The magazine of Calendar of Events THE COUNTRY DANCE SOCIETY OF AMERICA December 12, 1959 COUNTRY DANCE SOCIETY OF AMERICA EDITOR CECIT. SHARP CENTENNIAL CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL THE May Gadd Hunter College, New York. 8 to 12 p.m. ASSISTANT EDITORS December 19, 1959 COUNTRY DANCE SOCIETI - BOOTON CENTRE A. C. King Maxwell Reiskind Cl!nlL SHARP CENTENNIAL CHRIS'mAS PARTI counTRY Old South Church, Boston. 8 p.mo CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Penn Elizabeth Schrader Evelyn K. Wells Dec. 27 - Jan. 1 CHRISTMAS COUNTRY DANCE SCHOOL DAnCER J. Donnell Tilghman Roberta Yerkes Berea Gollege, Berea, Kentucky ART EDITOR January 6, 196o C.D.S. NEW YORK WINTER SERIES OPBNS Genevieve Shimer Wednesday Dance Evenings with instruction Month~ Square and Country Dance Parties THE COUNTRY DANCER is published twice a year. Subscription is February 1960 NATIONAL C.D.S. THEATER BENEFIT IN NEW YORK py membership in the Country Dance Society of America (annual Details to be announced dues $5, educational institutions and libraries $3.) Inquiries and subscriptions should be sent to the Secretary, Country Dance April 7 - 10 MOUNTAIN FOLK FESTIVAL at Berea College, Ky. Society of America, 55 Christopher Street, New York 14, N.Y. April 30 .2!: May 7 C.D.S. SPRING FESTIVAL in New York Tel: ALgonquin 5-8895. Copyright 1959 by the Country Dance Society Inc. August 7 to 28 C.D.S. at P!NE)l0000 CAMP, Buzzards Bay, Mass. See page 29 for account of last summer's Dance Weeks. The Spring Country Dancer ldll d·escribe Folk Music Week. Table of Contents PICTURE CREDI'IS. By Gerhard Steinfeld, New York: Morris and Page CountrJ dancing at Pinewoods 1959 (pages JO Calendar of Events •••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 3 Marriages and Births •••••••••••••••••••••••••• 3 and Jl); Hudson Guild Farm, Hain House (page 17) Supplied by The Enelish Folk Dance and Song Society, London, CecU Sharp - Centennial Year Celebration ••••• 4 .C ngland: Harshfield Mummers (page 7); Sword Dancers (p. 20-21. And to you our Wassail too •••••••••••••••••••• 5 Playford Pbszle••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 8 What's in a Name • •• •••••••••••••••••••••••• 9 A President Leads A Christmas Procession •••••• 14 Marriages If You Can Walk You Can Dance ••••••••••••••••• l6 October Weekend ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• l6 GENSLER-CAJOLET: June 13, 1959 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, A Rigged Countr,r Dance Quiz •••••••••••••••••••l8 l-1erlyn Gensler to Renald Cajolet. Sword Dance Costume •••••••••••••••••••••••• l9-21 BECKER-GAMZON: June 21, 1959 in Huntington, New York, On Organizing a Countr,r Dance Group ••••••••••• 22 Louise Becker to Abraham I. Gamzo~. Recorder News -What's Playing •••••••••••••••• 23 Dancing on the Green •••••••••••••••••••••••••• 25 SULLIVAN·-GRIFFERTY: July ll, 1959 in New York, N.Y. Adrienne Sullivan to James J. Grifferty. Center News•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••··26 I remember Pinewoods •••••••••••••••••••••••••• 29 MA'ESUMURA-HINCKLEY: August 8, 1959 in Honolulu, Hawaii, The Four Seasons Consort ••••••••••••••••••••••32 Nora Matsumura to Alden Dexter Hinckley. In Memoriam ••••••••••• , •••••••••••••••••••••••33 Welcome - to new Affiliated Group ••••••••••••• 34 Births Some Notes on the Language of Folk Song •••••••34 Record Review •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••37 RAYNA: To Marian and Jerry Rayna of Center Valley, Pa., C.D.s. Sales Department •••••••••••••••••••••••39 September 19, 1959, a daughter, ADRIENNE. Picture Credit•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 3 3 2 And to you our Wassail too ... Cecil SIJflt/J
When on Twelfth Night, 1617, Ben Jonson presented the entertainment of "Christmas his Maske," he offered to his royal patrons and their guest Pocohontas a little diversion in a season when feasts and masques of immense luxury and cost were taking place in many noble houses where the King and the Queen were guests. Thinly disguised, though richly dressed, this 11 maske 11 is a mwruners 1 visit such as up and down the country was bringing luck to farmhouse and manors cottage and hall, where guisers craved room and entry 911d were chased out with red hot pokers; Hobby-horse, Tup and Snake gambolled and claimed largesse and Ploughboys enacted a rite more ancient than the world the Elizabethans knew. As the Folk Play is enacted by the Fool and his sons, so is this Christmas entertainment by Gregory Christmas, his sons - Misrule, Carol, Gambol, Post-and-Pair, New Year's Gift, Mumming, Offering and Baby-Cake, and his daughters - Mino.ed. Pie and Wassail, each, as according to tradition, accom panied by a Torch-bearer, each, as according to tradition, carrying the insignia of their ca·lling; and, so that no-one should mistake the signi ficance of the entertainment and insignia Christmas - who plays Presenter - is attended by Cupid.
From a DrmvinJ.: by S ir William Rotheruteifl First entered ~lisrule as a reveller in a great ruff; , then Carol with a flute and song-book; Gambol, tumbling C ECIL J. SHARP 18 5 9 -1 9 24 through a hoop hung with bells; Post-and-Pair carrying Founder of the English Folk Dance Society cards and counters and wearing a gown patched with Aces and IN THIS CENTENARY YEAR OF CECIL SHARP we think o! the Pairs; New Year's Gift came as a serving-man bearing the delight o! moving to the gay and lovely English country dance traditional and significant gifts of orange, gingerbread and tunes, the smooth intricacies o! sliOrd dancing, the vigor of gilded rosemary; Mwruning declared himself in pied suit and vizard; Offering carried his cap and basin, and Baby-Cake a the morris dances, the charm and variety o! the folk songs 1 and we are deeply grateful to the man who spent his l.i!e in great cake containing the bean or pea together with a dagger; saving this material !rom being lost - at a time when its value w:1ile the daughters, Minced Pie came in as a cook-wife with was recognized by few others. her man to carry the pie,* dish or spoons; and Wassail, dressed as "a neat s emptress or songster," entered last, her All who have read CECU.. SHARP , written by A.H. Fox page bearing a brown bowl decked with ribbons ~d rosemary. Strangways and Maud Ka.rpeles, must have felt how large a part chance seemed to play in the rescue of this folk art !rom obliv Wassailing can be a women's rite. Elsewhere we hear ion. The out-of-season morris dances that he happened to see of the young women dressed as Jonson describes going from 'While spending Christmas of 1899 at Headington, near Oxford; door to door with their wassailing carol, carrying the dec the hearing of his first "living" folk song sung by a gardener orated bowl a. s the Mayers carried their branch and the bag who was working in the Somerset garden of another friend; see with the silken string. And we learn that the bowl s erved ing his first s110rd dance at Kirkby Malzeard in Yorkshire and not only to contain the ale anrl roasted crab-apples, but, the longways country dances in the south o! England; and so to like Offering's basin, t o receive the wherewithal to pro- the recognition of the fact that the John Playford English Danc ing Master, first published in 1650 and preserved in the British ---- ·------·--- -· -----·----- ~<- Ninced-pies at this time were filled with spiced meat, Museum, was a collection of country dances that were the direct not fruit, and wer e box-shaped. outcome o! an unbroken tradition. (continued on page 12) 4 5 vipe the festive drink.
A correspondent from Stroud (Glos,) has described how in 1948 wassailers still r~de their rounds as they had done immemorially, but with a change that indicated beyond doubt that the wassail was a •komos 1 or luck-bringing visitation, as described by Douglas Kennedy in his "Dramatic Elements in the Folk Dance." Without the offering "lining it well within" there was no showing of the "branch, 11 no "love and joy" nor 11 to you our wassail too!" - for the "decorated bowl" which the Stroud wassailers used to carry was by then a decorated shopping-basket,
The masked visiting or fire procession in Shetland has been described in Up-helly-aa by c. E. Hitchell; not so and fastened in his buttonholes. The Fool had a shirt over long ago similar visitations took place at Hansfield (Notts) his clothes with pieces of print and fancy stuff stitched and several elderly correspondents have sent to Cecil Sharp all over it and a tall hat with ribbons all round it. The House descriptions of the curious creatures which invaded Servant-~~n had brasses and nibbons on and carried a long Christ~stide kitchens to perform their "~sk," while from whip. The Lady (which was a ~n) had a dress, hat and Christ's College, Crunbridge has been received a 17th century veil. The Sergeant had a soldier's coat and hat that was account of that "hobby-horse play" performed "when I was a kept on purpose for it and braid fastened down the seams of boy, _before the Civil Warre, 11 we know as the Horn Dance of his trousers. The Thrasher had straw bands round his hat and Abbot~ Bromley. round his waist and carried a flail, a thing they thrashed corn with years ago. The Doctor used to wear a black But of all the visitations the Plough~rite was, and in swallow-tail coat and top hat. Hopper Joe used to have a a few places, notably the East Midlands, still is, the most straw band round his hat and waist and carried a basket that significant and entire. Sometimes the "players" or dancers we called a hopper, and he would go round the room and col are accompanied by a Horse, a character particularly explicit, lect what they had to give him." the head and tail attached fore and aft to the frame of a "riddle" or sieve worn round the waist of the performer and As the play concluded the Head Han cried, "What do you half-concealed by the "vizard" or ~sk covering head and body; want to see in the hopper, Tommy?" And the Fool would sometimes there were two such characters, a light and dark; answer, 11 A piece of minced-pie-pork-pie!" and so lead out, sometimes, as at Oakham, the dancers themselves were the the rest following and singing:- horses. A correspondent has sent a description communicated by a local resident who had been one of the players; the text "Good master and good mistress, of the play does not differ ~terially from most examples of You see our Fool is gone. its kind, but the description of the dress leaves little doubt We make it our business of the players' identification (like that of the Calusari) To follow him along. with the horse-symbol itself. Here it is:- We thank you for civility And what you've gave us here, "I first lP.arned this play when I was about 15 years old, We wish you all good-night that is, 52 years ago, and it was an old custom then. We used And another Happy New Y·ear. 11 to practise in a barn or stable belonging to the farmers about a .month before we went round on the Honday (after Twelfth MARGARET DEAN-SMITH night) and finish up on the Saturday night, and the proceeds we used to divide among us; it used to average about 5 shil J.:!ARG:U..ET DEAN-SJ.iiTH F .s .A., is well-known as a bibliographer lings to 10 shillings each. Most villages at that time had a and as an authority on folk songs and da.nces. for some years team of their own. The Head Man would be the waggoner for the she was Librarian to the English Folk Dance and Song Society Squire or the largest farmer in the place. We used to dress and Editor of its Journal. Author of A Guide to English Folk up among ourselves. The Head Man used to fasten horse face Song Collections 1822 - 1952 (1954) and Pl ayford's English brasses on his jacket and have cadice ribbons round his hat Dancine; i'iaster 1651 - A Facsimile Reprint wit h an Introduction, Bibliography and No t es by Nar garet Dean-Smith (1957). 6 7 A PLAYFORD PUZZLE
The artist, Genevieve Shimer, says that there are seventeen dances drawn in her picture. All the titles are taken from The Country Dance Books by Cecil Sharp. How many can you find? Answers on page 31.
. What's 1n a name ...
Th e names of some of t he Engl ish Country Dances have al ways been a fascinating subject of discussion, conj ecture, and sometimes research among· t he dancers of our Societ y . We know, >f course, that t he tunes of many of the Pl ayfor d dances were instruruental adapt at i ons of popular songs, follt or theatre, which circulated on the streets and in soci et y . A good tune like 11 Greensleeves 11 might be used for songs a'Ytorous, didactic, or political, and thus become so famil i ar that the fiddler or piper for any sort of dance- country, morris, or sworda~wung into it as instinctively as do es the square-dance fiddler , today with 11Red River Valley." Other Playford tunes have beea traced to the Continent. 11 Confess 11 takes its name from Hr. Confesse, the dancing master who designed the dances for Ben Johnson's 11 0b eron11 in 1611. Some names reflect the great hous es where they were perfor1ned • Nonesuch, the fabulous Tudor palace in Surrey; Sion House, still one of the sights of London; Apley House, Ormond House and the rest. The 11 i-1aggots" were composed by or for persons of some importance and went by their names. (A 11 maggot 11 is 11 a fantastic notion or caprice. 11 ) The Jigu of Kemp and Jacob Hall were probably song-and-dance acts which followed stage plays. Jacob Hall was a tight-rope walker; Will Kepp was the comedian of Shakespeare's company who dances the 11 Nine Daies Norris" from London to Norwich. The ballad beginning 11 Came ye not from Newcastle11 gave our tune its name. The dramatists and moralists - for different reasons - often mentioned dances: Thomas Nash, in "Have with you to Saffron Walden 11 (1596), speaks satirically of "All the flowers of the broom," 11 Pepper's Black", and 11 Greensleeves. 11 And perhaps at this point a reminder is in order that 11 Playford Dances" are those described in a series of dance manua ls which began under John Playford's editing in 1650 and went t.hrough 18 editions before 1728, growing from a small quarto to th:ree volumes, still considered an invaluable source for English popular music of three centuries.
8 9 The earliest allusion to a country dance by name is found "Hey, Boys" in "The Complaynt of Scotland" (1548), where shepherds 1 (probably disguised courtiers) perform "The Dede Dance", our (Pepys Diary, 1662, of a court ball at Whitehall) "Then "Nightpiece." "Hisogonous", a dramatic poem of 1560, mentions to country dances, the king leading the first, which he called this dance, also "Putney Ferry." A manuscript including pieces for, which was, says he, 'cuckolds all awry', the old dance of from the reign of Edward VI to Elizabeth quotes 11 A merry ballet England." (n.b. We dance "Hey Boys" to the tune of "Cuck olds aJ.l a Row.") of the hathorne tree" as sung to "Dargis on." In an old romance there was a dwarf named Dargison (perhaps dwarf's son, from A.S. 11 Sellenger's Round, or, The Beginning of the World" 11 duergar11 : dwarf). But of course a dance tune may have been known long before it is mentioned. And our interest is not (n.b. Sir Anthony St. Leger was Lord Lieutenant of only in antiquity, fascinating though that is, but rather in Ireland in the 16th century. The tune is probably vitality, the power of an ancient dance to put us so happily an Irish irl1portation and the name St. Leger corrupted into action today. to Sellenger.)
The bits of early allusion quoted below reflect the (Bacchus' Bountie, 1593) "An old hop-about commonly practice or knowledge of some of the dances familiar to us. called .1Sellenger 1 s Round'"· Some come from a list I prepared for the EFDSS Journal (Vol. III, Nos. 2,3,4, 1936-9), others from a study made in (Middleton, Father Hubbard's Tales, 1604) 11 Do but imagine 1931 by Mrs. George Maynard, for many years an enthusiastic now what a sad Christmas we all kept in the country with dancer in the Boston group. She has given 1ne permission to out either carols, was sail-bowls, dancing of Sellenger's use it in any way interesting to present-day dancers, and it Round in moonshine nights about Hay-poles ••• or any of can be read in full in the Headquarters Library. For those our old Christmas gambols." who wish to dig deeper, ~ Wm. Chappell's Old English Popular Music (2 vols. London, 1893), and Margaret Dean-Smith's fac (The Return from Parnassus, 1606) " ... there's not a simile edition of Pla ford's E lish Dancin Master 16 0 country wench that can dance Sellenger's Round but can (London, Schott, 1957 • talk of Dick Burbage and \-!ill Kemp." , "Nonesuch" (Lingua, 1607) 11 The first tune the planets played was "Sellenger's Round', in memory whereof, ever since, it (The Earl of Worcester- to the Earl of Salisbury, 1602) hath been called •The Begiining of the World.' 11 "There is much dancing of Country Dances in the privy Chamber at Nonesuch, before the Queen's Jv!ajesty who is exceedingly (Heywood, A Wornan Killed with Kindness 1607) pleased therewith ••••••The Queen •.•. is almost every night in Jack Slime: I come to dance, not to quarrel. Come, the Presence to see the ladies dance the old and new Country what shall it be? 1 R~gero'? dances with the pipe and te>.bor." (n.b. "No nesuch" is essen Jenkin: 1Rogero 1 , no; we will dance 1The Beginning of tially a pipe and tabor tune.) the \tJorld, t Cicely: I love no dance so well as 'John, come kiss "Half Hannikin" me now, 1 Nicholas: I that have ere now deserv'd a cushion, (Office book of Christmas Revels at Whitehall, 1622) call for •The Cushion Dance.' "The measures, branles, corantos and galliards being ended, R. Brick: For my part, I like nothing so well as 'Tom the masquers, with the ladies, did daunce two country dances, Tyler. 1 namely, 'The Soldiers' Marc he' and 'Huff Hannikin •" (Per Jack Slime: 'The Hay', 'The Hay', there's nothing 1 haps corrupted from 'honig-kuchen' 1 like many German and like The Hay. t Dutch words taken over by the EngUsh at th:Ls tirne ) Nicholas: "Put on your smock on a 1-fonday'. Jack Slime: So the dance will come cleanly off: "Hit ancl i·lis s" come, for God's sake agree of something; if you like not that, put it to the musitians, (Whitlock, in 1 Zootamia 1 , 1654) 11 ••• one whose prac or let me speak for all, and we'll have tise in phys.i.c is nothing more than the Country D;;.nce called 1Sellenger 1s Round.' 'Hit or !·iisse. "'
10 11 English folk songs were sung and t r aditional and Playford coun (H ey;.rood, Fair Haid of t he We :o t, 1631) "They have so try dances were danced to the wonderful music of Philip Merrill's tired me;, with their moriscoes, and I have so tickled them orchestra. and to a. marvellous recorder trio ... Martha Bixler, 1 with our cou.n t r;y- dances, Sellenger s Round and Tom Tiler •• " Maureen Forsberg and Eric Leber.
(Shirley Lady or Pleasure, 163 5) II •••• t o hear a fellow One of our most honored guests was Mr. John Martin, dance 1 1 Jnake h ~e lf merry and his horse with whistling Sellenger s critic of the New York Times 1 who has for many years given Round r, and t o observe wi.th what s oleJnnity they keep their wonderful support and encouragement to the work of the Societ;y. wakes, rnorisco es, o.nd ~ i hi tsun-al es , ar e the only amuse He was with us from the beginning to the end of the evening, ments of t he country." and, on the following Sunday (November 29th) devoted his space EVELYN K. WELLS in the Times to an appreciation of Cecil Sharp, the dances and music that he restored to us, and the work of the Society in this country. We quote the following extracts: C:&:n. SHARP (continued from page 4) n ••• A charming and unpretentious evening of exhibitions and But it was Oecil Sharp 1 s understanding of the qua.Uty of ge~aera.l dancing, constituting a. kind of infot,118.l chronicle of his findings that put chance to work. His life work grew out Mr. Sharp's progress a.s a. collector from his first sight of a genuine morriS dance in 1899 to his adventures -in our own Appa of his love of the English dances 1 music and songs and of the people who made them; and he had the qualities needed to trans lachians in the years of World War I. And everybody had a. late this love into action, not least among thEIIl "a. fund of pa fine time. tience and a. sense of humour". He pursued every clue, and his 11Wha.t lovel.1' stuff it is, choreographicall1', musicall1' and lmowledge of music and of folk and historical background en conviviall1'l And how admirably the society is keeping it alivel abled him to distinguish between the true and the worthless. Or rather, in all conscience, how a.dmira.bl.1' the dances and thw An invitation to America. to direct the dances for the enchanting music are keeping the society (and its members) alive. 11 1 Granville Barker production of A Midsummer Night s Dream" 11 ••• it was he, (Cecil Sharp) who established the English Folk brought opportunities of introducing English dances and songs Dance Society in 1911. When he was in ~this country four years to American people, resulting in the formation in 1915 of later, he established a. United States Branch, and the present ~ "The United States Branch of The English Folk Dance Society. 11 Country Dance Society of America. is its direct descendant. Subsequent v1sits enabled him to spend considerable time in the "Though it is a. separate organization, it is affiliated with Southern Appalachians 1 resulting in the classic collection of nine hundred and sixty-eight tunes for two hundred and sevent;y the parent organization in England and is its local representa three songs and ballads of English origin. tive. Also, it continues to dance its head off, all winter in the city and all summer up at Buzzards Bay, with a. concent-rated Cecll Sharp's published collections are of immenae value program of teaching along with its sumner camp practices. to folklorists and mus:ieologists, but we who love to dance the " ••• And now it is the year 1959, and thousands of people are d dances 1 sing the songs or play the tunes, are doubl.1' gra.tetul to him because he not onl.y saved this wealth of material from dzncing a great body of rich and glorious dances 1 fin,ding deep being lost but he had the genius to put it into circulation and healing personal satisfactions, fulfilling their innate de again - by means of the Societ;y he founded. mands for gregariousness in an age of enforced defensive isola tion •••••• In this centennial year of 11 C#" a.s he has been affec The headquarters of the Country Dance Societ;y in New York tionately rechristened, we could not do better, for the sake of opened its celebration of the Cecil Sharp Centennial Year with our own souls, than to look into the wealth of ageless verities he has opened the way to." IAN EVENING OF DANCE AND SONG FROM THE COLLECTION OF CECIL SHARP We thank Mr. Martin for this tribute to a. great man and his work. We hope that many dance or music centers will ob ON THE OCCASION OF THE CENTENARY OF HIS BIRTH tbis centEnnial year in some way. We shall be glad to give a.ey (November 22, 1859) help that is in our power. And when you go to England, be sure to visit CECn. SHARP HOUSE, built in London in memory of Invitations were sent out widely and we had a. wonderful C#, a.s a. home for the English Folk Dance and Song Society. gathering of old and new friends. John Bremer 1 who learned his dancing in England, presented a. team of morris and sword MAYGADD dancers and Jean Ritchie sang her Appalachian Mountain songs.
-1..) " 12 Salt and Mustard - two five year old children. Off stage R President Leads RChristmas Procession could be.heard the laughter and song of the tenants and villagers, "Here We Come a-Wassailing". Now bidden to enter, they had brought with them the Lord of Misrule, Hobby Horse, A sulendid Boar's Head Procession a.n.d Country Dances and twenty-four dancers in brilliant red, white, and gree.n brout:,ht KTJ. :slish folklore to H:mter College l ast Christ~! Cl S~ costumes. Carrying their holly branches and ribboned sticks, Throu;;h the generous cOO!)eratlon of the Cotmtr-
Since 1954, Cy Grossman has been bringing dancing to peo ple who "thought they could never- ~r were no_loz:ge: ab~e to participate" in this form of recreahon, At h~s mntat~on last Spring, I went to the Douglas Housing Project where he was hold ing a session. The evening was delightful and the members of the Senior Citizens Club (ages 60-70 years) so jolly and enthu siastic, it seemed to me that other CDS people would enjoy see ing how Cy leads a group, As a result, during the October Country Dance Party members and friends of CDS had an opportun ity to watch a grou~ of Cy 1s oldsters present some modified folk dances. 'l'he enjoyment these older people had doing the dances was heart-warming, and it was a pleasure to share in their en thusiasm. Afterwards, they watched us dance and joined us for refreshments. Cy, a Public Accountant, has long been a Folk and Square Dance enthusiast ru1d has taken extensive graduate work in Recreation and Education, At present, he says he divides his time about equally between Public Accounting and dance pro r,rams for oldsters and the handicapped, He has written sev- eral articles about his work, and has had innumerable arti cles written about him and the pleasure he has brot~ht to var , ious groups • The staff of l,;ay Gadd, Genevieve Shimer, Bob Hider, John Bretner, a;1d Phil Herr·ill fjave us a \'ionderful time in Country, Very briefly, Cy 1s philosophy about leadh1g Senior Citi l1orris, Ra:pper and Long Sword, a.1d Contra as well as Square zens is to know that moderate physical activity is important, Dancing. The 1nusic was as delightful as ever with the inimi t As the leader one must sell the idea to the group because they able Phil l·lerrill constantly holding forth and joined from are usually tinu.d, self-conscious, or lack confidence. Cy's time to time by Larry He rlick and his n<:M ba..>1jo, drum by Hay own twinkly smile, friendliness, and sense of humor are catch Gadd and John Bremer, and accordion by A. C. King, During the ing. l:fe treats the evening as fun, not as a "class", and his Saturday evening party, visiting fiddler, Chick \ ·hitney play advice to anyone Who wants to lead such groups is to avoid all ed some lively Square Dance tunes to calls by Phil, Bob, and words such as "lesson", "teacher", etc. One must also allow Larr-y. time for resting, regardless of the enthusiasm of the group. \ con t .b ued on page 58) It was a pleasure to see old friends like David Bridgham from the Boston area and Arnold "Buddy" Rupp who is now living in Seattle, Wash., and to welcome new dancers, especially Joan October Weekend 0 1Reilly who dances with the EFDSS in :fugland . The Philadelphia area was represented by John Hodgkin and Hrs. Hider dropped by Th e rumual Hucl.son Guild Farm Danc e Heekend held October for the Saturday party. 16-18, brought out a good crowd, For the first time in several years, the weather was sunny and just nippy enough to make the Our thanks again go to Mr . Curtis Ream for all he does to warm-up dances a real pleasure. By general consent, afternoon make our weekends at Hudson Guild so successful and happy. With dancing on Saturday was shortened so that those who wished to the addition of a new hous e for living, we cru1 accomodate many stroll around the lovely farm did so, while the recorder pla~r more people, and ar E: looking forward to evE:n bigger and better ers had more time to play together. It was very nice to see weekends in t he future, that the program is flexible enough t o allow for such changes, A.C.K. wind, weather, and the group agreeing, 17 16 A RIGGED COUNTRY DANCE QUIZ Sword Dance Costume
PHOTOGRAPHS OF ENGLISH Si'iORD Reeling from the many "multiple choice" examinations he has recently taken, Abe Gamzon of the New York C.D.S. group has DANCERS wearing the tradi~ tional dance costume of their submitted, with tongue thrust firmly in cheek, a Country Dance village are shown on the left Quiz. and on the next two pages, Each of the following incomplete statements is followed by F~RSDON (Northumberland) four (4) names of phrases, one of which accurately completes IJhite shirts decorated with the &t:atament. Check that (ne. You may , if you care, check bows and rosettes of colored your score against the answers belGw, l'ibboX.; black hnec: breeches of alpaca, and broad yellow 1. The Countrj Dance Society of America has its roots and sashes. Formerly the stock or!gins in ings were striped and decor I. Durkee 1 s back yard ated with knee ribbons. 2. Hunter College The ROYAL EARSDON team wears }. the English Folk Dance and Song Society jackets and breeches of crim 4. the New ~gland Folk Festival son plush, but this is more recent. The "rapper" swords 2. John Playford was are of flexible steel, 24 l. an Elizabethan playboy inches long. 2. an English editor and publisher of the 17th century GRENOSIDE (Yorkshire) High 3. inventor of the earl_iP-st sports car buttoned cotton tunics var 4. inventor of the hobby horse iously patterned but predom- r inently red in tone, orna 3. The term "half gyp" refers to •nented with large scrolls 1. a shady business deal and lines of closely quilted braid, varying in design with each 2. someone who has gypsy blood jacket. Trousers are white with a wide red stripe down each 3. a figure used in No rris Dancing leg. The cap is of black velvet with yellow piping. Clogs are 4. a figure used in Country Dancing worn. The sw?rds are of rigid st€el about 25 inches long and 3/4 inch wide. The Cp.ptain wears a cloth helmet covered with 11 4. The term 11 arming refers to a rabbit 1 s skin, with the head of the animal set in front• 1. a football tactic 2. completing a knitted sweater HANDSWORTH (Yorkshire) Tunics of black velvet ornrunented with 3. distributing swords for Ampleforth seven rays of \mit e braid across the chest and binding the 4. a figure used in Country Dancing crimson cuffs. ~ · ! hit e trou<;ers covered to the kne~ with black gaiters, and bl~ck boots. A crimson velvet can with ribbons at 5. "Norris Hey" is the back and feathery white pads in front. Rigid steel swords. 1. a street call used in the Bronx FLAJv!BOROUGH (Yorkshire) Danced by fishermen, who wear blue 2. a special fodder fo~ cattle jerseys and caps and white trousers, Earlier, the dancers 3. a specific movement in which three dancers each blackened their faces and wore red jackets decked with rosettes weave a figure eight pattern and bunches of gaily colored ribbons. Wooden swords are used, 4. a nonsense phrase 37 inches long. ANSWERS KIRKBY :1-!ALZEARD (Yorkshire) (Not shown). Red flannel tunics cut l. 3 3. 3 5. 3 soldier fashion and trimmed with white braid down the front and 2. 2 4. 4 round the collar and sleeves; white trousers with a red stripe down the side of each leg; cricket caps quartered in red and white. Swords as at Grenoside. 18 19
want strongly to teach other dances a compromise can be On Orgt~nizing A Country Dt~nce Group worked out. At the end of the two hour English dance ses sion (a good time interval) officially close the evening but keep the hall open for those who want to stay on for inter (Ned and Harjorie Shrigley of New Augusta, national dancing. Indiana -- near Indianapolis - have tried in the past to organize a country dance group in their community, but If my husband and I were mag~c~ans, we would recreate without lasting success. In the belief that their exper here in Indianapolis the type of group with which we danced ienc~ and advice may help other 1n~nbers of C.D.s., the at Yale in the 1940s. To us this was an ideal set-up. The editors persuaded them to set down their conclusions.) CDS center was composed of some very experienced dancers who se~ high standards for the rest of us. Included were a number Be it skiing, swimming, tennis, or English country of newcomers who brought the fiery enthusiasm of the newly dancing, vlhen we find keen enjoyment in a recreation, we converted. And because this group included a number of stu want to acquaint others with its pleasures. But in shar dents the shifting population caused an occasional reshuff ing the pleasures of country dancing, more than the mission ling, which adds spice to any organization. ary spirit is involved. If one lives far from a dance center, he must start his own group or relinquish the fun Not only was the composition of the group interesting of dancing. but the method by which this CDS center was conducted was admirable. Each of the fortnightly meetings operated on a In our several attempts to do this, we have found that shared-leadership basis. Each time, several individuals unquenchable enthusiasm is essential; but much more is re were assigned a dance to teach at the next gathering. This quired of one in order to become a good leader. forced the beginners to learn the dances, gave them teaching experience and made them feel a sense of participation. It does not follow that being able to do a dance in sures being able to teach it. It is essential that the This method of conducting a group is possible only when would-be leader, after working out his program, gather to the experienced dancers who own instruction and record librar gether some friends and relations and practise teaching those ies will take the time to type out directions, to lend re dances. In teaching, one of the greatest pitfalls is the tcro cords, and to help a beginner, when he cannot understand the , wordy explanation. Another is the tendency to delnonstrate too written direction for an assigned dance. But to us this long, and not to let the waiting group get into action. Even shared leadership method is the best-and the hardest--way to the simple terms which we use can be confusing without a clear manage a successful country dance group. explanation. For example, in teaching longways, the phrase "The twos move up and the ones move down, 11 can be baffling to a beginning group.
Only· with much practise does the amateur leader find out RECORDER nEUJS: What's Playing how to explain clearly and concisely. It's an art!!! And for the inexperienced leader each dance must be practised. Only the ABOUT 1'/i:COEDFRS accomplished cook would dare attempt a new recipe when serving The p 2. ;;i:. twent:,• yeA.rs hava seen both a revival and growth a company dinner. So only the experienced dance leader would of interest in music performed chiefly for and by amateurs. The attempt an explanation without having practised it first on a small and tolerant group. last ten years have brought forth guitar and banjo players, folk singers and dancers in large numbers throughout America. Along with this r enewed interest in folk material - crafts, Our several attempts to organize a group in Indianapolis have met with failure--a poor recommendation for the advice dance and song - has come a new interest in "old" music, played which we offer so freely! We now believe that in starting a for the most part on the recorder, an instrument practically Country Dance group it is essential to plan the program to unknown not too many years ago. include only English country dancing and American contras. If folk dances from other nations are introduced the English By now, almost everyone has seen, heard, and/or played and American styling becomes blurred and every dance tends this end-blown wooden flute, and it's popularity is increasing to look more or less the same. The leader will have to be at a phenomenal rate. It is a relatively easy instrument to firm in holding to this progrn.mming. If some of the members play, and an excellent instrument for a young child to learn,
22 2.3 being easy enough to play yet having a sufficient range to compass almost any tune or folk melody. SUITE NO . I BY ERIC LEBER But it's greatest popularity is among adults, and it has enabled many persons who have never played an instrument An Appreciation by Hartha Bixler before or who have had a brief acquaintance with piano or I am delighted to have an opportunity to say publicly what violin to have the wonderful experience of making music them I think about Eric Leber's Suite for three recorders, for I have selves and with other people. loved it ever since I be<:ame acquainted with it last August and am mos t anxious for other peo~;le to know it and enjoy it. Not The recorder has provided thousands of people with the only · is it a very fine piece of music, beautif';lllY writ ten, but, opportunity to play "house" music, music written expressly for most important, it makes the recorders sound llke the lovely the recorder by such composers as Bach, Telemann and Loeillet instruments they are. Too many modern compos er::. have presented in the Baroque era; Henry Cowell, Benjamin Britten and Paul us with pieces for recorder in which the instrument is made to Hindemith in our time. In addition to the almost inexhaust sound like a tin whistle, a flock of scolding birds, a calliope, ible store of literature written for the recorder, there is an or wors e . Eric Leber knows the r ecorder thoroughly; an out equal quantity of transcribed music, pieces originally written standing performer and teacher, he has written for the instru for voices, strings, lute, organ, harpsicnord, piano, etc. - ment with skill, with tenderness, and not without respect for and much of it is pleasing done with recorders. Recorder lit its sometimes cranky characteristics. erature E:ncompasses the known music literature of the western l world and thus provides a very rewarding ••ay of becoming ac Structurally, the Suite consists of an Overture, a Fu~te, quainted with our musical heritage. a Waltz and a Finale. The Overture is slow, and still, to JJle , though I have played it many times, very moving to l~sten to. The recorder fa~ly is comprised basically of soprano, The Fugue, which follows without a break aft~r the ~l~st move alto, tenor and bass instruments, uith sometimes the addition ment, is technically exact and at the same tlffie excltlng. T~e of contra-bass, the lowest sounding, and sopranino, the high waltz which follows reminiscent of the old German Landler, lS est sounding members of the family. Many well-known musicians amusing and the pe;former can always grade the attentiveness of play recorders and there is a growing number of professional as the audLence by the ripples of laughter which greet it. The well as amateur players. short Finale is a finger-breaker, at least in the tenor part (mine), capping the Suite with a ripple of notes at the end. The Country Dance Society has taken a very active role in promoting this growth of interest in the recorder. Start ing with a single group of eight people who began meeting with I suppose if one wished to find fault ~th Eric Lebe:'s. Suite one could say that the whole piece is lndeed very dlfflcult '. Philip Merrill about 5 years ago, the number of groups has expanded to five. totalling fifty-five members. The teaching to play. It is definitely not for beginn~rs or intermediates.' staff in New York and Pinewoods Camp has included and even the experts find there are technlcal problems, but tnere Hartha Bixler, Gretel and Paul Dunsing, Marleen Forsberg, is little if any music for the recorder or any other instrument and Johanna Kuhlbach, all well-known teachers in the which is both easy and worthwhile. It is my hope that the Suite recorder field. will be published soon, so that recorder players everywhere can hear it and appreciate it as much as I do. In addition to g1uup playing, C.D.S. uses the r ecord er in playing dance tunes both at parties and festivals and on dance records already made and in the making. The instrument's clear tone makes it a welcome addition to the IJtlncing on Tile Green dance orchestra. The weather forecasts for June 6th this year weren't too good in the Lehigh Valley. We were expecting about 100 people Both as an instrument used in dance activities and for the Durkee's Sixth Annual Dance Party and Picnic to start as an instrwnent used for recreation and the playing of around noon time. The sun was shining all right in the morn chamber music the r ecorder has acquired a well-deserved ing and the sky was partly clear. Three times in the six popularity. l"ie hope mo re people will come to learn the years we have had the party we had to f all back on the Lodge recorders and to enjoy them as many of us now do. Hall nearby. Now the Lodge Hall is cosy for 35 or 40 people ERl:C LEBER but it would be crowded for the laree group we've had the last two years. 24 25 Th~ guests began arriving about noon from as far away as host. The club's lodge is near Newfound Lake on a hillside Long Islana, Boston, New Jersey and Philadelphia. There were amphitheater facing l-'It. Cardigan. The weather was superb, and old and young, a few teen-agers and a couole of babies in their the crisp~ cool New Hampshire atmosphere at its best. Three c~r ~eds. The little tots that ran around played happily, groups hiked a bit, at Welton Falls, Firescrew Hountain, and dldn t get underfoot, and added to the gayety of the occasion. Cardigan Mountain.
We did English country dances, New England contras The dance program was full and kept 38 people busy, with square dances and had a :-!orris and Sword exhibition, without a dance Friday evening, a dance party Saturday evening, and rehearsal. Russ Houghton directed the sword dance as he went exhibition on Sunday of the dances learned in the classes, along and was heard to say, "Now r.1ooch right in there in that held Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. Despite the pro empty space." Some of the callers were Gay, Russ and Frances gram of square dances, contras, country dancing and morris, Houghton, Jessie MacWilliams, John Hodgkin, and Hank Croix folks found time to stroll on the trails and hillsides, canoe on for square dances. Ye host called "Hurry, hurry". Newfound Lake, eat apples from Louise Chapin's orchard, swim or loll at the Cardigan pool, and (HORRORS!) nap and rest a bit. Some die-hards were pla3ring recorders in the house ac companied by the Durkee 1 s virginal. Coffee and punch were The staff for the wee~end included: Louise Chaoin tucked away from time to time and the sandwiches that the (director and teacher of country and morris), Herve/ Gardiner guests brought came in handy in the intermissions. (square dance caller), Irvin Davis (Cmmtcy), Rog er Pinard (violin), and Marianne Taylor (piano). On the Committee were We had gathered. around the tables in the orchard to eat Ken Crook and Martin Harkham (A. H.C. - C.D.S. leaders), Edith supper abo~t 6 P . It, . when a few drops of rain fell. The sky Rankin (C.D.S. hostess and r egistrar), and Ellen Mandigo and was black 1n the west. vfuat to do! Stick it out or pick up George Fogg (refreshments). Ellen and George were at Pinewoods and go to the Lodge Hall? Dave Bridgham, our weather man, got last August. up, looked at the sky and said, "It'll go around.". Sure enough, it did. But three miles from here, there was a de The Boston Center will hold.its Christmas Party on Saturday, luge. December 19, at the Old South Church. Later in the season are two events that promise to be exciting: A :·lad Hatter Party (wear , So the fun went on until dark when the cars began to pull a JilB.d hat) to be held on the Saturday after Easter, and the out for faraway places. A few of the above-mentioned die-hard Walpole Party and picnic on June 4. recorder players stayed a little longer and we had an impromptu concert in the house. The 1rlednesday night classes are working out very well with dances that ever-yone co.n enjoy on first and third Wednesdays, and This party is given each year at our house .for the bene new and more challenging dances on the second and fourth Wednes fit of the Country Dance Society. Everyone was very generous days. Beginners will be particularly happy on first and third and we were able to turn over ~ 90. Next year, we will try to ThursdAys, and s econd and fourth Thursdays will feature guest have the dance around Memorial Day as the Partingtons always callers. had good luck with the weather man at that time~ Hope to see you then. BERNICE J. DURKEE Bff/SSffJWn,N.C. The John c. Campbell Folk School, under tENTER NEWS the direction of Georg Bidstrup, has i ssuer-: its 1960 calendar. Highspots include Handicraft Courses April ll- 23, Jw1e 5- 16, and a Recreation Course June 19- 2; , ltJSf()h ltfttSS. Th~ngs are humming down East. so far Th ere are tentative plans for a four day recorder session to Kick-of 1 . thls season the Boston group has had a follow the Recreation Course. the f :arty, whlch started the season off on October 3 at H Cambr~dge Y, a Halloween Party at the Union Boat Club' and A new course to b e given this year is "Teaching Hethods in ~i ~rves: Party on November 14, again in Cambridge. But the Literacy, 11 to train teachers to teach others how to teach adult Ca~di=~~ s~f ~dge sea~ onA~as the. Country Dance weekend at the illit .:o rates to read. It will ba run in connection with the held . e, ln exandrla, New Hampshire, which was 11 Literacy by Television" programs under the supervision of ;.rr. late ll1 September, with the Appalachian Mountain Club as Hayes Behr](,an of the Folk "School Exten:;,ion Division. 26 27 The Chicago Center, which meets at George about 'Pot Luck' just come to one o1· our meetings. Each one brings Williams College, under the direction of a food of sorne kind, with occasional strange results. Sometintes we Gretel and Paul Dunsing, is very active indeed. There are have no dessert; another time bread is lacking. But we just go on classes featuring English Country Dancing along with other folk and enjoy what we have. dancing and there are four groups of recorder players meeting regularly. 11 0ur meeting at Hindman included the school -- t eenagers. I•Je had a sack lunch that day. It was a beautiful si.~ ht -- aJ.l seated One of the groups, the Hyde Park Recorder Consort, under on a mountain side, eating lunc·h, visiting with friends. I'm s e;-Jding Gretel Dunsing's direction, has given several concerts this you two clippings from our paper." season, one at the 19th Century Club in Oak Park, Ill., and another at George l,;illiarns College. The Consort includes, in The c.l-ippings, from The lvlountain Eagle, follow: addi tion to the recorders, a violincello and a classical guitar. Helene Alter, well known to those who attendt;ld the 1958 Pinewoods "Ten schools including 157 students from this area >vere repre Music Cal'Jlp, is also a me.l'Jlber of the Consort and does much to give sented at a folk festival in Hinrunan on Saturday, where the day was variety and beauty to the concerts and pleasure to practice hours. spent in folk dancing, games, and singing folk songs. A picnic was The group will give another concert in February, for the Main enjoyed on the lawn of the Hindman Settlement Sehuol. Schools repre Branch of the Chicago Public Library. I. sented were Dlice Combs, Decoy, Pine Hountain, Home Pl aee, Letcher Hi gh, Hindman, Clintwood, Va., Nountain View, Caney Creek CoJTJaunity Several of the dancers and recorder players are planning to and Whitesburg. The Whitesburg group was accompanied by !c!iss Ann attend the 1960 Pinewoods Dance and Music Camps. Gretel and Paul Dugan, Hiss Betty Little and }:r. Lee Cooper." Dunsing will be at Pinewoods for all three weeks. 11 1.-J:onday night, Oct. 5, the Folk game group met at the \. hites burg gymnasium for a potluck supper and an hour of folk dancing following the meal. School repres euted were Hazard, Amburgey, The Sherwood Club, of Steele Community Stuart Robinson, Hindsman, Pine Nountain, and vJhitesburg. hiss Denver, CDI. Center, Denver included several English Capp, director of folk games, from Berea College, was the guest of Dances in programs it presented recently. Amont them were the the evening." , morris dances "Shepherd 1 s Hey" and "Rigs of .tvlarlow, 11 and the country dance "Newcastle." The progral'Jls were given at the Public Library, for a luncheon of the ~tile High United Fund, at an even ing party of the Colorado Conference of Social Workers, and in several downtown locations during Denver's u. N. Day Celebration. I Remember Pinewoods In October the Sherwood Club was privileged to have as guests at one of its regular meetings plus a pot-luck supper, a group of folklorists from Chile, in Denver for the National UNESCO I remember many lovely places at which we have danced. I Conference. The Chileans did several Latin American dances and remember the Hudson Guild Farm in Andover, 'N. J., where we spent songs, accompanied by guitar, than joined Sherwood in some of ii.,s many lovely weekends • • • I remember the Durkeesl country home international dances. They later asked leader Fay Ferree to teach in Bethlehem, Pa., and their wonderful garden ••• But best of these dances at a special session so they could record dance notes all I remember Pinewoods and the wonderful times we had there and music to use later in Chile. They said their favorite was the last summer. "Shepherd's Hey." Of course, Pinewoods is wonderful every year, and the last one -- the freshest in your m~nory -- is always the best. But there are valid reasons why the first two weeks of the l959 Wllitesburg,KY. THE FUTUllli HONDiAKERS OF AlOOICA of summer, the dance weeks, were especially exciting. • Whitesburg, Ky. have the most fun of all, according to our correspondent, Miss Ann Dugan. She says: The biggest single factor was that the weather was almost unmitigatedly beautiful. Not only was the dancing delightful, "We meet once a month at different places and have a Pot Luck but the sw~,wring was delicious, and many were those who went in Meal and the finest fellowship and dancing. In case you don't know for pre-breakfast dips and post-midnight dunks. 28 29 Leibert, in which they substituted two short sticks for one long one • • • and fooled us all until the stick bent • Th~ mA.gnificent Thursday afternoon demonstrations • • • ?.nd the even more phenomenal S c-~ turday JJ!Orni n[; sp8cte.culars •• • The Wed - nesday (evening o~T) Lobster Roast at Sandwich Beach, wi.th Bob Hider as Head Lobst e rr~n, Ronnie Shrigley as Head Frisbie-er, and Ned Shrigley as Head Spectator of the battle for ''King of the Hill."
Husic: I rememb er the wonrierful music that Phil and his aides made ••• ;;'ranees Jeckson ·at the di:·ums ••• A.C. King with her beautiful new accordion • • • the phenomenal r ecorder playing on Friday nights, particularly early in the evening • • • the time the humidity marie every accordion in camp play a sour F, produc ing some of thF: weirdest country dance music this side cf Dizzy Gil] espie • • • and finally, I r e,nember S ellenger 1 s Round. M..R.
Another factor was the fact that during both weeks we had a wonderfully congenial group, with numerous dancers of every degree of expertness so that all classes had plenty of dancers.
I could write at great length about each of the various features that made the summer. Instead, here are some random memories and thoughts:
Things I Didn't Know Before: I knew you could, and would, '• get "Morris legs" after the first few days ••• But I discovered you can also get • • • "Morris Fingers" (from enthusiastic, but misguided, stick striking). • • "Morris ankles" (from boisterous and ambidextrous Trunkles) • • • "Parson's neck" (from the Farewell of the same name) ••• and "Wiltshire hand" (from the handshaking in the vfiltshire Reel).
Pinewoods New Personalities: John Bremer, the new, exc~t ing, and witty teacher of morris and sword dancing • • • Bob Brundage, who called squares the second week (Dick Forscher called the first week) • • • the newlyweds -- Jim and Adrienne Grifferty, Bruce and Yutta Fauld, and Merlin and Gag~ ••• Cagey, who never went anywhere without his gaily bedecked broom. A Playford Puzzle Entertainments: The evening entertainments by "volunteers" from Pinecones (Hi there, Rafferty), Nonesuch, Hunsdon House, Newcastle; the Boatman; Bl ack Nag; Jenny 1-'luc:.- Pears; and points south • • • I remember particularly the Hollanders 1 the Butterfly; Picking Up Sticks; the Haid Peeped out the 11 Eskimo Morris ••• and their song, If All the World Were Hindow; Broom the Bonny 1 Bonny Broom; Scotch Cap; The Herry, Blubber" ••• The "Fugue for One Recorder with Two Mouthpieces" Merry l-lilkmaids; the Queen 1 s Jig; the Phoenix; Up T?-ils All; played by those two virtuosi -- Eric Leber and the ubiquitous Htmt the Squirrel; the Friar and the Nun; the Hole in the Phil Merrill • • • the unique Morris dance by Eric and Pete v.'all; the Health ( or, the J.!erry Wassail ).
30 ) 1 IN MEMORIAM ELIZABETH BURCHENAL Elizabeth Burchenal died this t~vember at the age of eighty-three after a long life of which much was spent in the service of folk music and dance. She worked for the THE FOUR SEASONS CONSORT, directed by Eric Leber, pre New York City Board of Education from 1905 to 1916 and intro sented a program of Renaissance, B!!roque, and 11odern Husic at duced folk dancing into the city schools. She founded the The City and Country School of New York City, on Saturday, ~ayday dancing for the schools in the parks of the city and November 14th and Sunday, November 15th. so gave happiness to many children. In 1916 she founded the American Folk Dance Society and The four friendly members of this sparkling group led devoted herself to the work of collecting and spreading know their audience along their well-charted path, into, over, and ledge of the contra and square dances of America and the round-about their happy choices. Each member,besides play dances of many of the peoples who together make up present-day ing ensemble in deep collusion, was featured as a soloist of America. There are many teachers today who owe the folk dance great brilliance. Eric Leber and ~~rleen Forsberg each played knowledge that they pass on to children, directly, or indirect- recorders and harpsichord; Nartha Bixler played recorders and 1:• to Miss Burchenal. She had many friends in folklore cir sang; Barbara Hueser, viola de gamba. cleR and she will be much missed. The combination of voice with recorder came through very effectively in Three Italian Villanellas of the 16th Century KENNETH PRATT and later in Three Hedieval Carols. The recorders, while "Kenny" was the friend of everyone - the dancers he illustrating their appeal as 11 singing11 instruments, served also as melodic companions to Jvliss Bixler's fine singing; danced-with, the children he looked after in his school- and her superb muscianship issued forth again from her alto he was universally loved. He had had a numb er of positions , 11 11 but during his later years he had found a simple life, in recorder in the gay Istampita, a medieval dance. which he was happy - working with children and finding his friends among the dancers. He was perhaps most at home with Kiss Forsberg demonstrated her graceful mastery of the American dancing but he loved Pinewoods, and whether American, harpsichord in two keybo&rd duets of the Baroque period vrith '• English or Scottish dancing was going on, he was always there. Eric Leber, and as continuo in t'ro D Minor Sonatas, by Handel We saw him last at Pinewoods towards the end of July and he and by Telemann. left with a cheerful IIsee you at August Camp 11 ; when we heard of his sudden death it s eemed quite impossible that he would Mr. Leber undertook the formidable recorder passages of not be with us. both D Hinor Sonatas and played them with all the lilt of spon taneous music-making~ i'Ihen the company all joined in the in He was a meruber of both national C.D.S. and the Boston terpretation of Suite No. 1 by Eric Leber, a niche was chipped Center and as he was resident in the Boston area and danced into history. His work stands as an achievement of solid pur regularly with the CDS Center, it is fitting that a memorial pose, stated with elements of joy and humor. should be started there. We have received the following:
One cannot avoid mentioning the physical handsomeness liTo the D. members and friends of Kenneth M. Pratt: of this Consort. They are truly as pleasing to look at as to c. s. hear. The viola da gamba is itself a spell-binder, especially 11 Co py of motion made at the meeting of the Executive :vrhen played by a beautiful vmman - and we had l·Ii.ss l'lueser, Committee of the Country Dance Society, Boston Centre Inc. who ' with remarkable intonation. brought forth exquisite on September 15, 1959 sounds from her lovely ~strument. 11 that a notice be sent to the membership with the first The attendance both eveqings was capacity. l~ e very fall mailing, opening an avenue of contribution as a memorial much hope that The Four Seasons Consort will make plans for to Kenneth Pratt. If enough is donated, it will be used for their next appearance without delay. a public address system for the Society, otherwise to be used JOSEPHINE V. GIARRATANO for such other special equipment as would further the interest 32 .33 (Indeed, are not folk songs distinguished from "art" songs?) of the Society • 11 Also, a recognition of this defect, or llinitation, in ex pression may serve as a salutary reminder of something that "A plaque will be attached to this equipment designating we folk song enthusiasts may easily forget - that the songs it as the Kenneth Pratt Memorial. are not all inspired or full of superb folk poetry; some are dull, or pedestrian, or lifeless, at least in part. IIContributions may be sent to the Country Dance Society, .30 Pemberton Square, Boston 8, Massachusetts • 11 As against this poverty of expression must be observed the converse f act that folk song also contains a grand var Contributions made by friends of Kenney Pratt at the nation iety of falicitous and vigorous phrases and expressions. al c.n.s. Camp at Pinewoods during August, have beAn forwarded In what follows I am, of course, expressing only my personal to the Boston Center. Others will want to contribute to this taste; there are no absolute standards in these matters. In memorial to a friend. mentally reviewing the folk songs I know, for examples in MAYGADD this area, I find so many clamoring for listing that I have had to r eject M~hlessly, in order to stay within reasonable Welcome spatial bounds. (It has been fun!) We are delighted to welcome ~HE MIAMI VALLEY FOLK DANCEllS How could more be said in one line than in the immortal as an A!t:Uiated Group of the Country- Dance Society of America. "He was her man, but he done her wrong" of Frankie and In our next issus we shall have news of the activities of this Johnny?" The cowboy who, in "Strawberry Roan," tries to group from their leader, Grace Wolff, of Dayton, Ohio. Grace ride a bucking horse finds hiJaself "sittin' on nothin' way and her daughter Mar,y were two wonderful 1959 Pinewoods campers. up in the sky," and decides that "that sun-fishin' critter's worth leavin' alone."
Is not the following, from "Sir Andrew Barton, 11 Some Notes on the Language of Folk Song equal, in stark simplicity, to almost anything in con ventional poetry? Just as a child enjoy:;; the r epetition of a famil- , iar story, so the folk who create and circulate folk songs 11 Ffight on, my men, 11 sayes Sir Andrew Barton, and ballads find nothing objectionable, and no doubt some "I am hurt, but I am not slaine; thing pleasant and comforting, in the repetitious use of I 1le lay me downe and bleed a-while, ,, familiar words and phras as. The lady • s hand is always And then l'le rise and ffight againe.ll lily-white; the horse is always a milk-white steed; the lady's lips are rosy-red or ruby-red, her hair coal-black. (From "The Ballad Book, 11 edited by MacEdward Leach). 11 11 "Valley1 or green valley," or "lonesome valley" occurs frequently, as do "dark hollow," 11 my true love," 11 eilken Professor George Lyman Kittredge, the great ballad gown, 11 and 11 red, red wine, 11 or 11 red, red rose." scholar, greatly admired 11 Th e Buffalo Skinners." No isolated phrases can convey its spirit; but vide 11 He fed us on such Structural gaps are frequently filled with the mean sorry chuck" and "Our hearts were cased with buffalo hocks, ingless "as you can plainly see." A great many songs our souls were cased with steel." (especially those of Irish origin) begin with 11 Come all 11 11 ye 1 11 like the delightful Bur11 Song" - "Come all you jolly From Bo.haman Lullaby," I like the following: (It jokers ••• , 11 or "Casey Jon e s · ~ - "Come all you rounders if sounds so much better sung1) you want to hear ••• , 11 or "Come all you fair and tender ladies • 11 "If religion was a thing that money cou.Ld buy The rich would live and the poor would die. ' Except to a captious critic, there is, no doubt, noth All my trials, Lord, soon be over." ing very reprehensible in these cliches; my point is that excessive repetition robs them of their original flavor. In discussions of folk songs, negro spirituals are Perhaps they may be regarded as another expression of what sometimes overlooked (I mean the earlier ones, not the recent I consider one of the definite qualities, or character- variety like Sister Tharp's, that is all mixed up with "swingn
5.Rtics, of folk song - namely, naivete 1 or artlessness.
.34 .35 and "jazz"), They contain, to my ear, some splendid lan guage, Some unknown genius referred to the Judgment Day as Record Review "that great gettin'-up morning," Others sang, "Death, ain't ya got no shame, shame?;" "Oh, bretheren, my way, my way's OUR SINGING HERITAGE (Vol, III) Folksongs Collected and cloudy;" 11 Standin' in the need of prayer," and Sung by Frank Warner (Elektra 153), in its geographical "Some fine day, about twelve o'clock, spread, content, and styl e, combines variety with authen Dis ol' world am gonna reel and rock," ticity hard to match in the plethora of folk song records of today. The song "On I'Iy Journey" (magnificently recorded by Paul Robeson) is, for me, a gem, Note this: These songs have been found by Frank and Anne Warner all the way from California to New England, with much of 11 I went into the valley, I didn't go to stay; Frank's native South included, There is a rare song from But my soul got happy, and I stayed all day." Roanoke Island off North Carolina; a chantey picked up from Orient Point, Long Island, "We're Coming, Idaho" And the familiar 11 Swing Low, sweet chariot, comin' for whose singer's family go es back front Cleveland to Missouri to carry me home" is surel y worthy of note in t his connection. to Kentucky to Virginia; "Bold Archie", a r ar e full text of a Scottish Border ballad from Hassachusetts, sung to a tune FOLK E'IYHOLOGY dating back to 1654. Many of the songs are of British origin, but most are unmistakably indigenous, like the As folk songs pass down t hroueh oral tradition, some of "Fresh Peanuts" call from Virginia, the Comic "Fod", the the words, particularly the l ess familiar ones, become cor lumberman's songs and the dance tunes. In the varied con rupted, to the point, sometimes, of making no s ens e, (No tent - nonsense, satire, romanc e, exciting adventure, didac doubt this is more likely to be true of the really old songs, tic preachment, convi viality, r eligious inspiration - the like "Our Goodman" and "The Three Ra'ens" than it is of later social historian would find substantial matter, ones), For example, in the song "Old Bangum," the line "Old Bangum drew his wooden lrnife" puzzled me, until I read a note All this is authenti c, but most authentic of all is to the effect that "wooden lrnife" is a corruption of "woodsman's Frank \'farner's well-lrnown variet y of style, He does not lrnife." 11 Rockum shoes," in another song, can only mean imitat e, as 111any folk singers of today are t empted to do; ".Horocco shoes • 11 in another 11 silveree 11 has replaced 11 silver he projects his singers , by change of voice, propunciation, grey"; in several' versions of an old song, "the g~psum0 Davy" has attitude, personality, so that you could be persuaded that replaced "the gypsy Davy." Another song now has "happy cure," not one but several singers wer e here. !-Ie is the instrument evidently for "epicure." through which Granrrny Fish is brought to us with her flat, matter-of-fact style, Frank Proffitt with his mountain twang On one of rr.y records, an Irish singer sings "by the law, and curious glottal stop, the negro singer with his richness Harry ••• " and, not being familiar with the expression "by the of color, the slightly inebriated lumberman of "Lewiston lord Harry" (meaning the devil) he must have wondered who Harry Falls", Yankee John Galusha from the Adirondacks , who is is, there being no other r eference to him in the song1 On particularly impressive in the beautiful l ament for the lost second thought, perhaps he hasn't wondered at all; I have an lumber man , as is the Roano ke Island sine;er of "Bony," who idea that, for the most part, those who sing folk songs from r ai ses a broadside doggerel song to somet hing nobl e and mo v oral tradition, as distinguished from us who learn them from i ng . These last t wo songs ar e unaccompanied by i nstrument, books, records, and concert singers, take these apparently out ther eby po ssessing a special dif,nity, But Billy Faier' s landish or meaningless words or phrases as a matter of course, supporti"i1g virt uoso skill on guitar and banjo in s everal with the feeling that that's the way the song is sung, and no numbers offer s added rhythmi c variety J.nd co l or. questions asked, Perhaps this is an example, or aspect, of the naivete I mentioned previously. All this variety is unified by the si ngei" 1 s love of tr,e song , t a.st8 in sel ection, an•i friendliness fo r his infor,nant , Other examples of verbal corruption, or folk et~nolo gy , unt ouched, ets <~ . r e Anne vfarner 1 s excellent notes, by patronage could be adduced; perhaps it suffices to say that the corrupt or s entiment ali tJ'. ions and confusions take various forms. EVELYN K. WELLS H.A.NUEL PRENNER
36 37 C. D. S. SALES DEPARTMENT IF YOU CJ , l~ WJiLK ••• (continued fro~ .rr.ge 16) GIFT SUGGESTIONS 1 Everybody laughs when Cy says "Let s stop; .!.!!!! tired!" and no BACKGROUND MA'l'E3!AL FROM THE EFOOS: Mimeographed sheets avail body feels oldl able for 50 cents a set include the following subjects: Traditional Dress and Regalia Associated with the Ceremonial . A letter of recommendation from Miss Mildred Priestley, Traditional Dances of England, 3 PP• D~rector of the Yorkville Neighborhood Club Inc. sums up a . f . , , The Play of the Christmas Mummers, 2 PP• ser~es o sess~ons for their older m~bers: 11 A Virginia Reel The Horn Dance of Abbots Bromley, 7 PP• o 1~en found 20 to 25 in line, while ft was not uncommon to see Robin Hood, 3 pp. even.mor~ taking part in a circle qance ••••A grand march, May Day and Its English Traditions, 3 PP• weav~ng ~n and out through the recreation hall saw many a Some Books to Read on the Traditional Dances of England, 3PP• beaming oldster hobbling along, .sometimes cane:in-hand but with evident satisfaction of taking part in the group ' A HANDFUL OF FLOWERS activity." By Mary Britton Miller. Illustrated Cy's work with the mentally retarded is as successful by Genevieve Vaughan-Jackson. as with the ol:dsters. The dances must be quite modified and Pantheon Books. $3.50 simplified, and one must give no-advance-instruction. These 11 ••• brief poems, celebrating over two groups learn by imitation. "Bingo" and "7" Steps" are two of dozen well-lmown flowers of the woods, the dances he has used successfully with such groups aged 7-12 pastures, fields and gardens ••• " years. " ••• There is a sense of invitation about the whole book, an invitation to For those of us who have seen Cy in action his abundance look at familiar and exquisite beauties of patience along with his relaxed and affable ~nner show . . . - clearly why his visits are anticipated and received with such - .. . . .- enthusiasm. His wife, Adele, runs the record player and takes 11 •••mo~e than seventy-five care of the !'props". There is no confusing who the "gent" is· This Sculptured Earth photographs and diagrams II red r~'b bons for the very peppy and green ribbons for the not ' as well as an excellent so peppy" serve also to designate who's who if there are uneven THE LANDSCAPE OF AMERICA glossary. Mr. Shimerls • I numbers of men and women. unique book of'fers the By John A. Shimer reader a new way of looking Cy has conducted Leaders' Training Courses and demonstra COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS at things and new insights tions for oldsters in Washington, Philadelphia and White Plains into the meaning of scenery." and for the mentally retarded at Teachers Coll~ge, Hunter Col- ' Special C.D.S. price $6.00 (John Pfeiffer, N.Y. Times.) lege, Willowbrook State Hospital, and just recently at the State Conference of the Council for Exceptional Children at the Vanderbilt Hotel. As "Modified Folk and Square dancing" for the aged and the RECORDS han?icapped (~he b~d, the deaf, the mentally retarded) increas COUNTRY DANCE SOCIETY OF AMERICA SERIES es ~n popular~ty ~th these groups there is a continuing need ~or additional volunteers to act as Dance Leaders. If you are 78 rpm 10" $1.50 ~terested, contact Cy Grossman at ME. 5-D289 (811 Walton Ave., New York 51, N. Y.). He assures me that such community ser- em 1 A miP TO PARIS English longways country dances vice is most satisfying. 11And 11 , he concluded, "For my own per HOLE IN THE WALL Orchestra: The Pinewoods Players sonal dancing pleasure I have always found the C.D.S. the Leader: Phil Merrill nicest spot." coo 2 BKA.UX OF LONDOJI CITI English morris dances (sticks) A.C.KING RIGS 0' HlBLOW Piano: Michael Bell Violin: Ji.mnly Coleman.
38 .39