Post by Dick Glasgow on Jun 13, 2009 9:16:14 GMT
If you were ever in any doubt that the Concertina really was played by Sailors, then put your mind at rest by reading this excellent & fascinating piece by Dan M. Worrall.
Concertinas at Sea: A History of a Nautical Icon
I found a number of Scottish references, including:
There may be other references I missed.
Cheers
Dick
Concertinas at Sea: A History of a Nautical Icon
I found a number of Scottish references, including:
Table 1. Index of ships where sailors or officers (and in a few cases, passengers) were
observed with concertinas, as well as the sections in this report where those
observations are discussed:
1868 Selene, schooner yacht, 275 tons, British, Glasgow to Mediterranean
1890 Traveler, three-masted barquentine, British, traveling from Scotland to Spitzbergen
The following is from a present-day Inuit website in Nunavut, the newly-named northern province of Canada:
"Although most whaling in Hudson Bay was by American ships, there were also Scottish whaling ships, and some with crews from Portugal and the Azores. Whale hunting
in Hudson Bay had a tremendous effect on Inuit. ….
They learned to play the fiddle, concertina, and accordion, learned Scottish round dancing that evolved and is enthusiastically embraced today as "square dancing". …. there are many opportunities to square dance, especially at community events during Christmas and Easter. …. Square dances may be done to pre-recorded music, but there are
also many skilled accordion or concertina players in the community and the region. And, there are many people who play the fiddle. This music has its roots in traditions
brought to the Arctic by the Scottish and American whalers who hunted the bowhead whales in Hudson Bay in the mid- 1800s. People obtained the musical instruments by trading
with the whalers and have passed the traditions down in their families."
observed with concertinas, as well as the sections in this report where those
observations are discussed:
1868 Selene, schooner yacht, 275 tons, British, Glasgow to Mediterranean
1890 Traveler, three-masted barquentine, British, traveling from Scotland to Spitzbergen
The following is from a present-day Inuit website in Nunavut, the newly-named northern province of Canada:
"Although most whaling in Hudson Bay was by American ships, there were also Scottish whaling ships, and some with crews from Portugal and the Azores. Whale hunting
in Hudson Bay had a tremendous effect on Inuit. ….
They learned to play the fiddle, concertina, and accordion, learned Scottish round dancing that evolved and is enthusiastically embraced today as "square dancing". …. there are many opportunities to square dance, especially at community events during Christmas and Easter. …. Square dances may be done to pre-recorded music, but there are
also many skilled accordion or concertina players in the community and the region. And, there are many people who play the fiddle. This music has its roots in traditions
brought to the Arctic by the Scottish and American whalers who hunted the bowhead whales in Hudson Bay in the mid- 1800s. People obtained the musical instruments by trading
with the whalers and have passed the traditions down in their families."
There may be other references I missed.
Cheers
Dick