Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Songs Pirates Sang


Over and over I come back to the music that pirates in the Golden Age would have heard and sung. So much music has come and gone since 1715 that it’s hard for us to get a handle on what music was like back then.

We tend to concentrate on sea shanties, but most of the shanties we know are products of the 18th century. I believe that the influx of sailors of African origin into European shipping changed sea-songs permanently. Shanties, I think, were influenced strongly by the African tradition of call-and response song structure. (I also believe that this African structure strongly influenced the creation of the military “jody” or call-and-response marching cadence. But that’s a discussion for another time.”)

Music was everywhere in the early 1700’s. People did not wait until they were “professional quality” before singing or playing and instrument in public. Anyone who Often could scrape a song out on a fiddle or toot a horn would do so. People sang while they worked. People danced when they were happy.

Often songs educated their listeners. In the absence of history classes, the ballads about Robin Hood provided a glimpse of English history. We know they inspired Sam Bellamy and his crews.

So here are a few 17th century songs. (I don’t note 18th century songs, since so many of them date from long after the Age of Pirates.)

My favorite of the old songs remains “The Fair Maid of Amsterdam” also called “A-Rovin’.” This is a Really Old Song. The earlies records of it come from 1608, and it was not a new song then. This means that it was a song sung not only by Blackbeard, but by Avery, and even by Sir Frances Drake, king of the Elizabethan Sea Dogs. And yet we can listen to it easily, with no more than the click of a button.

The Fair Maid of Amsterdam

Next, I’m going to share a slightly more recent song. Many English ballads were collected by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as the 2,500-page book called The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. The tunes of most of the ballads were collected and published by Bertrand Harris Bronson in and around the 1960s.

Scholarly work like this has enabled us to enjoy these old songs. I am sharing a popular Robin Hood ballad from about 1640. If you enjoy it, other songs from the Child Ballads are available on YouTube.

Robin Hood Meets Little John

And our last song is younger yet. “Over the Hills and Far Away” goes back far enough that we aren’t sure of its origins, but this version was produced for a play in 1706, right in the middle of our time period. I also like the sentiment, one of running away from cares and seeking adventure. (OK, maybe I don’t believe in dumping spouses and children. But  

Our 'prentice Tom may now refuse
To wipe his scoundrel master's shoes

Sounds like the road to piracy, and all in a good cause.

Over the Hills and Far Away

There you go. A bit of research will lead you to yet more songs and ballads... The search gets easier every day.


22 comments:

  1. JamBaze
    Latest New Mp3 Download, Albums, Mixtape, Videos

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. how i got my Ex lover back after a divorced by the help of DR NCUBE a marriage/relationship specialist. contact him if you need help WHATSAPP DR NCUBE ON +2348155227532
      his email is..... drncube03@gmail.com


      he also have #herbs for
      #hiv/aids
      #cancerdisease
      #fibroid
      #diabetes


      Delete
    2. Hi viewers online, I'm here to share my testimony about how I was helped to get my husband back. I was a cheat and my husband caught me several times. I tried fixing myself and each time I ended up cheating over and over again. I guess I didn't realize what he meant to me until he had left me alone. I began to find a way to get him back but nothing seemed to work out perfectly until I came across an article about Lord Zulu who helped a lot of people globally to get their relationships back. I made contact with him and he assured me that my husband will come back to me within 48 hours with his powerful magic. After I did all he asked me to do. Surprisingly, my husband came back home after 2 days saying that he still loves me and I swore never to cheat on him anymore. All thanks to Lord Zulu. You can have a chat with him on his WhatsApp number or you can contact him on +1(909) 781-4612.



      Hi viewers online, I'm here to share my testimony about how I was helped to get my husband back. I was a cheat and my husband caught me several times. I tried fixing myself and each time I ended up cheating over and over again. I guess I didn't realize what he meant to me until he had left me alone. I began to find a way to get him back but nothing seemed to work out perfectly until I came across an article about Lord Zulu who helped a lot of people globally to get their relationships back. I made contact with him and he assured me that my husband will come back to me within 48 hours with his powerful magic. After I did all he asked me to do. Surprisingly, my husband came back home after 2 days saying that he still loves me and I swore never to cheat on him anymore. All thanks to Lord Zulu. You can have a chat with him on his WhatsApp number or you can contact him on +1(909) 781-4612.



      Hi viewers online, I'm here to share my testimony about how I was helped to get my husband back. I was a cheat and my husband caught me several times. I tried fixing myself and each time I ended up cheating over and over again. I guess I didn't realize what he meant to me until he had left me alone. I began to find a way to get him back but nothing seemed to work out perfectly until I came across an article about Lord Zulu who helped a lot of people globally to get their relationships back. I made contact with him and he assured me that my husband will come back to me within 48 hours with his powerful magic. After I did all he asked me to do. Surprisingly, my husband came back home after 2 days saying that he still loves me and I swore never to cheat on him anymore. All thanks to Lord Zulu. You can have a chat with him on his WhatsApp number or you can contact him on +1(909) 781-4612.

      Delete
  2. Awesome POST!!! You have done a great job. I will definitely dig it and personally recommend to my friends. I am confident they will be benefited from this site. Buy real human skull

    ReplyDelete
  3. To make your life load up with brimming with charming we are constantly unique to offer you the hottest and polished Doha Escorts. You will discover everlasting hot excellent young ladies adopt care of your strategy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. WOW! This is super interesting. I listened to the first song several times and showed my whole family. What a strange and wonderful thing that we can still have this connection with those in our past. I wonder what Blackbeard would think of us listening to the same songs now. Fascinating!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for your post. I’ve been thinking about writing a very comparable post over the last couple of weeks, I’ll probably keep it short and sweet and link to this instead if that's cool. Thanks! European License Plate Holder for Kia Motors

    ReplyDelete
  6. Spot on with this write-up, I truly believe that this amazing site needs far more attention. I’ll probably be back again to read more, thanks for the advice!

    ReplyDelete
  7. บาคาร่าออนไลน์ คาสิโนฟรีเครดิต สล็อตออนไลน์ ISC888 แทงหวยออนไลน์ มีครบในเว็บเดียว isc888 สมัคร ISC888 วันนี้ แจกฟรีเครดิต 50% ของยอดฝากครั้งแรก มาพร้อมกับ ระบบฝาก ถอนไว นอกจากนั้นยังมีโปรโมชั่นในช่วงปลายเดือนทุกเดือน.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you so much for the post you do. I like your post and all you share with us is up to date and quite informative, i would like to bookmark the page so i can come here again to read you, as you have done a wonderful job. 메이저사이트

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thankyou for giving me useful information.
    Please keep posting. 경마사이트

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yes i am totally agreed with this article and i just want to say that this article is very nice and vey informative. More blogs please. 카지노사이트

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi viewers online, I'm here to share my testimony about how I was helped to get my husband back. I was a cheat and my husband caught me several times. I tried fixing myself and each time I ended up cheating over and over again. I guess I didn't realize what he meant to me until he had left me alone. I began to find a way to get him back but nothing seemed to work out perfectly until I came across an article about Lord Zulu who helped a lot of people globally to get their relationships back. I made contact with him and he assured me that my husband will come back to me within 48 hours with his powerful magic. After I did all he asked me to do. Surprisingly, my husband came back home after 2 days saying that he still loves me and I swore never to cheat on him anymore. All thanks to Lord Zulu. You can have a chat with him on his WhatsApp number or you can contact him on +1(909) 781-4612.



    Hi viewers online, I'm here to share my testimony about how I was helped to get my husband back. I was a cheat and my husband caught me several times. I tried fixing myself and each time I ended up cheating over and over again. I guess I didn't realize what he meant to me until he had left me alone. I began to find a way to get him back but nothing seemed to work out perfectly until I came across an article about Lord Zulu who helped a lot of people globally to get their relationships back. I made contact with him and he assured me that my husband will come back to me within 48 hours with his powerful magic. After I did all he asked me to do. Surprisingly, my husband came back home after 2 days saying that he still loves me and I swore never to cheat on him anymore. All thanks to Lord Zulu. You can have a chat with him on his WhatsApp number or you can contact him on +1(909) 781-4612.




    Hi viewers online, I'm here to share my testimony about how I was helped to get my husband back. I was a cheat and my husband caught me several times. I tried fixing myself and each time I ended up cheating over and over again. I guess I didn't realize what he meant to me until he had left me alone. I began to find a way to get him back but nothing seemed to work out perfectly until I came across an article about Lord Zulu who helped a lot of people globally to get their relationships back. I made contact with him and he assured me that my husband will come back to me within 48 hours with his powerful magic. After I did all he asked me to do. Surprisingly, my husband came back home after 2 days saying that he still loves me and I swore never to cheat on him anymore. All thanks to Lord Zulu. You can have a chat with him on his WhatsApp number or you can contact him on +1(909) 781-4612.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Awesome! Be benefit some information provided here

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love learning more on this topic. Extremely helpful!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love pirates story. Its all time my favorite one. Apricate your well written article. Thanks for sharing this article. Now it's time to avail shutters in london for more information.

    ReplyDelete
  15. WOW!!!!!.... HAPPY TO WIN MY EX-BOYFRIEND BACK.. USA.. THANKS ((R.BUCKLER11@GMAIL.COM)),,,,,,

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thank you for your insightful and well-written article about Songs Pirates Sang . Your dedication to creating valuable content is truly commendable. Your blog is a source of inspiration and knowledge, and I'm constantly eager to read more. Keep up the great work Hunterdon County driving without a license lawyer Hunterdon County reckless driving attorney

    ReplyDelete