This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from Explore Bristol Research, http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk Author: Burnett, Philip T Title: Music and Mission: A Case Study of the Anglican-Xhosa Missions of the Eastern Cape, 1854-1880 General rights Access to the thesis is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International Public License. A copy of this may be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode This license sets out your rights and the restrictions that apply to your access to the thesis so it is important you read this before proceeding. Take down policy Some pages of this thesis may have been removed for copyright restrictions prior to having it been deposited in Explore Bristol Research. 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Music and Mission: A Case Study of the Anglican-Xhosa Missions of the Eastern Cape, 1854-1880 Philip Timothy Burnett A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirements for award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts January 2020 Word count: 80,740 ii ABSTRACT The aim of this thesis is to examine the music and soundscape of the Anglican-Xhosa missions established in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa in the mid-nineteenth century. The objective is to explore the ways in which music and sounds – a daily part of life on these missions – shaped people’s behaviours, their interactions, and their beliefs, both religious and cultural. Focussing on the thirty-year period following the establishment of the Anglican-Xhosa missions in 1854 I investigate how hybrid musical forms arose from the diverse contributions made to the soundscape by British missionaries and indigenous people, both converted and unconverted. The underlying theme of my argument is the role of the acoustic and semantic reforming of music and sounds in shaping the engagement and exchanges between missionaries and indigenous peoples in the nineteenth century. The evidence is drawn from missionary reports and journals, and print resources such as periodicals, pamphlets, hymnbooks, histories and ethnographies. From these I identify the main elements of the mission soundscape, the genres and forms of music making, and the music makers themselves. Chapter 1 examines the backgrounds of Anglican missionaries and where music sat in their social, cultural and religious frameworks. Chapter 2 focusses on the soundscape and the indigenous musical cultures of the Eastern Cape before 1854. Chapter 3 then looks at the acoustic and semantic shaping of the mission soundscape through three case studies of musical instruments, bells and processions. Chapter 4 focusses on music in missionary education and the function of musical literacy. The final two chapters focus on the adaptation and translation of hymns and the implications of these processes. This thesis contributes to our understanding of British missionary activity overseas in the nineteenth century and the factors that contributed towards its complex legacies, both in the past and in the present. iii DEDICATION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS For my parents There is a proverb in isiXhosa which translates as ‘A bird builds its nest with the feathers of others.’ A PhD is a solitary endeavour, but it cannot be completed alone. While working on this one there have been many people who kept me company in different ways. Both their number and the extent of my gratitude to them are too great to include here. I would, however, like to put on record those who have been especially influential in shaping this project. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Professor Emma Hornby and Professor Robert Bickers, my supervisors. As my intellectual pilots they have challenged and inspired me. It has been a singular privilege to work with two such distinguished scholars and to learn so much from them. I thank those who provided financial support. Several generous grants from the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust relieved much of the financial burden of this project. I also thank the following: the Sir Richard Stapley Trust, the Foundation of St Matthias, the Royal Musical Association, and the University of Bristol Music Department. I am grateful to the staff at the University of Bristol Library Services, the Bodleian Libraries, the National Library of South Africa, and the British Library, especially: Lucy McCann, archivist of the Commonwealth & African Collections at the Bodleian, and all the staff who fetched boxes or helped me find things; Melanie Geustyn and the staff at the Grey Collection, Cape Town; and Gillian Fewings, archivist at the University of St Mark and St John. Archivists and librarians make projects like this one possible. I salute them. Thanks to the following for the conversations that buoyed me at important moments: Professor Stephen Banfield, Professor Christine Lucia, Professor Michael Hawn, Professor Hilary Carey, and Professor David Irving. I am also grateful to Professor Katharine Ellis and Professor Sarah Hibberd for fostering and supporting the community of Music PGRs at Bristol. I thank my family, immediate and wider, especially my aunts and uncles who have been such tremendous supporters in so many ways, especially Anne for proof reading. A circle of friends has supported me in diverse ways. I cannot name them all, but they know who they are, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. By name I must mention two pairs: Dr Yvonne Liao and Dr Erin Johnson-Williams, and Dr Arthur Keegan-Bole and Dr David Fay. We know why. Two final thanks. This thesis grew out of a conversation I had with Stephen Holder on a journey from Keiskammahoek to Grahamstown in 2008. I am grateful to Stephen for encouraging me to take that conversation further. Kea leboha, Ntare. Finally, I thank my parents, sine quibus non. They have been very good about not constantly asking me how it is going, and I thank them for this. They have also been a sure source of encouragement and love throughout not only the course of this project, but also my whole life. I dedicate this work to them. iv AUTHOR’S DECLARATION I declare that the work in this dissertation was carried out in accordance with the requirements of the University's Regulations and Code of Practice for Research Degree Programmes and that it has not been submitted for any other academic award. Except where indicated by specific reference in the text, the work is the candidate's own work. Work done in collaboration with, or with the assistance of, others, is indicated as such. Any views expressed in the dissertation are those of the author. SIGNED: ............................................................. DATE: .......................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS List of musical examples vi List of Figures vii List of Tables viii List of abbreviations used in the footnotes ix Note on the use of language x Map, showing the locations of the principle places named in this thesis xi INTRODUCTION – Music and Mission 1 Chapter 1 – ‘Men of the Right Stamp’: Making Musical Missionaries 13 Chapter 2 – ‘A Strange Monotonous Air’: the Sounds of the Cape 47 Chapter 3 – ‘The Glorious Sound Floated on the Breeze’: Making a Mission Soundscape 96 Chapter 4 – Mission Education and Music 132 Chapter 5 – Mission Hymnody, Part One 172 Chapter 6 – Mission Hymnody, Part Two 214 Conclusion 256 Appendices 262 Bibliography 285 vi LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES Number Content Page 2.1 Henry Lichtenstein’s description of the sound produced by ‘t Gorrah, with a representation on staff notation 85 3.1 The first two verses of the Benedicite in English and Xhosa to two plainchant melodies (5th tone, 1st ending and 8th tone, 2nd ending) 127 4.1 John Curwen’s example of a melody in F major written in staff and tonic sol-fa notation 154 5.1 Text of ‘Bawo ngobubele bako’ 191 5.2 Tune SICILIAN MARINE[R]S 192 5.3 Text of ‘Bonindini niya pina’ 195 5.4 Text of ‘Yesu, Langa lokulunga’ 196 5.5 Text of ‘Tixo wetu, singenile’ 197 5.6 Text of ‘Pezulu enkosini’ 199 5.7 INNOCENTS and ‘Pezulu enkosini’ 200 5.8 Comparison of two possibilities for ‘Moya oyingcwele’ from Amaculo (Wesleyan), 1869) 201 5.9a ST ALPHEGE and ‘Moya Oyingcwele’: ‘Possibility 1’ 201 5.9b ST ALPHEGE and ‘Moya Oyingcwele’: ‘Possibility 2’ 202 5.10 ‘Besilima umhlaba’ 211 5.11 First verse of ‘Besilima’ with the tune ST PHILIP 212 6.1 ‘Izono zam zininzi’: text, music and translation 242 6.2 ‘Ngcwele, Ngcwele, Ngcwele!’: isiXhosa text and tune (1st two lines) 245 6.3 Ntsiko’s translation of ‘Ap’ ilanga lihambayo’/‘Jesus shall reign where’ er the sun’ with the tune ST AIDAN 249 6.4 Ntsiko’s translation of ‘Ngalemini yako Nkosi’/‘Lord, in this thy mercy’s day’ with the tune ST PHILIP 250 6.5 Ntsiko’s translation of ‘Wena NKOSI yezihlwele’/‘O Lord Of Hosts’ with the tune COMMANDMENTS 252 vii LIST OF FIGURES Number Content Page 0.1 Interior of St Matthew’s Church, Keiskammahoek 2 1.1 St Mark’s College Chapel, c. 1844 23 2.1 Front cover of The Monthly Record (October 1852) 57 2.2 Latrobe’s example of ‘Retardation’ 68 3.1 St Mark’s Station, 1859 97 3.2 ‘Preaching to Kafirs at Tshaka’s Kraal’ 106 4.1 Plan of St Mark's Mission School, 1860 134 4.2 Title page of Amaculo Ombedesho (1866) 160 5.1 The hymn ‘Besilima umhlaba’, printed at St Matthew’s Mission, Keiskammahoek, c.