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22 Aug 06 - 09:41 PM (#1816609) Subject: Peter Bellamy's 'The Clipper' From: ScuttleBob Greetings, ALL, I've been trying to find the name of the author of a piece, which appears on Peter's "We have feed our Sea for a Thousand Years"...which may, or may not be called 'The Clipper'...here are the lyrics-sounds like one of Peters Poem settings... 'The Clipper'? from the singing of PETER BELLAMY 1.Oh, fair She was to look on, as some spirit of the Sea, as She raced from China homeward, with Her load of fragrant tea & the shiny-swift Bonita, & the white-winged Albatross, claimed kinship with the Clipper, beneath the Southern Cross. 2.Close Hauled, with shortened canvas, swift & plunging, she would sweep through the gale that rose to bar Her, wild pathway 'cross the deep & before the gale blew over, half her drenched & driven crew, to the tune of Ruben Ranzo, hoisted topsail-yards anew. 3.From the haven of the present, She has cleared & slipped away loaded deep, & running freely, for the Port of Yesterday and the Cargo that She carried, oh, it was not China Tea She took with Her all the wonder, & the Romance of the Sea. [*from the BBC Radio's- "We Have fed our Seas for a Thousand Years"; created by Peter Bellamy]. Anybody know the Name, and Author of this piece? I'd love to know |
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23 Aug 06 - 08:15 AM (#1816907) Subject: RE: Peter Bellamy's 'The Clipper' From: Mr Fox I think it's 'The China Clipper' and the entry from the Peter Bellamy discography quoted below would seem to suggest that he wrote it himself (It's certanly not Kipling and doesn't sound traditional):- Year: 1982 Title: The Maritime England Suite Artist: Peter Bellamy Produced by: The BBC For the Radio 3 Broadcast 'We have fed our Seas', 1982 Personnel were: Peter Bellamy, also featuring: Dolly Collins (piano) and Ursula Pank (cello) Songs of the sea from the Saxons to the 19th century - Kipling, Traditional, and anon/Bellamy. Tracks were: Song of The Red Warboat, Sir Patrick Spens, Sir Andrew Barton, The Spanish Armada, The Zealous Puritan, The Dutch in The Medway, We Have Fed Our Seas, Andrew Rose & The Cruel Ship's Captain, The Death of Nelson, The British Man Of War, You Gentlemen of England, The China Clipper. Re-released as Private Issue Cassette via Jenny Bellamy Availability: Tapes in the Dave Harris Archive |
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23 Aug 06 - 09:01 AM (#1816934) Subject: RE: Peter Bellamy's 'The Clipper' From: Charley Noble Bob- Interesting question. I would also consider the song at least inspired by our old friend C. Fox Smith. Which reminds me, is your C. Fox Smith CD now available? Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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13 Oct 12 - 01:00 PM (#3419246) Subject: RE: Origins: The Clipper (Peter Bellamy) From: Charley Noble refresh |
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13 Oct 12 - 01:21 PM (#3419258) Subject: RE: Origins: The Clipper (Peter Bellamy) From: Charley Noble There is a suggestion from another Mudcat thread that the track listing attributes this song to "K. Tardif" (early 20th century). So maybe more research is needed. Charley Noble |
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13 Oct 12 - 01:33 PM (#3419265) Subject: RE: Origins: The Clipper (Peter Bellamy) From: Charley Noble Here's the Mudcat thread reference for the above: Subject: RE: Peter Bellamy: Maritime English Suite From: Phil Edwards - PM Date: 21 Nov 10 - 12:32 PM I can make a few revisions to the track listing given above: Part One: Introduction (instrumental) Song of the Red War Boat (Kipling) Sir Patrick Spens (traditional (Child 58)) Sir Andrew Barton (traditional (Child 167)) The Spanish Armada (J. Keefe (18th century)) The Zealous Puritan (Anon. (17th century)) The Dutch in the Medway (Kipling) Part Two: We Have Fed Our Sea For a Thousand Years (Kipling) Andrew Rose & the Cruel Ship's Captain (traditional) The Death of Nelson (traditional) The British Man of War (traditional) You Gentlemen of England (J. Philips (17th century)) The China Clipper ("K. Tardif" (early 20th century)) Until I started researching it I had no idea how old some of the texts Bellamy used were - or how obscure. I've found a couple of references to the poem The China Clipper online, but nothing much about Mr or Ms Tardif; I wonder if it was a pseudonym (it's an unusual surname, and "tardif" is French for "late"). Charley Noble |
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13 Oct 12 - 02:12 PM (#3419275) Subject: RE: Origins: The Clipper (Peter Bellamy) From: Reinhard If you google for the first few words of the poem, "fair she was to look on", you'll find the poem in a scanned copy of Basil Lubbock's same-named book The China Clippers, Glasgow: James Brown & Son, 1914: O fair she was to look on, as some spirit of the sea. When she raced from China, homeward, with her freight of fragrant tea And the shining swift bonito and the wide-winged albatross Claimed kinship with the clipper beneath the Southern Cross. Close-hauled, with shortened canvas, swift and plunging she could sweep Through the gale that rose to bar her wild pathway across the deep; And before the gale blew over, half her drenched and driven crew, To the tune of Reuben Ranzo, hoisted topsail yards anew. From the haven of the present she has cleared and slipped away, Loaded deep and running free for the port of yesterday. And the cargo that she carried, ah! it was not China tea. She took with her all the glamour and romance of life at sea. |
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13 Oct 12 - 02:14 PM (#3419276) Subject: RE: Origins: The Clipper (Peter Bellamy) From: GUEST,999 Have you tried Tardiff as the spelling, Charley? |
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13 Oct 12 - 03:15 PM (#3419306) Subject: RE: Origins: The Clipper (Peter Bellamy) From: Charley Noble Reinhard above has nailed the literary source, the same source that I was just reviewing (grumble, grumble). Typo: "Reuben Ranzo" above should be italicized or in quotation marks as the title of a shanty. Evidently the poem was used as an introduction to the first chapter of The China Clippers. I would cite the reference as: From an untitled introductory poem by K. Tardif, The China Clippers, edited by Basil Lubbock, James Brown & Sons, Glasgow, UK, © 1914, p. 342. That still leaves a mystery with regard to the identity of "K. Tardif." Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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13 Oct 12 - 03:33 PM (#3419320) Subject: RE: Origins: The Clipper (Peter Bellamy) From: Reinhard I found another hint at Books & Collectibles THE CHINA CLIPPERS LUBBOCK, Basil 42748 Glasgow. 1916. James Brown & Son. 3rd edition. XV, 387, XXXIV (appendix) PP, plus 1 colour plate with 12 House Flag, and 26 b/w plates [frontispiece, 1 map, 9 plans (4 of them folded) and 21 illustrations]. Fp: Taeping & Ariel racing up Channel. Cloth cover, title on front cover and spine. Covers soiled and rubbed. Hinges rubbed and worn. Name of previous owner in blind on front endpaper. Newspaper clipping (Poem: The Tea Clipper, by Kathleen Tardiff) pasted down on page XIV. Foxing throughout, otherwise a good copy. 21.6 x 14. The history of the celebrated clipper ships in the opium and tea trades. $50.00AUD |
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13 Oct 12 - 03:39 PM (#3419322) Subject: RE: Origins: The Clipper (Peter Bellamy) From: Charley Noble Reinhard- You are good!!! Too pricy for me to confirm, however, but it certainly seems to correlate 100%. Case closed as far as I'm concerned. Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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13 Oct 12 - 10:08 PM (#3419462) Subject: RE: Origins: The Clipper (Peter Bellamy) From: Sandra in Sydney Charley, if you want to contact the dealer here's his website Jean-Louis Boglio Maritime Books It's a bit far away for me to pop in & visit! |
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14 Oct 12 - 04:42 AM (#3419518) Subject: RE: Origins: The Clipper (Peter Bellamy) From: GUEST,Blandiver One of my all time favourite Bellamy songs. I can't listen to it without coming over all tearful. Why? Well, I know my dad would have loved it anyway. It brings me right back to all his old maritime prints, drawings, and his old copies of Sea Breezes my mother kept in his memory. Most of all I see the print of a Montague Dawson clipper that forever hunt above the fireplace in the front room. And the cargo that she carried, ah! it was not China tea. She took with her all the glamour and romance of life at sea. And so much more; so much more you can't even say... |
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14 Oct 12 - 04:44 AM (#3419519) Subject: RE: Origins: The Clipper (Peter Bellamy) From: GUEST,Blandiver PS - This is why we must sing these poems; no mere spoken voice could ever do them justice. We read 'em into our hearts, but we sing 'em from our very souls. |
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14 Oct 12 - 08:10 AM (#3419585) Subject: RE: Origins: The Clipper (Peter Bellamy) From: Phil Edwards Thanks, Reinhard - another mystery (partially) solved. Kathleen Tardif appears in the 1901 Census, aged 23. She was born and lived on Guernsey, which may explain the French surname; she was appointed secretary of the Guernsey branch of the RSPB in 1918. That's all Google has to say, though. I wonder how that poem caught the eye of the anthologist[s], and whether she wrote anything else. Also, what Blandiver said. I defy anyone to look at that picture and not marvel. O fair she was to look on... |
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14 Oct 12 - 09:50 AM (#3419629) Subject: RE: Origins: The Clipper (Peter Bellamy) From: Charley Noble Phil- So it would be "Tardif" with one "f" or "ff"? I did send an e-mail as suggested by Sandra to the Australian bookseller to clarify the spelling, the date and name of the newspaper clipping. Wonder if Kathleen Tardif was familiar with the poetry of C. Fox Smith? I certainly agree that many of these vintage nautical poems spring to new life when they are adapted to singing. Bob Zentz (Scuttle Bob above) is very fond of the Peter Bellamy setting for this poem. Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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14 Oct 12 - 10:17 AM (#3419634) Subject: RE: Origins: The Clipper (Peter Bellamy) From: Phil Edwards Definitely Tardif with one F. It looks slightly odd as an English surname, but if you think in terms of French (or the weird sort of Anglo-French they used to speak in the Channel Isles) it's fine. |
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14 Oct 12 - 04:41 PM (#3419791) Subject: RE: Origins: The Clipper (Peter Bellamy) From: Charley Noble The Australian bookseller, Jean-Louis Boglio - Maritime Books, confirm's that the poet's last name is correctly spelled "Tardif" according to the newspaper clipping; there is no further information about the newspaper itself in terms of title or date. I think we have tidied up this inquiry rather well. Thanks to everyone who was helpful. Cheerily, Charley Noble |
