Nick regularly followed the Morris Dance Discussion List--the MDDL. His contributions--about 200 of them--show his wit and his knowledge of music, morris, and the Jeffries concertina. Here they are, as taken from the MDDL's archives.
Jim Voorhees
_________
Subject: Re: MORRIS Digest - 11 Jun 2006 to 12 Jun 2006 - Special issue (#2006-188)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2006 18:27:59 -0400
Content-Type: multipart/alternative
Kit aside, I really don't think all men's Cotswold sides exhibit
'vigor and grace.'
And I'm equally sure not all women's Cotswold sides are 'galumphing
and girly'.
Oh, wait. Never mind.
Nick Robertshaw
On Jun 12, 2006, at 2:34 PM, MORRIS automatic digest system wrote:
> For Cotswold, I agree that it takes more effort to achieve a
> unified look so
> that dancers of each sex pick up the strengths of the opposite one,
> rather than
> emphasising the weaknesses of their own (ie achieving both vigour
> and grace,
> while avoiding the galumphing and the girly). It can be done, but
> differentiated kit makes it impossible.
________
Subject: Re: MORRIS Digest - 26 May 2006 to 27 May 2006 (#2006-170)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sun, 28 May 2006 21:22:17 -0400
Content-Type: multipart/alternative
Parts/Attachments:
No. It's not extinct.
Its DNA is still out there.
On May 28, 2006, at 12:00 AM, MORRIS automatic digest system wrote:
>
> Now if only someone could explain to my wife that my membership of the
>
> now extinct (..or is it.. no one has actually said so!) Herga Morris
>
> coupled with my non-membership of Non-existent Morris entirely justifies
>
> my behaviour of just sitting at home drinking beer and reminiscing about
>
> half-galleys and Trunkles on at least two nights a week.
>
>
_________
Subject: Noun of venery for tabor-pipes
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 10 May 2006 18:04:41 -0400
>
The frank description should be a jet of whittles.
Nick Robertshaw
Fog, Rat Squeezer
> From: Jenny Howard <jehoward@SUREFISH.CO.UK>
> Date: May 9, 2006 8:08:01 AM EDT
> Subject: Re: Collective music
>
>
>>> Ha!- just because you play pipe and tabor Steve:-)) (so what's the
>>> collective noun for them - or do you ever get more than one at a time?)
>
> Don't they come under the old Scottish term 'a kissed of whistles' ... or am I
> getting even more confused than usual? ;-)
>
> Jenny H
> :^)
> o
________
Subject: Re: MORRIS Digest - 5 Apr 2006 to 6 Apr 2006 (#2006-107)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2006 09:30:43 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
>
> 1. never cast a clout til May is out (7)
> 6. Casting clouts!
>
The 'clout' refers to 'cloth'.
c.f.
"||: I saw the man in the moon (fie man, fie) :||
Clouting off St Peter's shoon"
Once May is out, Dwile Flonking season commences, so the clouts can
be cast.
Currently, May is very much in the closet. Once she admits to what we
already know, that she and June are indeed hot lesbian lovers,
Flonking can begin.
I plan to rent the video.
Nick
4mer 4 FBMM
________
Subject: San Francisco May Day
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2006 22:29:36 -0500
Content-Type: text/plain
Hi:
I am going to be in San Fran on May 1 and am interested in joining a
local side for dawn dance. I will bring kit and concertina if anyone
needs an extra muso (loud Jeffries duet concertina, 35 year's
experience)
email me offlist.
Nick Robertshaw
Foggy Bottom Morrismen, etc.
________
Subject: Kirtlington Lamb Ale
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 21 Jun 2000 14:07:38 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Does anyone have a good recipe? I keep getting too much mutton fat floating
on the surface (even after cask conditioning) and this masks the bouquet of
hops and mint sauce.
--
Nick Robertshaw
________
Subject: Re: Sherborne
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 14:41:01 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Norman poured the following metaphor into his Kitchen Aid:
>
> (Where would we be if we couldn't stand on the shoulders of the giants of
> morris research like Roy Judge, and look out over vast and fresh vistas?
> Re-inventing the wheel, I suppose.)
>
Well if the chips were down I'm sure you'd know which side your bread was
buttered.
Nick
________
Subject: Re: Horn Dance
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 13:55:17 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
I think you mean:
"W7ucyBvZ"
unless you are using Hamilton's notation, which is of course totally
anachronistic for Abbots Brommley.
--
Nick Robertshaw
ParaGlyph. 301 694 8604
----------
>From: Teri Davis <dragonct@IX.NETCOM.COM>
>To: MORRIS@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
>Subject: Horn Dance
>Date: Sat, Jun 10, 2000, 3:04 AM
>
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> b2QpDQogIChvbiB3aWZlLCBUZXJpIERhdmlzJyBlLW1haWwgYWNjdC4pDQoNCg==
>
________
Subject: Re: Royal Doulton promoting Morris
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 09:42:03 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Some long-haired ballad singer is going to sign a few tasteless china
rabbits and this will be good for Morris in America?
Why not have a few morris dancers signed by Brittney Spears to promote the
Kitsch Figurine industry?
What? Doulton not Bolton?
nevermind
--
Bignick
fbmm 4mn
----------
>From: "A.S.Miller" <ke6seh@EARTHLINK.NET>
>To: MORRIS@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
>Subject: Royal Doulton promoting Morris
>Date: Thu, May 4, 2000, 4:16 AM
>
> For fear of contributing to what feels like the start of a flame
> war, let me say a few things about the American Morris/Royal Doulton
> Bunnykins Morris Dancer cross-promotion:
>
> First, **I** approached Royal Doulton - it wasn't the other way
> round.
>
> Second, as someone stated, Morris is not well known in America - and
> certainly not as well known as, say, Royal Doulton.
>
> Third, I believe that dancing in a public venue with a corporate
> sponsor as visible as Royal Doulton can only lend credibility to our
> performance, and give us increased visibility.
>
> Fourth, Royal Doulton has paid P.R. people - so why not use
> resources that can help promote Morris Dance in America if we don't
> have to do much more than just show up for a gig?
>
> Fifth, with only 12 Bunnykins Morris Dancers per store, R.D. is not
> expecting to make enough to pay for Michael Doulton's travel
> expenses on this. Most people are gonna come to the R.D. stores
> because they are gonna want to meet Michael Doulton, and have him
> autograph a collectible piece on the chance that it will enhance the
> value (either monetary value, and/or sentimental value) - not
> because there will be Morris Dancers there - and anyone who thinks
> otherwise is just fooling themselves.
>
> Sixth, if the truth be known, we will probably receive more value
> from R.D.'s sponsorship than R.D. will receive from our
> participation, even though R.D. probably perceives equal or greater
> value from our presence - which is why this deal can be made to
> happen, in the first place. Truthfully, this concept is so young,
> there is still a chance that it might not happen. However, at this
> point, it is probably up to us to make it happen more than it is
> likely that Royal Doulton doesn't want this to happen.
>
> Seventh, if we help support this series of special events, is there
> a chance that we might be able to further influence R.D. -- can you
> see another limited edition for 2001 - Bunnykins Morris Musician
> (with melodeon)? What about a series of R.D. figurines that are
> based on real life HUMAN Morris Dancers? What a blast to have the
> tail wag the dog!
>
> Eighth, it didn't occur to me, originally, but yes, isn't there a
> chance that another gig could grow out of a local performance at an
> R.D. store -- after all, a lot of the people who buy R.D.
> collectibles have some real money, and might like a Morris team to
> perform at a wedding, an anniversary, or other special event? The
> Figs have gotten paid for entertaining at large corporate parties
> from this kind of public exposure.
>
> Ninth, the fact that R.D. is featuring a MORRIS DANCING BUNNYKINS as
> only one of two SPECIAL EVENT FEATURED FIGURINES FOR THE WHOLE of
> 2000 says a whole lot to me about the significance of Morris Dancing
> to some who are English. Cute isn't necessarily bad. When placed
> against the context of an actual Morris performance, we can provide
> some balance in the presentation of Morris to the American public.
> Do you want the cute bunny to be the only impression of Morris to
> which these folks are exposed.
>
> Tenth, since when is commercial sponsorship a bad thing? Moreton Bay
> Fig Morris receives contributions from a brewery, which is a
> commercial operation. We lend them some of our presence and
> attitude, and they contribute their resources. How many of your
> teams have also benefited from a relationship with a commercial
> entity? I know of a team that received a benefit from a relationship
> with the company that makes SPAM (of all things).
>
> Eleventh, must we take ourselves SO SERIOUSLY that we can't have fun
> with this cross promotional opportunity, and take advantage of a
> company that needs us more than we need them?
>
> Twelfth, and finally, the specific amount that will be contributed
> for each performance has yet to be established, but wouldn't it be
> nice if R.D. was willing to contribute $200 for several short
> performances over a four hour afternoon period? Not bad money to
> benefit a non-profit group for a fun gig with a virgin audience.
> And, R.D. has deep pockets, and is likely to be able to afford to
> pay this kind of performance fee, don't you think?
>
> Hopefully this has provided some additional perspective.
>
> Now, for everyone who understands what I am saying, and who has an
> opportunity and a wish to participate at a location near you, you
> can contact me off list at the email address or phone number
> provided in my original posting.
>
________
Subject: FW: abandoning my Morris Pages on the Web listing
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2000 09:10:47 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Jeff:
How about putting in a field on the form for 'logo URL' and asking
submitters to put a, say 200 x 200 pixel logo on their own web server? Your
form-generated html could then incorporated it. Those who can will and those
who can't will have a torn ? or an X
--
Nick Robertshaw
ParaGlyph. 301 694 8604
>
>
> ----------
>>From: Jeff Bigler <jcb@MIT.EDU>
>>To: MORRIS@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
>>Subject: Re: abandoning my Morris Pages on the Web listing
>>Date: Wed, Apr 5, 2000, 2:49 PM
>>
>
>> Thanks for all the congratulatory messages, and for the messages
>> expressing support for the web site.
>>
>> I've given the matter some more thought. While I enjoyed having the
>> logos on the page (and believe it or not, I also enjoyed the challenge
>> of making each one look as reasonable as I could in a reduced size, and
>> with reduced colors), those were by far the biggest time sink. (The web
>> form automatically formats the information in HTML for my page, Rich
>> Holmes's page and John Maher's page, so there was no need to spend time
>> formatting the rest of the information. I've left the form in place for
>> Rich's and John's benefit.)
>>
>> If I gave up on the logos, and if I reorganized my web directory so it
>> was possible to automate the inclusion of each piece, I could probably
>> make it require little enough of my time to be able to keep up with it.
>> (I've been helping my wife do this with a web site she maintains, and
>> it's given me some good ideas.)
>>
>> I also realized (thanks to those of you who pointed it out) that the
>> contact info I was collecting was more useful than I had been giving it
>> credit for, which is another reason for not abandoning the idea
>> altogether. If I were to redesign the form so that it also included
>> practice night, tradition/style, and kit description, and if I also
>> included entries for sides that don't have web pages, the page would be
>> a legitimate replacement for the lamented American Morris Newsletter's
>> annual directory of sides, and could also become the morris spotter's
>> guide some of you have been wishing for, with almost all of the work
>> required being put in up front.
>>
>> If I do manage to reorganize things, I'll reinstate the modified page
>> (sadly, without logos), and I'll probably ask people on this list to
>> resubmit info for their sides, to make sure everything is as complete
>> and up-to-date as possible. With a little luck, I should be able to
>> have the site in good shape and much more maintainable by the time the
>> baby is born in July.
>>
>> Watch this space for details.
>>
>> Jeff Bigler
>>
________
Subject: Re: Odes to Joy
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 11:13:56 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
This was one of the theme songs of a Bath-City-Morris-Extended tour of the
Letterkenny (IRL) Festival back in the early 70s. Tubby, John Forrest, Geoff
Hughes and myself were there. I can't remember who brought the song. It
might have been me, in which case I learned it from Hairy (Richard Remmer).
--
Nick Robertshaw
----------
>From: Chris Bartram <chris_bartram@COMPUSERVE.COM>
> My favoutite set of words to the OtJ came from the label of the Guinness
> bottle used by English 'Trade' bottlers in the '60s
> ;
> Arthur Guinness, Son and Company
> Park Royal Limited, Brewers
> Extra Stout, Registered Trademark
> Guiness, Arthur Guinness
> Bottled by Allied Breweries (UK) Limited
> Burton on Trent
> Registered Trademark, Nine-and-two-thirds-fluid-ounces
> Dublin and London.
>
> The Morris content is that I believe I first heard this sung by John
> Forrest (yes, _that_ John Forrest). If it wasn't John Forrest, then it wa=
> s
> probably John Walker. =
>
>
> Come to think of it, there's an awfull lot of brewing history in that
> label.
________
Subject: Re: Flags(no mc, flame potential)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2000 11:36:12 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
----------
>From: "Pugh, Phil" <Phil.Pugh@COMPAQ.COM>
>
> We got caught out when we had a celidgh band. We did a peformance for a
> Masonic Lodge and at the end the MC asked us to 'play the Queen'.
No no. He just wanted you to camp it up a bit.
--
Nick Robertshaw
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to
change the things I cannot accept, and the wisdom to hide the bodies of
those people I had to kill today because they pissed me off.
________
Subject: May Morning in Scotland
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2000 13:49:19 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
The engraving at
http://www.paraglyph.com/grafix/maydew.jpg
shows an alternative May morning tradition:
Dated May 1874, from The Graphic, it is entitled
"May-day morning in Scotland-Bathing in mountain dew"
It seems that the young lassies bathed (fully clothed) to the sound of a
concertina and were then dragged up a mountain. Aye, an' the laddies wore
trewsers, nae kilts.
Perhaps Norman should add that to his May-day goulash.
--
Nick Robertshaw
________
Subject: Re: Mummers and the Morris
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2000 09:57:37 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Welcome to the MDDL.
How long have you been listening in on this prattle?
--
Nick Robertshaw
ParaGlyph. 301 694 8604
----------
>From: Georgina Boyes <georgina@NOMASTERS.FREESERVE.CO.UK>
>To: MORRIS@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
>Subject: Re: Mummers and the Morris
>Date: Sat, Jan 8, 2000, 7:49 PM
>
> The complex of activities which might be described as "mummers plays" is so
> diverse and under-researched in terms of performers (and performance) that
> there's no basis for generalisations such as "Often, but not always, the
> mummers play was the property of an individual family..." We simply don't
> know. Research of the depth and quality provided by Keith Chandler on
> morris performers does not exist for traditional plays.
> Georgina Boyes
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chris Bartram <chris_bartram@COMPUSERVE.COM>
> To: MORRIS@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU <MORRIS@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU>
> Date: 08 January 2000 19:08
> Subject: Mummers and the Morris
>
>
________
Subject: Re: Twelfth Day
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2000 15:47:11 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Once the Magi arrive, the family grabs the Frankincense and Myrrh and uses
the gold to buy three tickets on a flight into Egypt. Put the crib on a
model 747 and hang it from the ceiling fan. Remember to send the Magi home
the other way around the table so they don't run into Herod again.
--
Nick Robertshaw
ParaGlyph. 301 694 8604
----------
>From: "Jenny Howard (Bedfordshire Lace)" <jehoward.samwhit@EXCITE.COM>
>To: MORRIS@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
>Subject: Re: Twelfth Day
>Date: Thu, Jan 6, 2000, 8:57 AM
>
> On Thu, 6 Jan 2000 06:17:05 GMT, John Price <john.price@ZETNET.CO.UK> wrote:
>
>>Some of us notice and observe - at least in terms of making
>>sure the Christmas decorations are taken down! What awful fate would
>>befall us if we didn't, I wonder?
>
> While it is merely 'unlucky' in a general sense not to take them down on
> the 6th, (and I've never heard that it matters what time of day) if you are
> disorganised enough to leave them up till Candlemas,then you get hobgoblins
> moving in. That's what my Mum always said, anyway.
>
> The removal of decorations on the 6th always leaves you with a problem if
> your decorations include a crib. You've got the poor old Magi inching their
> way round the tabletop for the best part of a fortnight and as soon as they
> arrive at the manger, the whole thing is whisked away! We always used to
> leave the crib up till the following Sunday,(as indeed is liturgically
> correct) just to keep them happy.
>
> Jenny H
>
________
Subject: Re: Calling Bill Taylor
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 08:33:59 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Or did he mean the one William Taylor that won't run away?
Alas, he was arrested and hanged for poaching.
--
Nick Robertshaw
ParaGlyph. 301 694 8604
----------
>From: KLOSKY@AOL.COM
>To: MORRIS@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
>Subject: Re: Calling Bill Taylor
>Date: Thu, Dec 16, 1999, 7:03 PM
>
> Bill Brown graphically inquires:
>
> << Bill Taylor, calling Bill Taylor -- formerly of Foggy Bottom Morris Men,
> last known to be in the UK or Scotland. Anyone know how to reach him? >>
>
> Bill Taylor? Do you mean WILLIAM Taylor, the brisk young Sailor?
>
> I fear I saw a ball go through him...
>
> But you'll be comforted to know that he still had HIS half of your ring.
>
> With sympathy,
> Peter Klosky
>
________
Subject: Approaching Solstice lunacy
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sun, 12 Dec 1999 09:58:30 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
For those of you who celebrate celestial events, I pass on the following
notes on the approaching concurrence.
>>
>>This year will be the first full moon to occur on the winter solstice,
>>Dec. 22, commonly called the first day of winter. Since a full moon on
>>the winter solstice occured in conjunction with a lunar perigee (point
>>in the moon's orbit that is closest to Earth) The moon will appear
>>about 14% larger than it does at apogee (the point in it's elliptical
>>orbit that is farthest from the Earth) since the Earth is also several
>>million miles closer to the sun at this time of the year than in the
>>summer, sunlight striking the moon is about 7% stronger making it
>>brighter. Also, this will be the closest perigee of the Moon of the
>>year since the moon's orbit is constantly deforming. If the weather is
>>clear and there is a snow cover where you live, it is believed that even
>>car headlights will be superflous.
>>
>>On December 21st. 1866 the Lakota Sioux took advantage of this
>>combination of occurances and staged a devestating retaliatory ambush on
>>soldiers in the Wyoming Territory.
>>
>>In laymen's terms it will be a super bright full moon, much more
>>than the usual AND it hasn't happened this way for 133 years!
>>
>>Our ancestors 133 years ago saw this. Our descendents 100 or so years
>>from now will see this again.
>>
>>I'm excited, hope someone else might find this interesting! Remember
>>this will happen December 22, 1999.....
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>"We're fools whether we dance or not,
>> so we might as well dance."
>>
--
Nick Robertshaw
________
Subject: Re: General list abuse (was Should the Morris List dedum dedum...)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 07:40:35 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
This could all be covered by a general 'No being an asshole' rule (Klosky
gets 2 free 'being an asshole' cards per year, of course).
Down with obsessive constitutionalism!! Burn the law books and the lawyers!
Just don't piss us off or we'll make you dance Longborough Trunkles in dry
sand.
--
Nick Robertshaw
----------
>From: Mark Rogers <mark@capers.co.uk>
>To: MORRIS@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
>Subject: Re: Query - should the Morris list carry for sale items
>Date: Fri, Dec 10, 1999, 5:25 AM
>
> I agree with the following as well:
>
>> ( Not in any special order )
>> 1 ] The item(s) are for personal sale / wanted only.
>> 2 ] No dealers or shops allowed.
>> 3 ] No profiteering
>> 4 ] Items are, or are likely to be used in forms of Morris
>> performance.
>
> although 4] could be altered to "morris related items" to include archive
> material & books about morris. The black book for instance is not used in
> a performance (apart from by a few musos who have to have the dots in
> front of them!), but is definately morris related.
>
> Definately agree with 1 & 2. I can imagine when 3] might night be stricly
> applicable - say someone came up with a morris calendar and made a smallm
> profit.
>
> On the whole, I'd say stick to the above, but be gently flexible when the
> need arises.
>
> Mark Rogers
> http://www.capers.co.uk/donkey/
________
Subject: Re: reading and playing music (was, keys....)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 9 Dec 1999 15:28:42 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Er,
I was referring to the Roland TB-303 transistor bassline. The foundation for
various acid techno music genres. But I 'spect you knew that.
--
Nick Robertshaw
ParaGlyph. 301 694 8604
----------
>From: Ken Hamilton <K.C.Hamilton1@Bradford.ac.uk>
>To: MORRIS@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
>Subject: Re: reading and playing music (was, keys....)
>Date: Thu, Dec 9, 1999, 4:34 PM
>
> On Thu, 9 Dec 1999 10:07:12 EST KLOSKY@AOL.COM wrote:
>
>> Which model SMLE? The flash-guard on the Mark V Jungle Carbine would
> seem to
>> lend the best mouthpiece...
>
> I think you are all very sad.
>
> Ken "Never does anything without a deep and meaningful
> spiritual reason" Hamilton
>
> ----------------------
> Ken Hamilton
> http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/Rodeo/2122/
>
________
Subject: Re: reading and playing music (was, keys....)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 9 Dec 1999 07:26:23 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
A morris tune for the 303 (now there's an instrument Greg could start
with)?? Where can this be found, I gotta have it?
Nick
Out morrisman, closet raver.
>
> I'd hazard that this has a bearing on some of the "border" morris stuff,
> where musicianship varied greatly. There were the William Preeces and
> John Lockes, who obviously played well, and made money playing for other
> things than morris, and at the other end of the spectrum there were the
> un-named muso's who drew the short straw and had to turn in a passable
> tune on whatever instrument they could lay hands on (mouth-organ and
> bones) for boxing day, because the other four guys only jigged around
> anyway and it wasn't much of a show without music. I keep thinking of
> resurrecting the Kingston tune, but it has more in common with acid
> trance than with what most people would recognise as folk melody. Poor
> b*gger, I'll bet he was freezing cold as well...
>
> regards
> Andy A
________
Subject: Re: Keys, modes, and boomps-a-daisy (Long, nmc, but a lot of music content)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 8 Dec 1999 08:11:36 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Richard's explanation most excellently proves the problem with equal temper.
Note that since this is a defect in the factoring, it has a greater effect
at higher frequencies (faster, off-tune beating) than at lower frequencies.
This is a problem that is about as tractable under the pressure of a fresh
approach as the calendar (why not just have 16 months of a 32, 16-hour days,
adjusting the length of an hour to 64 'New Minutes'?). Go ahead, Greg,
you'll make it work and life will be so much easier for computers.
For a good update on human perception of musical pitch, temper, rhythm and
harmony (and a ripping good read), I recommend:
Music, The Brain, and Ecstacy, (sounds like it should have received rave
reviews) by Robert Jourdain
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/038078209X/002-7451840-0885024
--
Nick Robertshaw
ParaGlyph. 301 694 8604
>
> The problem that equal tempering addresses is how to tune an instrument so
that
> it is equally in tune (or out of tune) in all keys.
> This is done by a mathematical trick. We've decided that we'll divide an
octave
> into twelve equal semitones. As octaves and scales work by multiplying the
> fundamental by some amount, we need one factor to multiply by. When we
multiply
> the fundamental frequency by it twelve times, it needs to give us a new
frequency
> twice the fundamental.
>
> This factor is the twelfth root of 2. If we call it X, then :
>
> f * X * X * X * X * X * X * X * X * X * X * X * X = 2f
>
> or
>
> f * (X^12) = 2f
>
> (X = 2^(1/12) = 1.059463, according to this PC)
>
> If you do the maths for an equal tempered fifth, it is not 3f/2, which a
proper
> fifth should be. It's 1.4983 (X^7), rather than 1.5. This is the by now
probably
> famous 'out of tune equal tempered fifth'.
>
>
> I don't know the rules for other temperaments, or why the notes are called
what
> they are. I'd need to sit down with a computer/calculator for a while to check
the
> other intervals in a normal major scale.
> The JavaTuner page (http://www.globetrotter.net/gt/usagers/roule/accord.htm)
> has some links to documents about other temperments.
>
>
>
> Helpfully (and hopefully not too confusingly),
> Richard.
>
________
Subject: Re: Early Music (NMC - really, really, NMC)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 16:25:18 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
This was a careless anachronism. All BC boxes are 2-row.
--
Nick Robertshaw
ParaGlyph. 301 694 8604
> Can any of the melodeon experts out there hazard a guess as
> to what tuning a single-row melodeon, with black ends and
> red bellows, would have been in around 600 BC?
>
> I only ask because there was a guy playing one in a band on
> "Xena - Warrior Princess" the other night...
>
> Sandy
>
> http://welcome.to/captainwebb
>
________
Subject: Re: Keys for morris tunes (NMC)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 19:11:15 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
I remember learning this in music theory. Re-reading it 30 years later I
notice that if one substitutes signs of the Zodiac for the keys, it works
just as well:
Capricorn: You are expressive of feeling in a pure, certain, and decisive
manner, of innocence, powerful resolve, and manly earnestness; and open to
deep religious feelings. Try playing Princess Royal in A major today.
See.
--
Nick Robertshaw, justly tempered
----------
>From: Jeff Bigler <jcb@MIT.EDU>
>To: MORRIS@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
>Subject: Re: Keys for morris tunes (NMC)
>Date: Tue, Nov 23, 1999, 7:38 PM
>
> John Carver writes:
>
>> Changing the key does change the quality of the tune in a subtle way.
>> (and therefore the quality of the MORRIS DANCE). The difference you
>> sense is not the pitch but the note intervals. It's an effect of equal
>> temperament, an eighteenth century invention for munging all the keys
>> together onto one instrument without wasting string.
>
> Hermann Helmholtz wrote some interesting descriptions of what the
> various keys "sound like" in his book, "On the Sensations of Tone" in
> 1885. His descriptions of G major and D major are kind of
> interesting/appropriate when applied to morris dancing. The following
> is from Alexander J. Ellis's translation of that work.
>
> Presumed Characteristics of Major and Minor Keys
>
> C Major - Expressive of feeling in a pure, certain, and decisive manner, of
> innocence, powerful resolve, manly earnestness, deep religious feeling.
> C Minor - Expressive of softness, longing, sadness, earnestness and
> passionate intensity, and of the supernatural.
> C# Major - Scarcely used; as Db it has fulness [sic] of tone, sonorousness,
> and euphony.
> Db Minor - The most intensely melancholy key.
> D Major - Expressive of majesty, grandeur, pomp, triumph, festivity,
> stateliness.
> D Minor - Expressive of subdued melancholy, grief, anxiety, and solemnity.
> Eb Major - Greatest variety of expression; eminently masculine, serious and
> solemn; expressive of courage and determination, brilliant, firm,
> dignified.
> Eb Minor - Darkest and most sombre key of all; rarely used.
> E Major - Expressive of joy, magnificence, splendour, and highest brilliancy;
> brightest and most powerful key.
> E Minor - Expressive of grief, mournfulness, and restlessness of spirit.
> F Major - Expressive of peace and joy, also of light passing regret and
> religious sentiment.
> F Minor - Harrowing, full of melancholy, at times rising into passion.
> F# Major - Brilliant and very clear; as Gb expresses softness and richness.
> F# Minor - Dark, mysterious, spectral, and full of passion.
> G Major - Favourite key of youth; expresses sincerity of faith, quiet love,
> calm meditation, simple grace, pastoral life, and a certain humour and
> brightness.
> G Minor - Expresses sometimes sadness, at others quiet and sedate joy, with
> gentle grace or a slight touch of dreamy melancholy, occasionally rising
> to a romantic elevation.
> Ab Major - Full of feeling and dreamy expression.
> Ab Minor - Fit for funeral marches; full of sad, heartrending expression, as
> of an oppressed and sorrowing heart.
> A Major - Full of confidence and hope, radiant with love, redolent of genuine
> cheerfulness; especially expresses sincerity.
> A Minor - Expresses tender womanly feeling, especially the quiet melancholy
> sentiment of Northern nations; also fit for Boleros and Mauresque
> serenades; and finally for sentiments of devotion mingled with pious
> resignation.
> Bb Major - Has an open, frank, clear, and bright character, admitting of the
> expression of quiet contemplation; favourite classical key.
> Bb Minor - Full of gloomy and sombre feeling, like Eb; seldom used.
> B Major - Expresses boldness and pride in fortissimo, purity and perfect
> clearness in pianissimo; seldom used.
> B Minor - Very melancholy; tells of quiet expectation and patient hope.
>
>
> Jeff Bigler
>
________
Subject: Re: Stop the flaming now! (was Re: Stop this two-list madness now!)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1999 12:14:51 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Well, if we subscribe each list to the other, we can have a nice mail loop
with lots of posts about the problem with the mail loop and lots of other
posts that say stop posting we're trying to fix the mail loop.
Or we could move to usenet by creating rec.dancing.morris and have people
issuing court injuctions at one another (cf. rec.downhill.skiing).
Or we can have the Popular Front of Judea list and the Judean Popular Front
(phlbtt!) list and the People's Judean Front list...
Or we could just stay here and remember our manners. Which is pretty much
what happens anyway.
So who want's to join me in an Anti-schism splinter group?
--
Nick Robertshaw
Having a smoking area in a restaurant is like having a
pissing area in a swimming pool.
________
Subject: Re: Effeminancy perceptions (LMC)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1999 08:25:20 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
----------
Said The Esteemed Peter Klosky, KLOSKY@AOL.COM
> Add a pervasive dose of Hollywood "macho" -- Valentino, Gable, Bogart, Cooper
> & Wayne (can you imagine those guys doing "Dearest Dickie?"-- though I'd've
> loved to see Cagney dance rapper!)... voila, a mid-twentieth century male
> mythos.
>
Your theory may be in trouble Peter:
Valentino played Nijinsky didn't he?
And what about Astaire? Kelly? Crosby? Travolta? Swayze? etc..
Hollywood has it's share of dancing babe-magnets, some of whom do action
roles also.
--
Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?
Nick Robertshaw
________
Subject: Re: Effeminacy (was:Records? (no longer new, just very long)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 17:14:13 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
>
> What my generation of American men has lost, I think, is the sense that
> dance is important, that men are expected to dance, that it is a basic part
> of how we live and express ourselves. And that, as it is so important, it
> has to be perfected and worked at. Now it seems that dance is just plain
> suspicious. In truth, it's manly, Goddammit!
>
Word.
(as they say in the rave culture, where it's ok for guys to dance too)
--
Nick Robertshaw
Morrisman raver and father of morrisman raver
________
Subject: The History of Morris Dancing (1548-1750)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sun, 7 Nov 1999 08:58:33 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Hey guys, if you want to be able to quote your own 'gaily dancing' or 'vile
devilish perversion' morris reference, you will be pleased to hear that the
long-awaited work of Mr John Forrest <jforrest@zeppo.hm.uc.edu> "The History
of Morris Dancing (1548-1750)" is now on the press.
All inquiries should, of course, go to John.
>
--
Nick Robertshaw
----------
From: John Forrest <jforrest@zeppo.hm.uc.edu>
>
> Now for some good news. I just received advanced copies of my book THE
> HISTORY OF MORRIS DANCING today from the English publisher. The Canadian
> publisher says they will have bound books very soon. So I thought now
> might be a good time to put out a typically vainglorious self advertisement
> on MDDL. I used to ask Steve Corrsin to do this kind of thing for me, but
> he finally got tired of the list and quit. So I was wondering if you would
> be willing to post something (short) for me? In fact I could even write it
> now! Thanks.
>
> ______________
>
> Morris dancers will be pleased to know that I have just received an
> advanced copy of my latest work THE HISTORY OF MORRIS DANCING (1458-1750)
> from the English publisher, James Clark. The North American publisher,
> University of Toronto Press promises copies very soon. All morris dancers
> should find the book worthwhile reading. It is a fat book (439 pages)
> stuffed with all kinds of detail that should keep you reading, talking, and
> arguing for years. But remember, this kind of research will only continue
> if people buy the books that it is published in; so I invite you to do your
> bit as a supporter of original research and place an order today.
>
>
> John Forrest
________
Subject: Men-only fertility dance
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 12:14:19 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Oops.
Sorry. Just thought it was a bit quiet.
--
Nick Robertshaw
________
Subject: Re: Boiled nuns (nmc)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 08:27:55 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Actually, consumption of nuns on a Friday is acceptable if you can come up
with a convincing proof that a nun is actually a fish. Let me see...
Natural history of the nun.
Nuns lay eggs (parthenogenically) which hatch into penguins. The penguins
grow and become orca, obviously a fish--don't believe any whales-are-mammals
apostasy, see the Jonah story. The orca gets cast up on the rocks and bursts
open, releasing dozens of nuns of the Cetacean order. From this we see that
a nun is a fish and can therefore be consumed on a Friday.
Bizarre though it might seem, there is a parallel in history. The goose
barnacle was claimed to metamorphose into the barnacle goose for similar
culinary reasons.
--
Nick Robertshaw
>
>>Nunnite? Probably pretty good for a meatless Friday. (If you got a young
>>one...)
> Tut, tut, Peter, you've clearly been away too long. Nuns are after all
> creatures of flesh and all meat products whether solid or liquid count as
> meat for the purposes of days of abstinence.
>
> I wonder,is the fact that nuns nowadays rarely wear identifying dress an
> example of natural selection at work?
>
> Jenny H
>
________
Subject: Pork!
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 08:43:13 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
(What is the capital of Hungary?)
><< Are there any rousing chorus songs about pork feasts? >>
How about the song that has three unspellable words:
There was an old farmer who had an old sow
<unspellable word 1> ow,
<unspellable word 2> ow,
<unspellable word 3> idle-dee-dow,
Suzannah's a funnicle man
<unspellable word 1> an,
<unspellable word 2> an,
<unspellable word 3> idle-dee-dan,
Suzannah's a funnicle man
etc..
A great song for clearing the sinuses and raising the humidity.
--
Nick Robertshaw
________
Subject: Archers Dance
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 6 Oct 1999 08:19:40 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
>>
>> A couple of us wanted to do something to the Archers theme, but were
>> told by one of our musicians that it doesn't have a B part, though I'm
>> sure one could be worked out if necessary.
>
> The theme isn't organised in A's and B's as such but there is music that
> could be used as a B part. I suggest you get your musician to actually
> listen to the piece sometime.
>
It can and has been done. The dance was Dan and Doris in the style of
Ascot-under-Wychwood. Herga Morris, circa 1972. It never really 'stuck'.
Nick Robertshaw
"For lo, the coming of the internet shall spur the
flagrant and promiscuous misuse, misappropriation,
and unrighteous attribution of quotations both famous
and obscure."
-- Ezekiel 12, v 7
________
Subject: Audience appeal of massed dances
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 10:15:57 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Perhaps the audiences like the massed dances because they can SEE better
once all the people in funny clothes are dancing, not standing in the bloody
way.
As a follow on to Peter Klosky's observation of the loyalty of the Falls
River public at the Xdz, it is interesting to note that the Newfane audience
at the Marlboro Ale is similarly patient and appreciative. These are places
and occasions that have locked morris into the local culture and calendar
and given it special relevance.
I guess 20 years buys you a tradition.
--
Nick Robertshaw
________
Subject: Re: The Ring (finally?, yeah, right!)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 08:08:48 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
As a practical matter, getting expelled from the Ring is extraordinarily
difficult. The Smiffs tried for years and eventually gave up and simply
resigned.
--
Nick Robertshaw
ParaGlyph. 301 694 8604
>
> I believe (though I'm on thin ice here, as I'm no expert) that there
> are only two "sanctions" available.
>
> 1. The Squire of The Ring could give someone a firm talking to. This
> often has a sobering effect at a Ring Meeting, where The Squire
> obviously has an overall responsibility for the conduct of the event
> and can therefore "lay down the law". Outside of a Ring Meeting, I
> think he could/would take action only if behaviour were severely
> deleterious to The Ring - not simply bad PR for the rest of us.
>
> 2. The offending club could be suspended or expelled, after due
> process. This seems to be very much a last resort, and rightly so. I
> don't know when it last happened, but I'd be willing to bet that it's
> not recently.
>
> Neither of these seems appropriate to the situation Keith refers to,
> so The Ring is stuck with being tarred by a brush that it does not control.
>
________
ubject: Re: Immitation "clay pipes"
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 08:38:02 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Straws filled with mercury fulminate can be used to speed the training
process for beginners.
--
Nick Robertshaw
________
Subject: Re: workers' struggle
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1999 08:16:28 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Well, that's at least two persons' belief systems in obvious need of
adaptation.
Or perhaps just two examples of the mystery of the morris.
--
Nick Robertshaw
ParaGlyph. 301 694 8604
"The advent of email has spurned the
flagrant and promiscuous misuse, misappropriation,
and mis-attribution of quotations both infamous
and obscure."
--Sophie Tucker
----------
>
> Norman Stanfield wrote:
>
>> The mystery to me is how anybody could dance morris without
>> knowing this
>> stuff.
>
> Why???
>
> The mystery to me is how anybody could think that this stuff has any
> relation to morris.
>
>
> Derek Matthews
> Leeds MM
>
________
Subject: Re: simple and difficult pipe and tabor
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 11:16:01 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
As noted previously on this list, if you do get a hemiola, it's essential to
get a cold compress on it as soon as possible. Keep the weight off and
elevate the affected part BEFORE you have that 'nice cup of tea'.
--
Nick Robertshaw
ParaGlyph. 301 694 8604
>
> I frequently play a hemiola on the tabor in 6/8 tunes to show the exact
> placement of the hop-hop in galleys, which works quite well. If you're
> having trouble placing these exactly, some of the musicians I know use
> the phrase "nice cup of tea" to denote the placement of each note of a
> 3-against-2 hemiola. (And for those of you who like such things, "pass
> the melted butter" works for 5-against-4.)
>
> Jeff Bigler
>
________
Subject: Re: Flying Accordions
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 10:15:57 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Previous discussions on the squeezebox list seemed to conclude that the bass
end of a peyanna o'corjun was the most vulnerable part during air transit
and would often fall victim to the 'all buttons down' syndrome.
One frequent flyer with PA reported that he removes the bass end and takes
it on as carry-on, presumably cradling it to his bosom during turbulence. I
believe he fills the void left in the PA case with a suitably sculpted piece
of foam plastic.
--
Nick Robertshaw
________
Subject: Re: Tradition (Nearly Morris Content)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 15:37:53 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
The problem with dancing morris because it's 'traditional' may be that the
reason is itself not traditional. Were the Old Dead Guys so unlike us in
their motivations? Is there no chance that they did it for FUN too? If so,
that would make the recreationalists more traditional than the
traditionalists.
--
Nick Robertshaw
ParaGlyph. 301 694 8604
----------
>From: Norman Stanfield <nlstanfield@HOME.COM>
>To: MORRIS@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
>Subject: Re: Tradition (Nearly Morris Content)
>Date: Fri, Sep 10, 1999, 2:37 PM
>
> At 11:26 PM 09/09/99 -0700, Mr. Thayer gave us a timely quote:
>
>>"Ah tradition -- the true driving force of history! It makes royalty out
>>of rogues, elevates gibberish into cherished ritual. Tradition has the
>>depth of an eggshell -- while appearing as impenetrable and
>>unquestionable as the polar ice cap."
>
> I can add another word to this fire: "heritage". I have just finished
> browsing through Scotland the Brand: the Heritage Industry, by Richard Kiely
> et al., and he thoroughly roasts that shibboleth as well. They wrote their
> book as a follow-up to Patrick Wright (On Living in an Old Country: the
> national past in contemporary Britain) and Robert Hewison (The Heritage
> Industry: Britain in a climate of decline), using Scotland as their
> "sample". (And who can forget that heart-warming fireside story, The
> Imagined Village: Culture, Ideology, and the English Folk Revival, by
> Georgina Boyes?)
>
> We could be at the threshold of a new term, "fakelore", in keeping with Dave
> Harker's inflammatory term, "fakesong".
>
> In the eyes of these authors, we're all a lot of Wallies. Some more than
> others. Groups like 7 Champs and Flag and Bones are exempt, I suppose,
> because they've taken morris to the next level.
>
> We need a champion, but there appears to be none on the horizon. Our
> resident academics, like Mike Heaney, seem to struggle with morris as it
> exists today.
>
> No doubt the trend to take "England" out of morris, releasing it to the
> world of universal recreation, could be the salvation of the activity.
>
>
> Norman Stanfield
> Vancouver, B.C., Canada
>
________
Subject: Re: Prince Albert's
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 16:03:26 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Wow, you mean...
I've dance with a team
Who've danced with a team
Who've danced with the Prince of Wales?
--
Nick Robertshaw
----------
>From: Ian & Hilda Dedic <dedics@DIRCON.CO.UK>
>To: MORRIS@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
>Subject: Prince Albert's
>Date: Fri, Aug 27, 1999, 3:10 PM
>
> Smiffs danced with Prince Albert in Covent Garden a few weeks ago, and
> a good time was had by all -- and they do know several dances now.
> One reason the tour worked is probably the extreme contrast between
> Smiffs and Alberts which meant the audience didn't lose interest -- we did
> our thing, they did theirs, and both were well received.
_________
Subject: Re: sticks
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 10:02:14 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
>From: keith Leech <keith_leech@CSI.COM>
> *Aim for the sky not his
> head!* So in summary, I think it depends on the tradition.
It might also depend on the partner.
________
Subject: Re: Morris Resources (but VLMC)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 13:25:27 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Howard:
1: On my version of Outlook Express, there is a Tools menu that lets you set
up a variety of sigs.
2: It's easy to forget the the shiny-car people now work for
Ford/Jaguar/BMW/RJ Reynolds/Grand Met/Virgin.
3: True. You're not a whore if you're giving it away.
4: The watch-reader analogy is good. I shall steal it.
5. The Bailey Bridge transporter offer is accepted! We will be touring the
UK next year and it will make our routing easier and avoid toll fees. I'll
bet we can cause a bunch of misrule and downtrodden worker solidarity with
it too. Rather than putting little flags on the 'wings', we'll just paint in
the team colors.
p.s. Does it come with a full tank of fuel?
--
Nick Robertshaw
FBMM 4mn
----------
>From: "Mitchell, Howard G" <howard.mitchell@EDS.COM>
>To: MORRIS@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
>Subject: Re: Morris Resources (but VLMC)
>Date: Fri, Jul 16, 1999, 12:38 PM
>
>> Bill Brown wrote:
>>
>>I can't help noticing the diverse and interesting careers of
>>morris-dancers, as indicated by the "sigs" on their e-mail messages to the
>>MDDL.
>
> Dear support desk,
> can you advise me on how to configure MS Exchange so that mail going to
> private addresses does not contain my corporate signature. No this doesn't
> mean all internet addresses! Just the ones where some wise guy will think
> that they can get EDS to stump up some community investment or even
> thinks that Rolls-Royce makes cars/automobiles.
>
>>Sometimes these vocations can be valuable resources to the morris
>>community, especially when services and talents are contributed free,
>>gratis, pro-bono and for no charge.
>
> I'm having difficulty with the association of the words "free" and
> "consultant".
>
>>Reading today's MDDL, I was particularly struck by Mr. Mitchell's business
>>association,
>
>> >Howard Mitchell
>> >Manchester Morris Men
>> >Howard Mitchell
>> >Strategy Consultant
>> >EDS - Rolls Royce
>>
>>and a particularly brilliant (if I may say so) Idea came to mind. It would
>>generate all sort of wonderful benefits to the Rolls Royce company (too
>>numerous to mention here, but I'm sure a Strategic Consultant worth his
>>salt could list them with no trouble)
>
> I only borrow other peoples watches and tell them the time. If they pay
> enough, I might teach them how to tell the time for themselves.
>
>>to make available a small number of
>>vehicles (a dozen or two) to American morris teams visiting England. The
>>minor wear and tear on these vehicles could no doubt be written off, or
>>chalked up to improving international relations and tourism and stuff.
>
> I'm looking at the product list for Roll-Royce plc for types of vehicles
> which
> might be suitable. How do you fancy a military bailey-bridge transporter?
> I can do a 50 Mega-Watt gas turbine but it doesn't come with any wheels.
> No cars.
>
>>PS. We'd like the ones with the little flag-holders on the fenders, please.
>
> But if you put flags on the fender, the fire will melt them.
> (UK-US translation required here).
>
>
> Regards
> Howard Mitchell
> Manchester Morris Men (but not for much longer)
>
> Corporate sig omitted.
>
________
Subject: Re: Maps & Jemmers
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 29 Jun 1999 12:08:50 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Jemmers were factory girls. The name derives from the typical contents of
their lunch box: a jam sandwich, as distinct from a typical male worker's
sandwich, which would at least contain a heel of cheese or a slice of black
pudding.
Well, that's how they explained it to me back in the 70s, when they were
very 'interactive'.
Perhaps the dress put them off, Bruce.
--
Nick Robertshaw
ParaGlyph. 301 694 8604
----------
>From: "Bruce Henderson (Bluemont)" <bhenders@LANDROVER.COM>
>To: MORRIS@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
>Subject: Maps & Jemmers
>Date: Tue, Jun 29, 1999, 10:58 AM
>
> OK, can your computer tell me what a "Jemmer" is? I have spent the
> past Saturday with the "Poynton Jemmers" -- I got it figgered out that the
> Poynton Jemmers are Jemmers from Poynton, but couldn't get too much farther
> than that. Anybody help?
> Thanks, Bruce Henderson (BlueMont, VA; Sherborne, Glos.; occasional
> band member Wicked Stix, et al.)
> (Sorry I couldn't ask any of them but they seem about as willing to
> interact with other teams as Rock Creek.)
>
________
Subject: Hammersmith vs Chingford
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 29 Jun 1999 10:20:12 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
OK chaps, if we must evaluate all teams according to this linear perspective
let's do it properly. We'd need an 'Academy Award' viewpoint where only
foremen of Ring sides voted, plus a 'People's Choice' viewpoint where anyone
can vote. Maybe a league competition and a knockout competition. A Best of
Breed, Best of Class, Best in Show award. We would once and for all know who
has the best kit, the best music (solo and band), the most traditional
presentation, best announcer, best beast, best original dance, best fool,
best drinkers, best singers, best at staying up late and waking the most
people, and best ad hominem argument on the MDDL.
Clearly, getting all the teams in order of merit will take some time, but we
can start right away with Chingsmith and Hammerford, who should immediately
put an .avi RealVideo or Quicktime (whichever's best) of their best dance on
their best day on their web sites so that the MDDL members can advise them
on how to improve on all the areas that prevent them from being better than
each other.
--
Nick Robertshaw
________
Subject: Re: How to make Cotswold sexy?
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 09:27:46 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
> I was once told that the sax wasn't 'traditional', as it was
> invented by a German in the 19th century.
Nope. It was invented by one of the Hundred Famous Belgians.
Paul Draper suggested:
>Even on pub tours you can put on a program that builds excitement. Get
>off to a good start with a processional dance on or something like
>Saturday Night, follow up with a long stick dance or fighting dance, a
>short sharp dance and then a jig from someone, something a bit more
>gentle/flowing/relaxed and then raise the excitement with another stick
>dance before a Bonny Green off or Hey Diddle Dis.
Which seems to imply that >long< corner dances and simple sidestep-half hey
chorus dances have no place in Sexy Cotswold. That is assuming that the
'gentle/flowing/relaxed' bit was watching the barmaid pull a pint of bitter.
Humor aside, Paul makes a good point. Anyone who program(me)s Jockey
following Trunkles is inviting audience disregard.
--
Nick Robertshaw
_________
Subject: Re: That Hudson/Tingey list continued.
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 1999 09:25:06 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
>> 14 The English countryside
>> 15 Stilton with Christmas cake
>>
>>
> 16. Sloe Gin
> 17. Punch and Judy
> 18. Stilton with Port
> 19. Church towers and steeples
> 20. Old castles.............
21. Marmite
22. Village green cricket
23. Public footpaths
24. Blackbird song after rain
25. Pealed bells
26. Pie and mushy peas
27. Chocolate Digestives
28. Salad cream
29. Boy choir voice production
30. Radio 4
31. Panto!
32. Wearing vests and knickers on the inside
________
Subject: Fore Kalia
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 18:26:57 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
While others find they've fought to forgo the forgoing forms of foreman. I
find myself for the four who favo(u)r the forementioned former form of
foreman.
The team, however, has been known to use alternative titles:
Sarcastic English Twit
Nitpicking Slave Driver
Danceus Interruptus
He-who-can-be-ignored
Flip-flopping Arbitrarian
Hide-bound Traditionalist
Iconoclastic Anti-traditionalist
Kalia should note that she may not assume these titles and neither will they
be carelessly thrust upon her; they must be *earned*. In her position, I'd
probably strive for "Alpha-Bitch" but that might not suit all personalities.
Consider some other alternatives:
Stepmistress (might work for White Rats)
Leap-leader
Ped-aunt
Visionary Genius
Direktor of Central Planning and Rectitude
Standards Officer
Capering Manager (or Managing Caperer)
Overseer in charge of oversights
'Foreman' begins to sound a lot more attractive, doesn't it? No? Then how
about 'The High Kalia'
--
Nick Robertshaw
Foreman, Autistic Director: Foggy Bottom Morris Men
May the Fores be with you
p.s. Kuh-`Lee-uh? Kay-`Lye-uh? `Kay-Lia? `Kah-Lia? How do you pronounce it?
________
Subject: Doing May Morning Right
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 17:34:16 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
For a traditional May celebration, I offer this account by Philip Stubbes
(1583), as quoted in Frazer:
"Against May, Whitsonday, or other time, all the yung men and maides, olde
men and wives, run gadding over night to the woods, groves, hils and
mountains, where they spend all night in plesant pastimes; and in the
morning they return, bringing with them birch and branches of trees, to deck
their assemblies withall. And no mervaile, [sic] for there is a great Lord
present among them, as superintendant and Lord over their pastimes and
sports, namely, Sathan, prince of hel. But the chiefest jewel they bring
home from hence is their May-pole, which they bring home with great
veneration, as thus.
They have twenty or fortie yoke of oxen, every oxe having a sweet nosegay of
flouers placed on the tip of his horns, and these oxen drawe home this may
pole (this stinkyng idol, rather), which is covered over with floures and
hearbes, bound about with strings, from the top to the bottom, and sometimes
painted with variable colors, with two or three hundred men, women, and
children following it with great devotion. And thus being reared up, with
handkercheefs and flags hovering on the top, they straw the ground around
it, binde green boughes about it, set up summer haules, bowers, and arbors
hard by it.
And then they fall to dance about it, like as the heathen people did at the
dedication of the Idols, whereof this is a perfect pattern, or rather the
thing itself. I have heard it credibly reported (and that viva voce) by men
of greate gravitie and reputation, that of fortie, threescore, or a hundred
maides going to the wood over night, that scaresly the third part of them
returned home again undefiled.'
Philip could be a real prick sometimes.
--
Nick Robertshaw
Having a smoking area in a restaurant is like having a
pissing area in a swimming pool.
________
Subject: Re: May Morning
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 17:06:59 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Curious thing this.
When I returned to my London side, Herga Morris, after a 3-year stint in
Scotland, I suggested (this would be '75 or '76) that we should dance the
sun up on May Day (in a field on Stanmore Common, as it happened). Without
demanding justification from tradition or verifiable historical sources, the
team agreed that this was a splendid idea and this we then did. The
'tradition' was then repeated in subsequent years, AFAIK until the Herga
Morris diaspora of the early 80s.
I honestly don't believe that I got the idea from anywhere, although it
might have come via John Forest (an Ancient Man and therefore probably a
former Oxford May morning dancer) who would hang out with Herga from time to
time. It clearly seemed 'resonant' enough to the side to be worth staggering
out of bed and getting our socks wet for.
So what do we know? There are widespread traditions of Maying that involve
pre-dawn activities--gathering the May, testing the solubility of milkmaids
in dew, wetting the 'osses 'ead. The Merrie Englanders had no trouble
dragging the morris into Maying (along with the ME peripherals from the
Robin Hood legends). From the Urals to the West of Ireland, the Spring
celebrations cover St George's Day, May Day, and Whitsuntide with various
melds of Green Men, May Kings and Queens, Floral festivals, and festive
display dances. This mixture seems to indicate that the cultures borrowed
from one another (or shared common roots) in finding ways to celebrate what
is a jolly-nice-time-of-year.
In other words, it was traditional even before it was first done.
--
Nick Robertshaw
4mn, FBMM. Ex smiff (no dawn dances), Herga, Brackley (no dawn dances)
----------
Norman Stanfield (welcome back, Norman) asked:
>
> Are there any records or memories of English Morris sides "dancing up the
> May 1st dawn" before 1975, *other* than the historical occasion of the OUM
> in 1923? 1975 was apparently the year that Roger Cartwright founded May
> Morning Morris (with no expectations of an audience) in America.
>
> I assume that the OUM continued the tradition after 1923 at Magdelene
> College. But did other teams decide to "do dawn" as they were doing, but
> *without* any audience (unlike Oxford)?
>
> cheers
>
> Norman Stanfield
> Vancouver, B.C., Canada
>
________
Subject: Re: Pinhead - beer volumes (NMC)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1999 08:52:14 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Another example of the knickers-and-vests type of Anglo-American divergence.
The English say:
> "A Pint of pure water weighs a
> pound-and-a-quarter
The Americans say:
A pint is a pound the world over.
Also an example of the ignorant insularity that lets them conduct a baseball
'World Series' to which they invite only themselves (and the Canadians, whom
they regard as American anyway).
--
Nick Robertshaw
As the hectic pace of life rushes you along,
try to set aside a few minutes each day.
At the end of the year,
you'll have a couple of days saved up!
________
Subject: Re: folk music only on the left?
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:44:19 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
The Nazis had no difficulty in applying Volksliede to the purposes of the
right. Composers and collectors (C# included) recognized that folksong was
an expression of nationalism. Banks of the Sweet Primeroses was actually
Bugger Off you Sodding Furriners.
Fortunately for us, the term Folk Music is now taken to mean 'anything that
is sung exactly as written in Rise Up Singing.'
--
Nick Robertshaw
Why are there braille signs on drive-up ATMs?
Why are there Interstate Highways in Hawaii?
Shouldn't 'phonetic' be spelled 'Fennettick'?
> In the present discussion of what is "folk music" there seems to be an
> underlying assumption that to be valid, it must be on the political left;
> and I guess that also means that true "folk" must be leftwise likewise.
> And perhaps also unreligious?
>
> I would dispute that underlying assumption. I'd argue that, for example, a
> great deal of religious music is, by any definition tortured or otherwise,
> folk music. And while the right, at least in the States, hasn't produced
> an equivalent to Woody Guthrie, I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to find
> racist music (for example) that would fit the same definitions.
>
> English folk music from a non-lefty perspective... Oh, I don't know, I'm
> hardly an expert, but what about various anti-Irish ("Croppies lie down"),
> Scots, French, Welsh, etc. perspectives?
>
> Steve Corrsin
________
Subject: Re: Was: Mrs. Reeves has the goods - & Folk Music?
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 08:37:23 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Quoth Paul Draper>
> Not exactly. C always appears in the same place on the stave unless you
> are transposing to make it easier for another instrument to read. This
> is not the same as changing the key as the C in the key of G is still
> the same C as in the key or C or F etc.
>
Not from the Pythagorean standpoint. And clearly, not all folk musicians are
equally tempered. (nor equally humored, as Mr Tunnicliff has been reminded).
I believe that Mr Holmes, and Humpty Dumpty, have the actual definition of
Folk Music. Confusion only arises because we have five billion Humpty
Dumptys on the planet. There was one last night on the telly, advertising a
CD collection called A Treasury of Folk Music, or some such. It featured
Michael Row the Flowers Gone Kumbaya had a Hammer and other 'classics.' Nary
a McColl, Guthrie, or Lloyd. Certainly not a Copper, Jordan, or Waterson.
Definitely not a Dvorak, Glincka, or Beethoven in sight. This was Folk Music
from the big Folk Music scare (when it nearly caught on). It was a brief
flirtation with these 3-chord masterpieces that lead me to Child ballads,
Music Hall, and Capriciously capitalized Morris Dancing. Blessed be it.
--
Nick Robertshaw
I was carded once when I was 19. I gave the guy my driver's license, which
of course had my date of birth printed on it. He looked at it and said, "You
have to be 21 to get in here." I replied, "That ID is a few years old." He
looked at it again for a moment, then said "Oh, OK" and let me in.
________
Subject: Re: Buttered Peas revisited
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 13:29:15 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Hmm. I'd say it'd probably get you tarred and daffoldilled. Here it is
beside the original.
--------------------------------------------------
My hen laid a haddock, one hand oiled a flea,
Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi,
Glad farts and centurions threw dogs in the sea
Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri;
I could stew a hare here and brandish Dan's flan,
Ei gwrol ryfelwyr, gwladgarwyr tra mâd,
Don's ruddy bog's blocked up with sand
Tros ryddid gollasant eu gwaed.
Dad! Dad! Why don't you oil Auntie Glad?
Gwlad, Gwlad, pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad.
Can't whores appear in beer bottle pies?
Tra môr yn fur i'r bur hoff bau,
O butter the hens as they fly!
O bydded i'r hen iaith barhau.
---------------------------------------------------
It really isn't necessary to learn anything so byzantine to annoy them. At
Cardiff Arms Park,
Whales! Whales! Bloody great fishes are whales.
They swim in the sea; we have them for tea
Oh bloody great fishes are whales.
seems to work quite well.
--
Nwch Rwfertshaur
ParaGlyff.
________
Subject: Re: "Conkers" and "Pick-up Dancing" (NMC)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sun, 28 Feb 1999 17:11:42 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
In spite of extravagant copyright claims by people who might have put these
gems up on a web page, I believe that most of them originated as entries in
a contest in The Spectator (or was it the New Statesman?).
I also recall...
And if you get hungry on your London excursion, you may choose a free piece
of fruit from the attractive samples displayed on street carts.
The British like 'queuing' for things but don't expect visitors to do the
same. Just wave your passport and go directly to the front of the line.
Don't tip taxi drivers. It insults their professionalism. If you respect
then in this manner, they will show their appreciation by giving a
delightfully colourful demonstration of 'old cockney'.
--
Nick Robertshaw
ParaGlyph. 301 694 8604
----------
>From: Nick Oliver <olivern@WAVERIDER.CO.UK>
>To: MORRIS@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
>Subject: Re: "Conkers" and "Pick-up Dancing" (NMC)
>Date: Sun, Feb 28, 1999, 3:36 PM
>
> Further tips for tourists -
>
> Have you tried the famous echo in the Britsih Museum Reading Room?
>
> Nick
_________
Subject: Re: World Pancakes, hen ovulation traditions (NMC)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 09:52:53 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
>
> Oh, me too! Pancakes have no religious connotations nowadays,
> anyway, if they ever did. I'm suspicious of the usual explanation that
> they used up ingredients not allowed in Lent,they're hardly
> luxury stuff. _I_ wonder if eggs weren't eaten in Lent to give the hens a
> chance to rear some?
>
I suspect it was more of a case of 'making a virtue of a necessity'. Before
the breeding of modern egg machine hens and the advent of artificially lit
hen-houses, eggs were unavailable in the winter anyway because real hens
stop laying. So if you had any left by Shrovetide you better eat them up coz
they'll be addled soon.
Old breed hens begin to lay again as the days lengthen, usually around
Easter. After the dark months of old-eggness, followed by total egglessness,
the delight of finding the first new-laid egg of the season was cause for a
celebration.
Of course, that celebration was called Easter, named after estrogen, the
eggy hormone. The celebration was later co-opted by the followers of Ishtar,
one of several invented religions.
[WARNING: One of the previous paragraphs contains spurious information]
Nick Robertshaw, FBMM 4mn
_________
Subject: Who's Sod?
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1999 10:38:57 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
Dear MDDL:
Any facts or speculation on the following:
Does any team lay claim to the Isle of Mull as its dancing turf?
Are their any teams currently operating in Scotland?
Nick Robertshaw, Foggy Bottom Morris Men
"Calling atheism a religion is like calling perfect health a disease"
_________
Subject: Re: Cecil Sharp---where are the bodies buried?
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 11:10:05 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
He autocratically declared his own views to be the only acceptable views and
worked to undermine those who opposed him by means of personal attacks.
He filtered the material he collected and presented that which he declared
'typical' as being the only material of merit while suppressing that which
he declared "atypical" or "degenerate", thereby creating a generation of
dance teachers who were mislead about what they vehemently were teaching was
the 'correct' version of "the tradition".
He declared the 'folk' to be unfit custodians of their own culture, took it
from them and sold it to the middle class.
Ms Boyes has all these charges written up in The Imagined Village.
I would distill them thus:
He was a Victorian when he should have been a Modernist.
--
Nick Robertshaw
ParaGlyph. 301 694 8604
>
> C'mon gang, someone's holding out on me, this isn't enough to make
> him the bogeyman he's become, what's the real poop? Obviously it
> can't be verified or it would be written up and I'd know about it,
> that's fine, I'm just looking for gossip and rumours here. Satanism,
> nazism, perversion, murder, drugs, what was it? You can tell me,
> can't you?
>
> Matthew
________
Subject: Re: Boxing Day
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 08:23:00 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
In the US, Boxing day is celebrated by taking all the gifts you've received
back to the store to exchange them for something you actually want, or that
is the correct size. The store will only agree to the exchange if the goods
are in their original box, hence Boxing Day. Also associated with this
tradition are TV re-runs and the need for sales documentation; hence the
ubiquitous:
I'll need the receipt sir, said Sculley to Mulder,
etc.
_________
Subject: In comes I, a marching band in Vegas costumes
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 09:32:17 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
For those on the list unfamiliar with New World traditions, on New Years Day
there is a huge parade in Philadelphia of marching bands and clowns, sort of
a 76 trombones meets Mardi-Gras affair. The costuming is extravagant and
competitive (and completely reworked every year), the traditions of who may
participate well established. Follow the links from www.mummers.com to view
pictures of last years events.
This is 'mummers' to most Americans that have heard the word. While it might
be misrule, it lacks any hero-combat, or quackery element. It might be
viewed as a quete of considerable length.
It shares common ancestors with the trusty British 'Income's Eye' mumming,
at least etymologically. The explanation at
http://www.fieldtrip.com/pa/53363050.htm
hints at this.
Enjoy.
________
Subject: Re: sword black face
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1998 08:40:12 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
----------
>From: "Jennifer Brooks (Apple Tree Morris)" <brooksj@WELLSFARGO.COM>
>To: MORRIS@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
>Subject: Re: sword black face
>Date: Mon, Nov 30, 1998, 7:52 PM
>>
>I thought that minstrels in blackface were *white* people. I know that at
>least sometimes that was true, and I had the impression that it was always
>true. (My dictionary uses the phrase "usually white", but of course, this
>particular dictionary was not written by God, unlike some others that I've
>seen referenced.)
>
>(That was irony, son, irony.)
>
>Jennifer
Here's a rare but notable exception.
James Bland, a black American, born 1854 wrote "Oh Dem Golden Slippers" and
"Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" (now Virginia's state song). He abandoned
his law studies at Howard University to sing his songs with a minstrel
troupe.
It was required for black people to black up when performing as minstrels
!!!
In 1881 he left for Europe where it was OK to be a minstrel without the
burnt cork.
Nick Robertshaw
_________
Subject: Re: Session
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 16:31:11 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
>>Personally I find non-dancing musicians an anathema. It is very rare to
>>find a good one (if ever). I can always tell if the musician is a
>>dancer or not, especially when I'm dancing. It has a big impact on the
>>dance.
>>
>>Why don't these folks dance? What is frightening them?
>
Well, I believe that prejudice can be pretty scary, perhaps that could be
it.
Interesting that the Kirov, Royal Ballet, Bolshoi, Riverdance, Alvin Ailey,
and all other professional dance companies seem disinclined to demand that
their musicians also dance. Perhaps it's not anathema to them. Or maybe they
use those little wheezy inhalers to control the anathema.
Nick Robertshaw
Foreman, dancer, musician, anathema sufferer.
________
Subject: Re: An apology for using the term Celtic (NMC)
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 20:05:38 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
>
>> I just think that, as regards
>> contemporary music, the term Celtic is at best meaningless,
>> at worst marketing pap. SO there.
>
>So, let me just check. When someone asks "Will there be any Celtic music at
>Folk Festival XYZ," you truly, sincerely, don't understand what the question
>means? It's exactly equivalent, in terms of your degree of comprehension,
>to "Will there be any Kworkblurfl music at Folk Festival XYZ?"
>
Kewl!
You guys have Kworkblurfl music in Hastings now?
Nick Robertshaw
________
Subject: Re: Souling in Vancouver
From: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Robertshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 15:23:23 -0400
Content-Type: text/plain
>...reams of Normanic ecstasy deleted...
>
>Of course, nobody, not even the VMM, are doing this, so its all just a
>figment of my over-active imagination. All I am left with is the question -
>why is this seasonality so very difficult to understand?
>
>
>
Perhaps because we've air-conditioned away the heat of the Summer; Centrally
heated out the raw, damp, cold of Winter and electrically illuminated its
darkness; flown in antopodean market crops so that blander versions of the
seasonal delights of June strawberries, April asparagus, October persimmons
are offered year round. Plus, many of us are distanced from the
church-imposed round of Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Whitsun, Trinity,
or the agricultural cycles of ploughing, lambing, planting, haymaking,
shearing, harvesting, foxhunting.
We are periodic by nature (the Rhythm of Life is a Powerful Beat) but much
that used to mark our seasonality is gone.
<