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Singing the Nation: British Song Culture

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Singing the Nation: British Song Culture Singing the Nation: British Song Culture by Emma Pink M.A., Simon Fraser University, 2004 B.A., University of the Fraser Valley, 2002 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of English Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Emma Pink 2015 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fall 2015 Approval Name: Emma Pink Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Title: Singing the Nation: British Song Culture Examining Committee: Chair: Michelle Levy Associate Professor Leith Davis Senior Supervisor Professor Betty Schellenberg Supervisor Professor David Chariandy Supervisor Associate Professor Jan Marontate Internal Examiner Associate Professor School of Communication Dianne Dugaw External Examiner Professor Department of English University of Oregon, Eugene Date Defended/Approved: December 9, 2015 ii Abstract This dissertation investigates articulations of nationalism and empire found within British song culture from the early eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries. It seeks to expand our critical understanding of song culture, reading it as a varied, complex and multi- mediated form and suggesting that song culture needs to be situated at the centre of the culture of the Romantic period. I consider the characteristics of fluidity, mobility, dynamism, transformation, capaciousness, performativity evident in the work of four cultural producers: Allan Ramsay (1684-1758), Robert Burns (1759-1796), Charles Dibdin (1745-1814), and Thomas Moore (1779-1852). Each one was involved in the production of song culture through such practices as collecting, editing, writing, or performing songs. Chapter One examines the complicated ways in which song culture, gender, and the tropological play in the idea of “voice” figure in the construction of national identity in Allan Ramsay’s song collection The Tea-Table Miscellany (1724- 1876). Chapter Two discusses the fluid form of national identity expressed in the songs of Robert Burns resulting from the interplay of history, ideas of the nation, and his activities as a producer, collector, and reviser of Scottish songs. Chapter Three suggests how the sea songs of Charles Dibdin not only posit an expansive form of national identity but reveal the capacity of song culture to effect change as well as challenge our understanding of late-eighteenth-century radicalism. Finally, Chapter Four examines the issue of context, considering how the material (con)textualization of Moore’s Irish songs affects the form of national belonging they express. These case studies provide evidence of how national song culture during this period could serve multiple, sometimes oppositional political purposes. Keywords: Allan Ramsay; Robert Burns; Charles Dibdin; Thomas Moore; song culture; nationalism; mediation; orality; scribal culture; print culture; iii Dedication To David, Caepher, Hannah, and Josie, with love iv Acknowledgements Many people have contributed to this project. Dr. Leith Davis has been an outstanding supervisor, modelling a standard of scholarly excellence and professional and personal commitment which is inspiring. Dr. Betty Schellenberg and Dr. David Chariandy have been unwaveringly supportive over an extended period of time. Dr. Jan Marontate and Dr. Diana Dugaw have provided valuable insight as external readers. I am grateful for the financial support provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the English Department of Simon Fraser University, the Dean of Graduate Studies of Simon Fraser University, and the Centre for Scottish Studies, Simon Fraser University. I have been assisted by many excellent librarians over the years, including those at Simon Fraser University, the University of British Columbia, the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, and the National Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum. In the English Department of Simon Fraser University, Christa Gruninger, Maureen Curtin, and Wendy Harris have modelled a level of professional commitment and human kindness which continues to amaze me. Over the years I have had the good fortune to share innumerable stimulating conversations with a variety of people associated with the English Department, including my committee members, Dr. Michelle Levy, Dr. Sophie McCall, Kate Scheel, and Jen Scott. Kristine Moruzi continues to make me laugh out loud. To my family I owe my biggest debt. Thank you. v Table of Contents Approval ............................................................................................................................. ii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ..............................................................................................................v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... vi List of Figures .................................................................................................................. viii Introductory Image............................................................................................................. ix Introduction ........................................................................................................................1 Methodologies and Theory ..................................................................................................4 Performativity/Performance ...............................................................................................17 Chapter 1. Allan Ramsay and The Tea-Table Miscellany(1724-1737) .....................23 Introducing and Textualizing Orality: The “sweetness of pronunciation” ........................27 Gendering the National Song (Para)Text “To ilka lovely BRITISH Lass” ......................30 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................51 Chapter 2. “An Honest Scotch Enthusiasm”: Collecting the Nation’s Songs .........54 Performing Song Culture ...................................................................................................57 “Auld Lang Syne”: a Nationalism of Presence ..................................................................71 Chapter 3. The Songs of Charles Dibden ...................................................................90 Beginnings: “My darling passion for music”....................................................................93 Dibdin’s Sea Songs and their Sailors: “the character of the British tar plain, manly, honest, and patriotic” ....................................................................................96 Affective Masculinity: “For others let me feel” .............................................................112 The Empire/Nation Embodied .........................................................................................122 Conclusion: Part One: “England’s hearts of oak” ............................................................125 Conclusion: Part Two: “What of all this?” .....................................................................131 Chapter 4. Textual Materialities in A Selection of Irish Melodies with Symphonies and Accompaniments by Sir John Stevenson . and Moore’s Irish Melodies ............................................................................134 The Power Edition (1808-1834): Collaborative Authorship in the Irish Melodies: “Power will be much obliged by the communication of any Original melodies which the lovers of Irish music may . contribute to this work.” .........139 vi The Longman Edition of Moore’s Irish Melodies (1846): “To see the poetry of Moore worthily illustrated, is what we had not dared to hope; but the twin- star has risen . .” ....................................................................................................157 Collaborations, Contextualizations, and Conclusions ............................................172 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................175 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................178 Appendix A. Analysis of Page Ratio and Song Placement .....................................189 vii List of Figures Figure 1.1. “New Music,” The Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser, 13 Feb. 1779............................................................................................................12 Figure 1.2. The Merry Companion: or, Universal Songster (1742) .............................19 Figure 1.3. Bacchanalian: Or, Choice Spirits Feast (1755) .......................................21 Figure 4.1. “Go Where Glory Waits Thee,” Moore’s Irish Melodies (1846) ............168 Figure 4.2. “Go Where Glory Waits Thee,” Moore’s Irish Melodies (1846) ...........170 viii Introductory Image Moore’s Irish Melodies (1846) ix Introduction This dissertation investigates articulations of nationalism and empire found within British song culture from the early eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries.1 It seeks to expand our critical understanding of song culture, reading it as a varied, complex and multi-mediated form and suggesting that song culture needs to be situated at the
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