another song, Black jack Davey or (maybe), the "wraggle Taggle Gypsies." Sing Black jack Davey, and let themguess how old it would be, and have a discussion about the young girl and her baby, etc. Take it to the possible historic origin of the song, with the removal of the gypsies from Scotland in thew 1600's. Personalize it with Jahnny Faa, the gypsy in the story. Go to the potatoe famine in Ireland, and songs like "Paddy Works on the Railroad" or "The Little Sod Shanty." Remind them that I'm part American Indian, Irish English, Scottish, Welsh, german, Spanish, French, and (maybe) African. Ask them if theyknew where their ancestors came from, etc. Whole idea is to make "History and our great grands come alive." Tough part is to have an immagration song for every natioality. |
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Subject: RE: genealogy and folk music From: GUEST,JohnB Date: 20 Mar 03 - 01:02 PM A brief encounter with the SCA, led me to research some of the songs I had known for ever. I found things like "Martin Said to His Man" were published by Thomas Ravenscroft in 1597 or so. This led to forming a "medievil (sp deliberate) renaissance (sp not deliberate)" group who also did some English trad Folky stuff. We were together for about 8 years. We dressed in a style which had about a 4 century span but who knows. Developed a whole patter about drinking and singing with Henry VIII (Harry to his friends) and Bill Shakespeare (a writer who I think has a great future). We did several School performances, which were always well accepted and attended. Small children seemed to be totally enthralled and would sit down right in front of us during performances and be totally attentive. The trouble was with eight of us in the group, you could not afford to take a day off work for what it paid. It is all history now ;) as the group has disbanded ;) JohnB |
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Subject: RE: genealogy and folk music From: sed Date: 20 Mar 03 - 01:55 PM I was just thinking, and this may seem almost too metaphorical, that those of us who are trying to merge with the great HUMAN FAMILY are always singing songs about our genealogy. We can't escape the genre! |
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Subject: RE: genealogy and folk music From: Little Robyn Date: 20 Mar 03 - 05:48 PM My interest in folk and my interest in genealogy were happily travelling along parallel lines until the late 60s when I discovered that my Gr,Gr,grandmother, Martha Henwood, who came to NZ in 1856, was from Padstow!!! Oss, Oss! Wee Oss! Suddenly I belonged to a tradition that has been going since time immoral! I saved up my pennys and in 1972 I went - found the home of my Trescowthick ancestors at Crugmeer, joined in the Mayday festivities and put flowers on Philip Trescowthick's grave for his 100th anniversary. Now I know where I belong - even if I'm half a world away! |
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Subject: RE: genealogy and folk music From: GUEST,Les B. Date: 21 Mar 03 - 12:46 AM Little Robyn - can you explain for us on the American side of the pond the significance of Padstow (I assume it's in the UK?) and Oss Oss, Wee Oss ??? |
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Subject: RE: genealogy and folk music From: Barry T Date: 21 Mar 03 - 02:05 AM It was my unexpectedly emotional reaction to a bit of genealogical research that lead to this lyric and song... An Emigrant's Daughter. Now the story is being spread far more effectively than my gedcom files or family history websites. Of all the folks who have given me nice feedback, it has been the family historians who have really understood and 'tuned in to' the sentiment. |
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Subject: RE: genealogy and folk music From: Little Robyn Date: 21 Mar 03 - 02:51 AM Padstow is a Cornish fishing village on the northern coast, where they celebrate Mayday with an all-day festival that includes a hobby horse, locally called the 'Obby Oss'. It actually starts the night before, when the pubs close and the people start the night singing. It's a bit like Christmas carolers, visiting homes and singing to the occupants. In the morning, the children start out first - with a small version of the Oss. The scouts used to have one and other children, over the years, have made their own. They dance this 'beast' all around the streets, with a band of dancers and musicians - drummers and accordian/melodian players. Most of the followers are dressed in white, with either blue or red ribbons and matching bandanas, and one dancer, carrying a thing that looks like a padded table-tennis bat, is the teaser. He or she dances in front of the Oss, teasing and leading him on. The children finish before the big adult Osses appear. The Oss looks like a circular table with a big black table cloth. There is a hole in the middle for the person carrying it to put their head through and he has a pointed mask, almost like a witches hat, covering his face. The 'table' has a pole with a stylised head sticking out one side and a 'tail' stuck out the other side. The whole thing looks almost African, painted black with red and white markings - eyes, nose, ears and mouth. Then at 10am the Blue Ribbon Oss leaves its 'stable' and, with the streets full of people, they begin their dance. The Red Ribbon Oss starts one hour later and they each have their own route, avoiding the others until a specified time when they 'meet' under the maypole and have a mock battle. During the day the Oss will chase the girls and they do say that "if you get caught under the Oss, you'll be married before the end of the year" (or you will have to get married because...) (This is a fertility festival, after all.) This continues throughout the day, with only short meal breaks, until late at night, when the Oss is put back in his stable for another year, amid tears from the revellers. This festivity has several magical aspects: If the Oss is a strong dancer and catches lots of girls, the farmers will have lots of baby horses and sheep and sons - all necessary for a small-farmer to survive in past centuries. As the Oss dances past the harbour, he is taken to dip his face in the water and he splashes his followers. This is also sympathetic magic - a rain charm this time. At regular intervals during the song (the same one that they sing all day) the Oss 'dies' and the crowd sing a special dirge. At the end, they yell out "OSS OSS" and others reply "WEE OSS", the Oss comes back to life and the dancing starts all over again. This is said to be a pre-christian example of death and resurrection, and is to encourage the plants that 'died' in the winter, to come back to life in summer. People do say that if the Oss didn't dance, the summer wouldn't come and while they don't really believe that any more, just in case, they wouldn't give it up. Besides, it's a great excuse for a major booze-up! And these days, when tourism has become the life blood of Padstow, this certainly brings in thousands of people, all buying pasties for lunch and drinking lots of beer. Steeleye Span have a civilised version of the Oss song on their CD 'Tempted and tried' (only I don't know how to do a blicky to it) but the street version is much more primitive. The occasion has attracted several 'folk' over the years - Hamish Henderson would always turn up and the Spinners from Liverpool. Also, the Watersons and Martin Carthy have been known to go to Padstow for Mayday too. And I've been twice - and joined the Blue Oss band both times! I've been accepted by the locals as a 'local'! How's that for genealogy meets folk?? OSS OSS! Robyn |
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Subject: RE: genealogy and folk music From: GUEST,Les B. Date: 21 Mar 03 - 01:51 PM Robyn - fascinating! Thanks. |
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Subject: RE: genealogy and folk music From: Jeanie Date: 21 Mar 03 - 02:42 PM Wilco - I go into a school (7 to 11 year olds)for two afternoons each week. My sessions are "drama" - but I include music and song as much as I can to set the atmosphere, get them thinking and as a springboard for the improvised scenes they devise. As well as 'social education' such as "being a good friend", I do a *lot* of historical themes. I found an excellent sequence of sessions on the Irish Potato Famine in this book: "Scholastic Workshop - Drama 9 to 11" by Alison Chaplin, publ. Scholastic Ltd. ISBN 0-590-53827-6 and it worked very well with a Year 6 class (10/11 year olds). It uses source material such as a poster announcing a soup kitchen and contemporary drawings. The children become the tenants being evicted, begging on the streets, finally on board ship emigrating, speaking out their fears and hopes about leaving their homeland. There is a whole mixture of having them working on their own, in pairs, groups and as a whole class. I don't tend to use much in the way of costume - but let their imaginations work for them. I show them pictures, for instance, and they walk around (to appropriate music), imagining themselves wearing those clothes, the feel and weight of the clothes, how it makes them move, then greet each other etc. Another *very* useful thing is to use paintings/contemporary photographs of people in pairs or groups, and have them make a "freeze frame" picture exactly copying it, then tap them on the shoulder to speak out their thoughts as the characters in the picture, or have them answer questions in character from the rest of the class. oooh, I could go on... there is so much can be done and I think it's a wonderful way, as you say, to make the past "come alive" and it helps them to understand themselves and the present day, too. - jeanie |
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Subject: RE: genealogy and folk music From: katlaughing Date: 21 Mar 03 - 05:00 PM Barry, your song is beautiful and heart-wrenching. Thanks for posting the link. It brings to mind, also, all of the babies born and lost in those early days, as well as young mothers. I have gone through from my grandparents on both sides and back and there were so many who died as infants; something I also notice in the old cemeteries, esp. in New England. Robyn, thanks for the explanation. It sounds like a fantastic experience! |
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Subject: RE: genealogy and folk music From: Bev and Jerry Date: 21 Mar 03 - 10:49 PM We plan to attend the Padstow Obby Oss Festival this year. We've never been before but it sounds too good to miss. For some pictures, click. Bev and Jerry |
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