| dc.contributor.author | Gregory, David | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2010-06-23T16:49:46Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2010-06-23T16:49:46Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2010-06-23T16:49:46Z | |
| dc.identifier.other | 37th International Ballad Conference in Kyle of Lochalsh, Scotland, August 29-September 8, 2007 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/2149/2567 | |
| dc.description | 1). The 37th International Ballad Conference duly took place at Balmacara, near Kyle of Localsh, Scotland on August 29th-September 3rd, 2007. There were approximately 60 delegates, from all over the world. My presentation was in the last session, so a few participants had already left, but the audience still numbered about 50. My paper, titled “Singing the Unspeakable: from Sheath and Knife to O’Bondage, Up Yours!”, was illustrated by several sung examples. It seemed to be well received. Subsequent discussion centred around two issues: the correct interpretation of traditional balladry thought to date from the Middle Ages, and the existence (or not) of a continuous tradition of songwriting with intentionally coded messages critical of conventional social mores. One commentator questioned my interpretation of the imagery in the incest ballad “Sheath and Knife” but others supported my argument that traditional and broadside balladry often cloaked oppositional sentiments under a surface guise of conventional morality. My thesis in the paper is somewhat controversial and I had expected that there might be considerable opposition to it, so I was heartened to find fairly general acceptance of my arguments. I have other commitments on my plate to fulfill first, but it occurs to me that it might well be possible to develop this paper into a book-length study of the tradition from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. In the meantime, I will consider turning the conference paper into an article, especially if, as seems possible, there may be an opportunity to submit it for inclusion in a book edited by the conference organizer to be published by University of Aberdeen Press.
2). A few days later, after traveling down to Sheffield (England) from north-west Scotland, I took part in a conference at the University of Sheffield titled “The Voice of the People: The European Folk Revival, 1760-1914”. This was similarly international in scope, with delegates from Australia, continental Europe and North America as well as the U.K. and Ireland, and similar in size, but it was organized differently, with parallel rather than all plenary sessions. However, the session in which I presented my paper, “Pioneers, Friends, Rivals: Social Networks and the English Folksong Revival, 1889-1904” was well attended, with an audience of about 40 participants. I included in my presentation one sung illustration of the material collected from oral tradition by Lucy Broadwood. Discussion after the paper focused mainly on Broadwood’s dealings with Cecil Sharp, on her friendship with Sabine Baring Gould, and on the apparent lack of any sustained contact between her and Mary Neale, despite their common friendship with the Yorkshire collector Frank Kidson. The latter was an interesting point that I had not considered, although marginal to my argument which concerned a somewhat earlier time period. It was useful to meet at this conference the leading English expert on Baring-Gould, Martin Graebe, and I also had the opportunity to converse with the English researcher/singer Irene Shettle, with whom I hope to co-author a book on Lucy Broadwood and English folksong collecting. I expect to use some of the content of this paper in the conclusion to my forthcoming book on the Late Victorian Folksong Revival in England (to be published by Scarecrow Press in the USA in 2008).
Both conferences were valuable and enjoyable experiences, with a wealth of interesting papers. They provided opportunities to talk with colleagues working in my field and in related areas who I would otherwise never meet in person. Copies of my two papers are attached. | en |
| dc.description.abstract | 1) In their desire to shock their listeners, the British punk bands of the mid-late 1970s delighted in performing lyrics that extolled mob violence and sexual deviance. The Sex Pistols, the Clash, X-Ray Spex and Wire (among others) may have taken the musical celebration of violent rebellion and the abnormal to new heights (or depths) but in so doing they were merely following in the footsteps of vernacular song-writers from Giles Earle (if indeed he, rather than the ubiquitous Anon, was the author of “Tom o’ Bedlam”) to Lou Reed and David Bowie. This paper discusses a handful of the ballads and songs on ‘difficult’ topics, such as incest, infanticide, serial criminality, venereal disease, and madness, and explores the songwriters’ attitudes, ostensive and implicit, to the ‘outlandish’ protagonists and their socially unacceptable deeds.
2) Three figures were at the heart of the Late Victorian folksong revival: Sabine Baring-Gould, Frank Kidson, and Lucy Broadwood. They were familiar with each other’s work in the field of folksong collecting and editing, and they also knew each other socially. However, they did not always see eye to eye on key issues that emerged during the 1890s, such as the relationship of folksong to broadside balladry. Correspondence in the Broadwood archives at the Surrey History Centre and the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library reflects their differing viewpoints and discussions, and reveals their changing perspectives on the nature of English folksong and on their own fieldwork. This paper analyses their friendships, their rivalries, and their judgments concerning each other’s work. It also suggests that their views on folksong did not remain static but evolved during the 1890s, in part as a result of their social interaction and intellectual debates. | en |
| dc.description.sponsorship | Academic & Professional Development Fund (A&PDF) | en |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | 92.927.G984; | |
| dc.title | 1) Singing the Unspeakable: from ‘Sheath and Knife’ to ‘O Bondage, Up Yours! and 2) Pioneers, Friends, Rivals: Social Networks and the English Folksong Revival, 1889-1904 | en |
| dc.type | Presentation | en |
