H. J. Popowski

What Ive been up to since March

Posted: 07/12/2009

Full text of the notes for the Camp Chase Fifes & Drums CD # 4. We recorded it on March 21 and released it on June 30. 1. The Assembly – 2/4 Elias Howe, Instructor for the Fife, 1851. Played by the duty field musicians to assemble the battalion companies on the color line at the command of the Regimental Adjutant. Most often used to mean the battalion was to assemble for some purpose other than to take arms—which was a separate signal. 2. Ain't I Glad / Richmond is a Hard Road Medley Ain't I Glad to Get Out of the Wilderness – 2/4 American Veteran Fifer, 1905. Attributed to Daniel Decatur Emmett. AKA: Down in Alabam' with music and words Attributed to J. Warner and published in February 1858. The front cover carried the subtitle Ain't I Glad I Got Out of the Wilderness and also mentioned Bryant's Minstrels. No biographic information has been found for J. Warner. In 1860, John Church Jr. of Cincinnati, published a variant of the subtitle as Get Out of the Wilderness. The tune is from the earlier The Old Gray Mare. Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel – 2/4 AKA: Jordan am a Hard Road to Travel, composed by Daniel Decatur Emmett, in 1853. Capturing the Confederate capital city of Richmond was the main goal of the Union Army from the very beginning of the War. Lincoln entrusted any number of commanders with the task, and although each set out with high hopes, none succeeded. In addition to being a wickedly funny roasting of the Union generals who tried and failed to take Richmond, this song sung to Daniel Emmettt's minstrel tune Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel also provides a thumbnail history of the major battles from First Manassas in July of 1861 to Fredericksburg in December of 1862. 3. Auld Lang Syne / The Girl I Left Behind Me Medley Auld Lang Syne – 4/4 Elias Howe, Instructor for the Fife, 1851. Auld Lang Syne is a poem written by Scotland's National Poet Robert 'Bobby' Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song (Roud # 6294). It is well known in many English-speaking countries and is often sung to celebrate the start of the new year at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day. The song's Scottish title may be translated into English literally as "old long since", or more idiomatically, "long long ago" or, more properly "days gone by" and was used in Scottish poetry as far back as the mid 17th Century as the equivalent of "Once upon a time." In Scots syne is pronounced like the English word sign and the trigonometric sine function. There is some doubt as to whether the melody used today is the same one Burns originally intended, but it is widely used both in Scotland and in the rest of the world. The Girl I left Behind Me – 2/4 American Veteran Fifer, 1905. AKA: The Girl I Left Behind; The Girl I Left Behind Me; Brighton Camp; The Rambling Labourer; and, The Spailpin Fanach. A long-standing popular folk tune. According to Theodore Ralph, the tune was known in America as early as 1650, under the name Brighton Camp, but there is little evidence to support this assumption. In Ireland it was known as The Rambling Labourer and The Spailpin Fanach and was first published in Dublin in 1791. The earliest known version of the melody was printed in Hime's Pocket Book for the German Flute or Violin, 1810 under the title The Girl I left Behind Me. It has many variations and verses. The song was popular in the US regular army, which adopted it during the War of 1812 after hearing a British prisoner singing it. 4. British Grenadiers Number 2 – 2/4 American Veteran Fifer, 1905 – Attributed to A.F. Hopkins, of Yellow Springs, Ohio, Company A, 134th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, National Fife Major Written by Cyrenus E. Larabee of Allegheny County NY, member of the 85th NY Volunteer Infantry, as well as several other tunes mentioned and transcribed by A.F. Hopkins for the 1905 American Veteran Fifer. 5. Captain Mackintosh – 2/4 Button and Whitaker, Favorite Marches for Two Flutes or Fifes, 1808. Benjamin Button bought out the Thompson family's London-based music publication business in 1805 as Button & Purday. John Whitaker, an organist and tune composer, was added to the firm in 1808, publishing as Button & Whitaker until 1816 when Mr. Beadnell was added to the partnership. The attribution to Button & Whitaker does not mean, however, that Captain Mac was published after 1808 as the tune could easily have been reprinted from the large Thompson Family plate holdings going back to 1751. 6. Charming Molly / Drowsy Maggie Medley Charming Molly – 2/4 Bruce & Emmett, The Drummer’s and Fifer’s Guide, 1862. via The Cooper Family Songbook. The Charming Molly honored in this tune was a small schooner carrying Henry Evans Esq back and forth to Halifax in 1760 to procure grants of townships from King George II for the Colony of Massachusetts. The tune was written in commemoration of Evan's successful completion of his mission. The Charming Molly had been in service for many years, carrying (according to Professor Daniel Rupp of Philadelphia, 1876) more than 30,000 immigrants to the new world between 1729 and 1776. Thereafter she was mentioned as a privateer under a captain named Bradford. She was evidently captured by the British sometime in the intervening four years for the next mention of her is her recapture by the U.S.S. Saratoga, commanded by Lieutenant Joshua Barney in 1780. Drowsy Maggie – 2/4 AKA: Sleepy Maggie; Sleeping Moggie; Pegg in the Settle; Irish Molly; and, Scotch Mary. A very common reel, the basic form of which is known to most Irish traditional musicians. Earliest annotated version comes from Ellis Knowles, a musician from Radcliffe, Lancashire, England, citing an 1847 music manuscript. 7. Cincinnati Quick Step / Iron Bridge Quick Step Medley Cincinnati Quick Step – 2/4 Bruce & Emmett, The Drummer’s and Fifer’s Guide, 1862. Another of the many tunes attributed to Daniel Decatur Emmett via his attachment to Ohio lore and legends. In 1850, Cincinnati was the largest city on the Ohio River with a population of 115,000+, with the second largest population of German-speaking residents (75,000+) and the largest pork processing industry in the country. It was often called 'Porkopolis' for that reason. One of its larger neighborhoods remains known as 'Over-the-Rhine.' Iron Bridge Quick Step – 2/4 Bruce & Emmett, The Drummer’s and Fifer’s Guide, 1862. Another of the many tunes that can be tied loosely to Cincinnati, Ohio. Spanning the Ohio River between Covington, Kentucky and Cincinnati is the Roebling Suspension Bridge. Opened to pedestrians in December, 1866, the bridge is a scale model for the bridge the Roeblings built four years later over the East River in Nooo Yawk—known as Da Brooklyn Brij since 1884. It makes a fanciful assumption that Emmett might have named this Quick Step after the iron foundation of Roeblings bridge. 8. The Croquette / Grandfather's Clock Medley The Croquette – 2/4 American Veteran Fifer, 1905. Attributed to George Harris, Fifer, 121st Ohio Volunteer Infantry. One might wonder why a fife tune is named after a seafood dish of deviled crab…Then again, mayhaps one would not wonder why a fife tune is named after a seafood dish of deviled crab. In any case, it goes well with Grandpas old clock… tick-tock-tick-tock… you know how those Marysville people are. Grandfathers' Clock – 2/4 American Veteran Fifer, 1905 My Grandfather's Clock is a song written in 1876 by Henry Clay Work, the author of Marching Through Georgia. Most accounts give the origin of the song as a wayfarers' inn in Piercebridge on the border of Yorkshire and County Durham called the George Hotel. The hotel was owned and operated by two brothers called Jenkins, and in the lobby was an upright longcase clock. The clock kept perfect time until one of the brothers died, after which it lost time at an increasing rate, despite the best efforts of the hotel staff and local clockmakers to repair it. When the other brother died, the clock stopped, never to go again. It is said that in 1875 Henry Clay Work visited the hotel and based My Grandfather's Clock on the stories he heard there. It is said that the song is responsible for the common name 'grandfather clock' for what are properly called 'longcase clocks'. We play this version because it ties to Henry Clay Work and was also obviously popular enough amongst the veterans to be included in AVF. 9. King William / Prince Eugene Medley King William' March – 2/4 Bruce & Emmett, The Drummer’s and Fifer’s Guide, 1862. Composed by Jeremiah Clarke in 1689, to honor the new English king, Prince William of Orange ( William III ) whose wife was Mary II, daughter of King James II and Anne Hyde. The original tune, which is quite simple, was modified and 'improved' over a period of 150 years until Dan Emmett added as many 16th notes as would fit in the score. The result is this version from the 1862 publication. Prince Eugene's March – 2/4 Bruce & Emmett, The Drummer’s and Fifer’s Guide, 1862. There are several versions of this march reflecting changes over a period of 150 years. The tune is often noted as a traditional Austrian military march composed by Andreas Leonhardt to commemorate Prince Eugene of Savoy's victory over the Turks at Belgrad in 1717. Prince Eugene (François-Eugène, Prince of Savoy-Carignan [18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736]), was one of the most prominent and successful military commanders in European history. Born in Paris to aristocratic Italian parents, Eugene grew up around the French court of King Louis XIV. He was initially prepared for a career in the church, but by the age of 19, he had determined on a military career. Rejected by King Louis for service in the French army, Eugene moved to Austria and transferred his loyalty to the Habsburg Monarchy. 10. Darling Nellie Grey / Nellie Bly / Mrs. McGrath Medley My Darling Nellie Gray – 2/4 AKA: Darlin’ Nelly Gray; Old Nelly Grey; Oh My Darlin’ Nelly Gray; The Eumerella Shore; and, Charming Nellie Ray. Composed by Benjamin Hanby while attending Otterbein College in Westerville Ohio in 1856, in response to the plight of a runaway slave named Joseph Selby or Shelby. Benjamin Hanby's father, Bishop William Hanby, a United Brethren minister, active in the Underground Railroad, was attempting to raise money to free Selby’s beloved. In the song, a male slave in Kentucky mourns his beloved, who has been sold south to Georgia. Nellie Bly – 2/4 Stephen Foster, 1850 Sweet, Fifer’s Delight, 1965. American Sand Jig. Foster’s song entered minstrel tradition. Scott records that it was "one of the 'Negro' songs sung by the English troupes that followed in the wake of the Ethiopian Serenaders." Mrs. McGrath – 2/4 AKA: Mrs. McGraw; The Sergeant and Mrs. McGrath An Irish folk song telling the story of a woman whose son enters the British Army to return seven years later having lost his legs to a cannonball fighting against Napoleon. OR: Mrs. McGrath" can also be a song by the The Dubliners, based on the tune of the original folk song which tells the story of a country boy who goes to Dublin to college but fails due to spending all his money and time on women and drink. 11. George Brown's Bonvivant / McLeod's Reel Medley George Brown's Bonvivant, AKA Pigtown Fling – 2/4 American Veteran Fifer, 1905. Arranged by A.F. Hopkins, National fife major. There is some controversy as to the origin of the name Pigtown. Two cities, Baltimore and Cincinnati, both claim the name. McLeod's Reel – 2/4 American Veteran Fifer, 1905. Attributed to J.N. Bojart, Company I, 31st New Jersey Volunteer Infantry. This tune is often found listed as a Newfoundland drinking song Miss McLeod's Reel going back to the turn of the 19th Century. It was also used by American composer Aaron Copeland in his 1942 ballet Rodeo during the movement titled "Hoe-Down". 12. Go to the Devil & Shake Yourself / Far-Down Go the Devil and Shake Yourself – 6/8 Bruce & Emmett, The Drummer’s and Fifer’s Guide, 1862. The most often found link to this traditional Scots-Irish piece is to the speculation that Scottish composer James Barr (1779 - 1860) may have composed the tune which supposedly later inspired the tune now used for the unofficial Australian anthem Waltzing Matilda. Barr set several poems by his friend Robert Tannahill to music. Tannahill wrote the words to Matilda in 1805 and in 1818 Barr set them to music, possibly based on the melody of Go to the Devil and Shake Yourself. Barr emigrated for Canada in 1832, where he worked as a farmer until 1855. He died in Kilbarchan in Renfrewshire, Scotland in 1860. Far Down – 6/8 American Veteran Fifer, 1905. Attributed to W.R. Miller, Company K, 15th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Traditional Scots-Irish tune. 13. Hail to the Chief – 4/4 A National Air. Originally used in the US Army to play a commanding general onto parade. It was first played as a Presidential march for John Quincy Adams in 1828 at the opening of the C&O Canal. Words were written by James Sanderson ca. 1821 for a tune out of Sir Walter Scott's play Lady of the Lake debuting in 1810. It was not until 1954 that the Department of Defense authorized the tune as standard for Presidential Occasions. Today the tune is always preceded by "ruffles and flourishes". 14. Hail Columbia – 4/4 A National Air. From the time of the founding of the United States until 1935, when the bawdlerized version of To Anachreon in Heaven was proclaimed the National Anthem using F.S. Key's poem as lyrics, Hail Columbia was the National Anthem. It took over from its predecessor Chester, by William Billings, following the adoption of the Constitution and the ensuing election of George Washington as President. It was composed by Philip Phile for Washington's Inauguration in1789 and was at first known only as The President's March. It first performed with Joseph Hopkinson's lyrics in 1798. Sound, sound the trump of fame, Let Washington's great fame Ring through the world with loud applause, Ring through the world with loud applause, Let ev'ry clime to freedom dear, Listen with a joyful ear, With equal skill, with God-like pow'r He governs in the fearful hour Of horrid war, or guides with ease The happier time of honest peace. Firm, united let us be, Rallying round our liberty, As a band of brothers joined, Peace and safety we shall find. This anthem was performed for nearly every formal occasion over which Lincoln presided, generally following immediately after "Hail to the Chief." After singer de Hegermann- Lindencrone sang for Lincoln he said, "I think I might become a musician if I heard you often, but so far I know only two tunes. He explained, these were "Hail, Columbia," because he had to stand up and take off his hat when it was sung - the other was the one where he didn't have to stand up. 15. Irish Washerwoman Jig – 6/8 American Veteran Fifer, 1905 Attributed to Joseph R. Weathers, Company F, 144th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. The Irish Washerwoman is a traditional and possibly the best-known Irish jig. It repeats its refrain several times, sometimes by gradually increasing in tempo until being played very fast before coming to a sudden stop. The song has several sets of lyrics, but is typically rendered as an instrumental. 16. Lamplighter's Hornpipe / Soldier's Joy Medley Lamplighter's Hornpipe –2/4 American Veteran Fifer, 1905. Attributed to Samuel McIlhaney, 177th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. AKA The Merry Soldier. The first strain is similar to the first strain of Key West Hornpipe. According to at least one folk music authority [Bronner, 1987], its features suggest an 18th century British Isles derivation. Elias Howe put a version of the tune in both his 1858 Ball Room Hand Book and his later 1000 Jigs and Reels (c. 1867). Tony Parkes and Steve Woodruff (1980) also found the tune in Elisha Belknap's (Framingham, Mass.) 1784 manuscript, though it may have been added around the year 1800, and remark that both dance and tune were very popular in the mid 19th century. Yet another version can be found in O'Neill's Music of Ireland, 1850 Melodies. 1903. Soldier's Joy –2/4 AKA: French Four; I Am My Mamma's Darlin' Child; John White; The King's Head; The King's Hornpipe; I Love Somebody; Payday in the Army;and, Rock the Cradle, Lucy. One of, if not the most popular fife and fiddle tunes in history, widely disseminated in North America and Europe in nearly every tradition; it has enjoyed a "vigorous" life. Musicologically speaking, there is considerable speculation on just what the name ‘soldier’s joy’ refers to. Bayard (1981) dates it to "at least" the latter part of the 18th century, citing a version that has become standard in James Aird's 1778 collection (vol. 1, No. 109) and Skillern's 1780 collection (pg. 21). London publishers Longman & Broderip included it in their Entire New and Compleat Instructions for the Fife in 1785. Kate Van Winkler Keller (1992) says that the tune appeared as a hornpipe in London in about 1760; while other authorities maintain the first appearance in print of this tune is in Joshua Campbell's 1778 A Collection of the Newest and Best Reels and Minuets with improvements. It is a well known folk dance tune in other countries of Europe with variants found in Scandinavia, the French Alps, and Newfoundland. In America early printings of the melody are in Benjamin and Joseph Carr’s Evening Amusement, 1796; Joshua Cushing’s Fifer’s Companion, 1804; and Daniel Steele’s New and Compleat Preceptor for the Flute, 1815. 17. Farewell to Whiskey / Moonlight Quick Step Medley Farewell to Whiskey – 2/4 AKA: Niel Gow's Farewell to Whiskey; Go rabh slan leis an ól; Goodbye Whiskey; The Ladies Triumph; Murphy's Favor; and, The Rose in the Garden. The original was composed by renowned Scottish fiddler-composer Niel Gow (1727-1807) who identified it as a lament on the occasion of the British government’s prohibition of using barley to make whiskey in 1799, due to the crop failure in Scotland in that year. It appears in his First Collection, 2nd edition (1801), and reappears in his Fifth Collection (1809) with the note "It is representative of a Highlander's sorrow on being deprived of his favorite beverage." Moonlight Quick Step – 2/4 From Colonel H.C. Hart's New and Improved Instructor for the Drum with Original Notation. 1862. Composed by Julius E. Muller and published by Henry McCaffery, Baltimore. 18. Nancy Hanks / Quick Scotch Medley Nancy Hanks – 2/4 Bruce & Emmett, The Drummer’s and Fifer’s Guide, 1862. American, Polka. Named for the mother of Abraham Lincoln. Nancy Hanks Lincoln (1784 – 1818) was the wife of Thomas Lincoln and the mother of Sarah (1807 – 1828), Abraham (1809 – 1865) and Thomas Lincoln (died in infancy). Nancy Hanks Lincoln died of the milk sickness, October 5, 1818 in Spencer County, Indiana. Quick Scotch – 2/4 Bruce & Emmett, The Drummer’s and Fifer’s Guide, 1862. One of several possible Quick March tunes, of varying national styles to be played in the Reveille sequence of the camp duty. Interesting enough to stand on its own. 19. Ohio March / Original Arkansas Traveler Medley Ohio March – 2/4 J.L.Rumrille & H. Holton, The Drummer's Instructor; Or, Martial Musician. 1817. An earlier quick march of the War of 1812 period. Like the U.S. March from our Volume II, it has a distinctive minor modal tonality in the fife line popular in the martial music of the early 19th Century. Original Arkansas Traveler – 2/4 American Veteran Fifer, 1905. Transcribed by A.F. Hopkins, of Yellow Springs, Ohio, National Fife Major Composed by Colonel Sanford C. Faulkner Colonel Sanford C. 'Sandy' Faulkner (1806-1874) was an American teller of tall tales, fiddle player, and composer of the popular fife and fiddle tune The Arkansas Traveler, which was the State song of Arkansas from 1949-1963. Colonel Faulkner served in the Confederate Army, and was at one point placed in command of the Arsenal at Little Rock, Arkansas, the present site of the B.J. Clinton Presidential Library and Massage Parlor. Faulkner County, Arkansas is named in honor of Sanford Faulkner. 20. The Raw Recruit/ O'Lassie Art Thow Sleeping Yet Medley The Raw Recruit – 6/8 American Veteran Fifer, 1905. Attributed to M. L. Maynard, of Chardon, Ohio, Company E, 103rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. AKA: Sergeant O'Leary; Chapel Hill Serenade; Coleman Killed His Wife; Green Willis; The New Rigged Ship; and, Old Hickory. An extraordinarily well known tune, both as a fife and fiddle piece. Oh Lassie Art Thou Sleeping Yet – 6/8 American Veteran Fifer, 1905. Attributed to J. Benjamin of Royal Oak, Michigan. AKA: The Stone Barn; The Scotch Lassie; The Lea Rig; My Ain Kind Deary O; and, The Muckin' o' Geordie's Byre. The tune dates from the 18th century (around 1760 or earlier), and has been a favorite of fifers and fiddlers becoming a standard tune for martial bands of music in the Eastern United States. The title is Robert Burns', whose lyric was given final form in 1795, though Burns took the tune from a traditional air. 21. Rosebud Reel / Stillman's Reel Medley Rosebud Reel – 2/4 From Colonel H.C. Hart's New and Improved Instructor for the Drum with Original Notation. 1862. AKA – Mountain Ranger Hornpipe. Seattle fiddler Vivian Williams discovered the tune in George Saunders’ Complete Violin Tutor, 1847, set in the key of ‘C’ major. In the publication, ‘Professor’ Saunders attributes himself as composer of the tune. The version we use is found in Hart's 1862 publication. Stillman's Reel – 2/4 From Colonel H.C. Hart's New and Improved Instructor for the Drum with Original Notation. 1862. The most commonly found reference to this tune is from The Company of Fifers and Drummers Book I, 1976. The Milford Fife and Drum Corps hand copied version is dated 1970 and another for the Germantown Ancients from the 1960s attributes the tune to Major Stillman. A search for Major Stillman turned up this information: Major I. Stillman was active in Illinois during the Blackhawk War of 1832, (in the same campaign where Lieutenant A. Lincoln served) being largely responsible for one of the main actions of that short campaign known as "Stillman's Defeat", or "The Battle of Sycamore Creek", or "Stillman's Run", wherein Stillman with 300 mounted men were stampeded by a party of about fifty Sac Indians led by Blackhawk. For the time period it was enough fame to write a tune about—without mentioning the defeat. The attribution to Stillman also begs the listing of him as being killed in that battle; though I suppose the writing of his official report would be no more difficult for a dead man than writing a fife reel…least ways not in Illinois where mass-resurrection has occurred every election day since statehood. 22. Rosline Castle – 2/4 From Joshua Cushing, The Fifer's Companion, 1805. AKA : House of Glamis/Glams. The title is variously given as Rosland, Rosline, Roseland, Roslin and Rosslyn Castle. A British march used by the British army during the Revolutionary War, most often associated with funerals, and legend has it that it was played by Scottish bagpipers stationed in New York at the time, in honor of the castle at Roslyn, Midlothian, Scotland. It was played by British troops in 1781 as they marched out the small Long Island, New York, village of Hempstead Harbor. In 1844 their descendents changed the name of their village to Roslyn. Continental forces also employed the tune as a memorial air. For example, during the 1779 campaign against the Iroquois Six Nations two men had been dispatched by tomahawks and left to lay. After they were found a Colonel Proctor ordered his musicians, in passing the spot, to play “Roslin Castle,” whose “soft and moving tones” silenced the regiment and awakened pity for their comrades (Rev. William Roger’s Journal, pg. 35). Rosyln Castle does in fact exist in Angus, Scotland, and has since the early 14th century (c. 1304), when it was built by Sir William St. Clair soon after the Battle of Rosslyn, when, as part of the Scottish War of Independence, the English army of Edward I (Edward Long Shanks) was decimated by the Scots. It is a castle high above the north bank of the River Esk, south west of Edinburgh, and features a small chapel founded in 1446 by the Earl of Orkney and Roslin. The chapel was destroyed by Cromwell's troops in 1650. Recently, the castle was featured in Dan Brown’s book and film The Da Vinci Code. In this version the first playing is done by Jack and Buddy Taylor and Don Heminitz using 10-hole fifes for clearer and mellower intonation and harmonies. The repeat is then taken up by the entire fife line using six-holers. Alex Kuhn and Pat Jones supply the muffled drum beatings on the first pass. 23. Guilderoy / Union Quick Step Medley (both 2/4 Guilderoy – 2/4 American Veteran Fifer, 1905. AKA: Black Rock; The Duck Chewed Tobacco; Gilder Roy; Gilda Roy; Gilroy; Gilderoy's Reel; Injun et a Woodchuck; Mairi ban Og; Nellie on the Shore; The Old Soldier; Red Haired Boy; and, Wooden Leg. The title Gilderoy is an English version of the Gaelic Gilleruadh, or Giolla Ruadh, meaning red haired lad or youth. Historically, Gilleruadh was the nickname of a famous Scottish highwayman named Patrick McGregor who was captured and executed in 1636; the song describes his exploits and moralizes on his fate. John Purser says the tune was known by around 1660 as it was referred to in a broadside of that period. Union Quick Step – 2/4 American Veteran Fifer, 1905. Attributed to C.E. Larrabee of Binghampton, N.J. The cover sheet from 1850 ascribes the tune as composed by Martin Andreas Sarles and dedicated to his friend L.C. Grimes, Esq. Published by William Endicott, New York. Martin Andreas Sarles is listed in Music for the Nation as the composer of The Dance of the Fairies, 1852, published in Springfield (Illinois?) and there are later records of his living in San Francisco in the late 1860s in the Bancroft Library Papers collection UC Berkeley 24. Ricketts Hornpipe (2/4) Elias Howe, Instructor for the Fife, 1851. AKA: The Manchester Hornpipe; The New College Hornpipe; One Eyed Fiddler; Raker's Hornpipe; Texarkana Hornpipe; Tomorrow Morning; Pigeon at the Gate; and, Yarmouth Hornpipe. The particular Ricketts honored in the title was a circus promoter, one John Bill Ricketts, a Scots immigrant who came from England in 1792 and flourished in America through the 1790's when his Philadelphia enterprise was destroyed in a fire on Dec. 17, 1799. He reportedly delighted his audiences by dancing hornpipes on the backs of galloping horses, and toward the end of his career hired another famous American hornpipe dancer, John Durang, to produce pantomimes for him. The earliest appearance of the melody, was in Alexander McGlashan's Collection of Scots Measures, 1781. By the 1850's it was a common selection for tune collections. It retained its popularity into the 20th century, though in England, the tune is most often found under the title Pigeon at the Gate. 25. Steamboat Quick Step / Libby Prison Quick Step Medley Steamboat Quick Step – 6/8 Elias Howe, Instructor for the Fife, 1851. AKA: The Steamboat; Steamboat March; Uncle Jim; and, Washington Quickstep. This melody was a great favorite in the 1800's and gave its name to a contra dance and waltz as well as to the march in double time. The earliest printed version of the tune I have come across is from Elias Howe's (1820-1895) Complete Preceptor for the Accordeon, 1843. Canadian versions appear under the title “Uncle Jim.” Libby Prison Quick Step – 6/8 American Veteran Fifer, 1905. Notated as having been learned from a companion in Libby Prison, 1865. The tune shares at least a first strain with O Dear Mother My Toes Are Sore; Jinny O Jinny My Toes Are Sore; Monongahela March; Rustic Reel; Virginia Reel; First Western Change; and City Guards. Libby prison was a notorious Civil War military prison, a former tobacco warehouse, in downtown Richmond, Virginia, where captured Federal soldiers were held, but it was not quite as infamous as the Confederates' concentration camp at Andersonville, Georgia, (aka Dachau South). 26. Troop for Guard Mounting – 3/8 Elias Howe, Instructor for the Fife, 1851. The troops detailed as camp guards (divided into shifts of 4 hours on guard and 8 hours in reserve) were changed every morning the army was in camp. The ceremony consisted of the assembly and inspection of the new guard being made by the Adjutant and the Officer of the Day on the parade. The Officer of the Guard then marched the Reserve of the guards to the parade where they were "Trooped" and replaced by the new guards. The Officer of the Guard then marched the new guard to the reserve line and from there marched a detail out to the guard line to replace the guards presently "on post". The guard officer then marched the relieved guard back to the reserve line to await their next tour of duty. The camp was thus never left unguarded. As a reminder, Troops are either in 3/8 or 3/4 time; i.e., the left foot strikes the ground in alternating bars. If you think you've got marching down to a science—try it. You'll like it. If'n you don't make a foooool of yourself. And yes, we've have made a foooool of ourself. 27. We are Coming Father Abraham – 2/4 Words by James Sloan Gibbons, music by L.O. Emerson According to C.A. Browne in his epic The Story of Our National Ballads, published in 1919 (and revised by Willard A. Heaps) in 1960 he writes: "The 1862 call for 300,000 volunteers came at a time of Union discouragement, when the army seemed unable to take decisive action in advancing toward the main goal, the capture of Richmond, the Confederate capital. A Northern Abolitionist Quaker, James Sloan Gibbons, at that time wrote one of the most stirring [of the Civil War songs] calling it "We Are Coming, Father Abraham". The song was widely popular in the North during the war, but lack of copyright protection meant there would be several variations in the lyrics and the tune, including the one we use hear. As an aside, supposedly this version was pirated (or at the least rewritten by Stephen Foster)…or not, depending on which source you choose to believe. 28. Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground / Just Before the Battle Mother Medley – 2/4 Transcribed from original wax cylinder recordings of the New York National Guard Bureau Band made in 1913. On our first volume we played The Campbell's Are Coming which was played by the 6th Wisconsin's Field Music as the regiment marched into battle at Gettysburg in 1863. In the intervening years between the battle and its 50th Anniversary, two of the politically strongest veterans' organizations in American history were formed and remained active. They were the Grand Army of the Republic and the United Confederate Veterans; the GAR and the UCV. In the 50 years following the Civil War it has been said that a person could not hope to be elected to public office in this country without a membership in one or the other. In 1913 several thousand veterans of the battle returned to Gettysburg where they were photographed making "the handshake across the stone wall" Imagine, if you will, the parade of vehicles streaming toward The High Water Mark" lead by the New York National Guard Bureau Band playing these renditions of two of the all-time favorite GAR and UCV veteran's campfire songs. Our own Phil Gasbarro transcribed the versions played here from a 1913 wax cylinder recording of the NYNGB Band and Cullen Triner assembled the beatings in the style of the early 20th Century bands. 29. Hell on the Wabash/ Sounds Like Hell… Medley – 2/4 Hell on the Wabash – 2/4 From Bruce & Emmett, The Drummer’s and Fifer’s Guide, 1862. AKA: Hell on the Potomac; Wake Up Susan; Hell on the Rappahannock; The Night We Paid the Rent; Picnic Romp; Jack of Diamonds; The Cottage By The Sea; The Red Headed Girl; The Bridge Of Lodi; The Huntsman's Hornpipe; Nelson's Hornpipe; Murray's Hornpipe; and, Lady On The Green. One of the three or four tunes universally known in the American Fife and Drum Tradition. The melody is usually known as Wake Up Susan or Hell on the Wabash and it is sometimes found with other parts. It is often annotated as a jig but to a type of old-time syncopated banjo tune known as a “straight” or “sand” jig. The minstrel origins for this syncopated tune are quite evident and the genre was popular on the early variety stage in the 1870’s and 1880’s. Sounds Like Hell… – 2/4 Transcribed from original wax cylinder recordings of the New York National Guard Bureau Band made in 1913. There was no title on the original cylinder but most of it sure sounded like Hell on the Wabash; ergo, we calls it Sounds like Hell… 30. Sailor's Hornpipe – 2/4 American Veteran Fifer, 1905 AKA: College Hornpipe; Duke William's Hornpipe; Jack's The Lad; and, Lancashire Hornpipe. Originally titled College Hornpipe this melody became known as the Sailor's Hornpipe through its association with the performance of the hornpipe dance, typically performed on the stage in nautical costume. At the turn of the 18th century a sailor was a favorite character of the musical stage and the nautical theme became so associated with the dance that many hornpipes were generically labeled a 'sailor's hornpipe'. The dance itself features a distinctive 'side-cutting' step. The style retained its popularity throughout the century. As the College Hornpipe the tune was in print in 1797 or 1798 by J. Dale of London, and although the melody predates Dale's publication, the English antiquarian Chappell's editor dates it no earlier than the second half of the 18th century. Emerson suggests the comic ballet The Wapping Landlady, 1767 was the source of the Sailor Hornpipe that was famously danced by the American dancer Durang for some twenty years at the end of the 18th century. The ballet featured the trials of Jack Tar ashore, and was choreographed by Arnold Fisher (of “Fisher’s Hornpipe” fame). Sailor's Hornpipe was imported to North America where it entered traditional repertoire and became widely known, still with its nautical connotations. The earliest known printing in the United States was in a publication by B. Carr, Evening Entertainments, 1796 (under the College Hornpipe title). 31. Flowing Bowl / Granny Will Your Dog Bight? Flowing Bowl – 2/4 AKA: Landlord Fill the Flowing Bowl; For Tonight We'll Merry Be; and, Three Jolly Coachmen. Scottish, Country Dance Tune. Granny Will Your Dog Bite? — 2/4 The first version of Granny Will Your Dog Bite comes down through the military fife and drum players common to both Civil War armies. Bill Bynum, relates that, “according to a 26th North Carolina Regiment veteran’s memoirs, one recruit played Granny Will Your Dog Bite on the fife as he marched to be sworn in.” In another instance, according to Bynum, a member of the 3rd Arkansas is said to have played this tune on the fiddle while preparing to charge at the Battle of Sharpsburg in September, 1862. We learned the second version of Granny Will Your Dog Bite from Bruce Greene. When we went to record this in the studio, we all “fell in the groove,” as they say, and didn’t want to stop playing it. Bruce says it he learned it from Everett Kays of Hickory Grove, KY, who got it from his uncle Clyde Kays. This is one of those traditional tunes that actually includes words. These words appear to have their roots in the play-party tradition of the southern mountains. Granny will your dog bite cow kick cat scratch Granny will your hen peck sow root the corn patch Granny will your duck quack old grey goose hatch Granny will your dog bite no child no 32. Sweet Home (Fife Section Solo) – 2/4 "Home! Sweet Home!" (also known as "Home, Sweet Home") is a song that has remained well-known for over 150 years. Adapted from American actor and dramatist John Howard Payne's 1823 opera Clari, Maid of Milan, the song's melody was composed by Englishman, Sir Henry Bishop with lyrics by John Howard Payne.The opening lines have become famous. Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home; Other Material: Drummers’ Chase Lead Drummer Cullen Triner, et al. This feature was written by Cullen Triner to illustrate some of the rudimental beatings used by the field musicians of the Civil War but is by no means considered to be “Authentic”. Members of the line have performed this piece regularly at our public performances and additionally at such special events as the (former) APRDC annual conventions. Fife Duet Fifers Jerrison "Buddy" & Jackson "Jack" Taylor Devienne, Allegretto, from "Nineteen Duos" François Devienne (January 31, 1759 – September 5, 1803) was a French composer and professor for flute at the Paris Conservatory. Born in Joinville, Haute-Marne province, France, the youngest of fourteen children of a saddlemaker. Devienne received his first musical training as a choirboy in his hometown. He was playing in various Parisian ensembles as soloist and orchestra player, studying flute with Félix Rault until 1780 when he joined the household of Cardinal de Rohan. He was active in Paris as a flautist, bassoonist and composer, and playing bassoon at the Paris Opera. He wrote successful operas in the 1790s, including Les visitandines, 1792, which brought him much success. He was also a member of the Military Band of the French Guard where he was given the rank of sergeant with the duty of teaching the children of his colleagues in the military band in its Free School of Music. François Devienne was appointed an administrator and flute professor. He wrote an important Flute School Méthode de Flûte Théorique et Pratique, 1793, which was reprinted several times and did much to improve the level of French wind music in the late 18th century. After the Revolutionary period, the Free School became the National Institute of Music, later chartered as the Paris Conservatory in 1795. Like many other musicians, he joined the freemasons and Concerts de la Loge Olympique orchestra. Devienne's output comprises some 300 instrumental works mostly written for wind instruments. There are a dozen flute concertos, sinfonias for woodwinds, quartets and trios for different ensembles, 12 operas, 4 bassoon concerti, and 6 bassoon sonatas in an elegant melodic style. Devienne died at a sanatorium in Charenton near Paris on September 5, 1803. Extra Material Bonnie Doon / Paddy Whack Medley Boonie Doon – 6/8 Based on another of Bobby Burns love poems, The Banks of Bonnie Doon. Robert Burns lived from 1759-1795 and was celebrated in his own lifetime in Scotland. His fame persisted well into the next century and his songs were all the rage in America at the time of the Gold Rush at least through the end of the century. Robert Burns's 1783 poem, The Banks O' Doon, commemorates the river Doon, known in Scots Gaelic as Abhainn Dhùin, which flows from Loch Doon to the Firth of Clyde in Ayrshire. A keen student of Scots ballads and fiddle tunes, he set the poem to music a few years later. Along with Loch Lomond and Auld Lang Syne, its popularity continued to grow long after his death in 1795. Paddy Whack – 6/8 Be careful of your spelling on this one. Drop one 'h' and you have Paddy Wack which is dried beef sinew fed to dogs as a treat. AKA: Paddy Wack; Paddy O’Whack; Little Peggy; Tommy Reck’s; When History's Muse; Whoope doe me nee harm, good man; The Green Joke; and, Harp That in Darkness. An Irish, Scottish, English, American; Double Jig and Quick March. The tune, which is of the Villikins and His Dinah tune family, has been often published from the later 18th century on in both fiddle and fife collections; some later publications have called it Paddy O'Whack. The earliest Scottish printing of it is in Robert Ross's, collection, 1780. It appears in English collections before that date, however—Longman, Lukey and Broderip’s Bride’s Favourite Collection of 200 Select Country Dances, Cotillions, 1776, Straight and Skillern’s Two Hundred and Four Favourite Country Dances, 1775, and Charles and Samuel Thompson’s Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, Vol. 3, 1773. After appearing in these dance volumes, “Paddy Whack” was often printed in instrumental tutors such as Longman and Broderip’s Entire New and Compleat Instructions for the Fife, 1780; T. Skillern’s Compleat Instructions for the Fife, 1780; Charles and Samuel Thompson’s Compleat Tutor for the Fife, 1770/86); Thompson’s Compleat Tutor for the Hautboy, 1790; Wilson’s Pocket Preceptor for the Fife,1805; Northumbrian piper Peacock’s Favorite Collection of Tunes with Variations, 1805; Clementi’s Entire New and Compleat Instructions for the Fife, 1815; and, in America, Joshua Cushing’s Fifer’s Companion No. 1, 1805; David Hazeltine’s Instructor in Martial Music, 1810; and Gilford’s Gentleman’s Pocket Companion for the Flute or Violin, 1802. Extra Duty Calls The Parley (Church Call), Bruce & Emmett, The Drummer’s and Fifer’s Guide, 1862.p. 48 Known as the Parley from at least the mid-18th Century until the Civil War, this was the duty call used to let the other guy know your side wished to talk things over. By the time of the Civil War, it was also used to assemble the battalion for divine services on Sundays. Fatigue Call (Pioneers’ March), Elias Howe, Instructor for the Fife, 1851. p. 22 To send the men of the battalion to their assigned daily duties; or, 'fatigues'. Adjutant’s Call, Elias Howe, Instructor for the Fife, 1851. p. 23 To bring the assembled battalion companies to the color line for various ceremonies. Call to Arms or Quarters Elias Howe, Instructor for the Fife, 1851. p. 23 Used to assemble the battalion under arms, as opposed to 'Assembly' [see above] which brought the battalion together for ceremonies. More often used in the evening to send the enlisted men to their quarters before the playing of the Taptoo (or, Tattoo) followed by the Taps which was the signal to extinguish all lights in the camp. Volume IV musicians: Fifers Dan Chazinski, Tim Cunningham, Phil Gasbarro, Chris Harrod, Donald Heminitz, Tom Kuhn, Todd Rakestraw, Jackson Taylor, Jerrison Taylor, Andrew Turscak. Drums Nathan Duncan, Patrick Jones, Alex Kuhn, Jeff Long, Bill Maling, Dick Moore, Jamison Taylor, Cullen Triner, Dick Wolf. Drum Major Jeff Taylor D.L. H.J. Popowski for tune notes and moral support. Special thanks go to the Cooperman Drum Company and Stern Tanning for their excellent and speedy support in aiding us in producing the sound of the original era drums. Recorded Live at Smith Middle School Auditorium, Chillicothe, Ohio, March, 2009.

The Ice cream Generation

Posted: 02/19/2009

From a teacher in the Nashville area We are worried about “the cow” when it is all about the “Ice Cream” The most eye-opening civics lesson I ever had was while teaching third grade this year. The presidential election was heating up and some of the children showed an interest. I decided we would have an election for a class president. We would choose our nominees. They would make a campaign speech and the class would vote. To simplify the process, candidates were nominated by other class members. We discussed what kinds of characteristics these students should have. We got many nominations and from those, Jamie and Olivia were picked to run for the top spot. The class had done a great job in their selections. Both candidates were good kids. I thought Jamie might have an advantage because he got lots of parental support. I had never seen Olivia’s mother. The day arrived when they were to make their speeches Jamie went first. He had specific ideas about how to make our class a better place. He ended by promising to do his very best. Every one applauded. He sat down and Olivia came to the podium. Her speech was concise. She said, “If you will vote for me, I will give you ice cream.” She sat down. The class went wild. “Yes! Yes! We want ice cream.” She surely would say more. She did not have to. A discussion followed. How did she plan to pay for the ice cream? She wasn’t sure. Would her parents buy it or would the class pay for it. She didn’t know. The class really didn’t care. All they were thinking about was ice cream. Jamie was forgotten. Olivia won by a land slide. Every time Barack Obama opened his mouth he offered ice cream and fifty-two percent of the people reacted like nine year olds. They want ice cream. The other forty-eight percent know they’re going to have to feed the cow and clean up the mess.

Askari Arms

Posted: 08/22/2008

The Prussian army and its allies in the North German Confederation had been, since 1841, armed with the Dreyse Rifle, the Zündnadelgewehr, but it had shown itself to be dated by the time of the Six Weeks War of 1866 and simply outclassed by the French Chassepot M1868 during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.  The German army, like the US Army following the Spanish-American War, adopted the Mauser system. Paul von Mauser, (born June 27, 1838 in Oberndorf am Neckar, died May 29, 1914 in Oberndorf am Neckar), and his brother Whilhelm were the inventors and developers of the Mauser turn-bolt rifle which replaced the outdated Dreyse M1841 Rifle with the Mauser Model 1871, the first of many such rifles.  The greatest fault of the M71 was that it was a single shot.  The German army switched away from the Mauser design in 1878 and adopted the tubular magazine Gewehr 88 or as its more commonly known Commission Rifle.  Though not as bad as some authorities would have you believe, being a pastiche of elements from several contemporary military rifles most notably Mannlicher, Schoenauer, Werndel and Vittorelli, the Gewehr 88 was short-lived in German service.  The Mauser brothers made the necessary design changes in the M71 to give it a 3-round capacity with an internal magazine, and the German army redesignated it as the Gewehr 1884. The M71-84 was chambered in the German-standard 11.15 x 60R mm (usually just called the 11mm Mauser, the 'R' is for Rimmed cartridge) also designed by Paul Mauser.  It is very similar to the US 45-70 Government which precluded its ever being  popular as a hunting cartridge in North America as it was in Europe, though a smokeless powder version was loaded by Krieghoff of Suhl in the 1920s.  The correct bullet diameter for the round is .446".  The military version used a 370 gr lead bullet ahead of 77 gr of blackpowder for 1430 fps generating 1680 ft/lbs at the muzzle.   The Gew 71-84 was carried by all Imperial German Colonial Troops until the end of WWI. The Mauser company, established by the two Mauser brothers, earned its reputation in firearms making from the last decades of the 19th century until the end of the World War II. Some years after WW2 (1955) the Mauser company was restored in the West Germany and continued to build firearms. But some of earlier Mausers became the standard against which all others designs are judged, even after some 100 years. The Gewehr 1893 chambered in 7x57mm was adopted by the Spanish military and a plentitude of other countries.  The Gewehr 1895 chambered in 6.5 x 55mm was adopted by Sweden. But the greatest was the  model 1898 rifle, also known as Gew 98 or simply G98 (G = Gewehr, rifle in German). This rifle was designed from the experience, gained on previous Mauser designs as the standard German army infantry rifle. It was carried by Germans through the First World war, along with carbine shortened version, known as K98 (or Kar-98, from Karbiner) In 1903 the US Army Ordnance Department paid Mauser to license some parts of his original designs incorporated into the M1903 Springfield Rifle, which would be the standard US rifle until the adoption of the M1 Garand in 1936.  www.youtube.com/watch?v=buaTh6t8SWo&NR=1 In the 1904 Germans were first to introduce the new, "spitzer" bullet (with pointed tip, instead of the older blunt, round-shaped tip)—the 'S' Patrone. New bullet had much better long-range ballistic, so all sights were regraduated for new ammunition. However, the German army also changed the diameter of the bullet at the same time going from .318" to .323" in the 7.92 x 57 mm cartridge.  Although both of these cartridges are usually referred to as the 8mm Mauser, they are, in fact designated differently.  The earlier .318" bullet (chambered from 1898 until 1904 is really the 7.9 x 57mm J—the 'J' is for Jaeger.  From 1905 on the cartridge and chambering has been 7.92 x 57mm JS—Jaeger S Patrone, sometimes also called the Schnell Patrone. The same idea was incorporated by the US Army Ordnance Department in the redesign of the .30 caliber 1903 cartridge in 1906—hence the designation 30/06. During the interwar period this fine design was slightly altered to became the K98k—Karbiner  Kurz—or short carbine. This version appeared in 1935 and was manufactured until well after 1945 in large numbers in numerous countries. Many versions of this design also were licensed to other countries, which built their own versions to bdcome known as, variously, Persian, Turkish, Czech VZ-24, Yugoslavian M48 and Israeli.  The Gew98 is a manually operated, magazine fed, bolt action. The magazine is a double-row, integral box, with a detachable floorplate. The magazine can be topped-off with either single rounds or via stripper clips holding five cartridges. The stripper clip is inserted into guides machined into the rear receiver bridge. After the loading, empty clip is ejected automatically when bolt is closed. The magazine can be unloaded by cycling the bolt (with the rotating safety in the middle position) or by opening the magazine floorplate The Mauser bolt is a simple, strong design. There are three locking lugs, two at the bolt head and one at the rear of the bolt. The bolt handle is rigidly attached to the bolt body. On the original Gew 98 rifles it was straight. On the K98k the bolt handle was bent down. The bolt has gas vent holes designed to prevent hot gases from a punctured primer or case rupture from blowing back into the shooter's face. A non-rotating claw extractor was designed to engage the cartridge rim as the round is stripped from the top of the magazine, holding it firmly against the bolt face throughout the firing cycle. This "controlled feed" extractor has been employed on a multitude of other military and sporting bolt action rifles since 1898—most notably on "The Rifleman's Rifle", the Model 70 Winchester—pre-1964. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygz0kE5zzwM

There HEEEERE

Posted: 08/19/2008

The shipment of HAYA SAFARI arrived this PM. Pre-orders are boxed and going out in the mail tomorrow AM.  Direct orders from me can now proceed forthwith--or onethwith if you prefer. And for all of you wondering what Haya Safari was, or know that it was a march and would like to know what it sounded like, try this Youtube link--it's in German, but it has some nice images of Askaris and Ruga-ruga, and the first verse of Haya Safari is the first tune.  Enjoy www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ-71YPwa7k

Haya Safari and counting	Posted: 08/13/2008
According to the good folk at AuthorHouse, 5-7 days for the print version of Haya Safari.

Gun Porn 3

Posted: 08/05/2008

The 'gauging' of shotgun or 'fowling piece' barrels predates the Trans-Mississippi American Western Frontier by over a century.  Essentially, the gauge of a barrel is determined by the number of lead balls of a given size are equal to one pound in weight:  8 gauge--which was quite common for taking waterfowl, and was parenthetically Zane Grey's favorite—meant 8 lead ball yielded a .835" bore diameter; 10 gauge = 10 balls of .775" diameter, 12 gauge = 12 lead balls of .729"; 16 gauge = .663" and you can do the others your own-self.   (As an aside, wouldn't you just know that some math-nerd with too little life and too much time would sit down and come up  a formula for working all of this stuff out (in German this is known as Scientifikergeschttenwerke):   "An n-gauge diameter means that n balls of lead (density 11.352 g/cm³) with that diameter weigh one pound (453.5924 g). Therefore an n-gauge shotgun or n-bore rifle has a bore diameter (millimeters) of approximately   dn = ( 6 x 453.59237 g / 11.352 g/cm3 x n x pi)1/3 = 42.416 x 1 / cuberoot n mm.   Kitty Feller's most used firearm was her Double Barreled 16 gauge.  It was the gun she used to teach Henry Feller how to shoot.  Kitty's 16 Double, more than any other gun in these books is the typical gun of the frontier.   According to firearms expert and historian Chuck Hawks  "The last couple decades of the 19th Century were a time of great change in the shotgun world, in terms of both guns and shells. Guns went from twist barrels to fluid steel, choke boring had appeared in the late 1870's, and external hammer double guns became hammerless. Self contained shot shells went from brass hulls to paper hulls. In 1880 the 10 gauge rivaled the 12 gauge as an all-around gauge, and the 8 gauge was fairly popular for waterfowl hunting. The 16 gauge was the specialized upland gauge, and the 20 was regarded as something of a curiosity. 10 gauge shells were loaded with 1 1/4 ounces of shot, and 12 gauge shells with 1 ounce.   The period was also the time when some of the greatest names in American firearms were at work. Daniel Lyon LeFever introduced the first hammerless shotgun in 1878. Saint John the Devine—John Moses Browning, JMB—while working for Winchester Repeating Firearms (WRA) designed the first lever action shotgun, the Model 1887 Winchester Lever Action Repeating Shotgun.  JMB also designed the Winchester pump action shotgun Model 1893, and its refined version the Winchester Model 1897 Pump Action Repeating Shotgun (known in WWI as the Trench Broom).  Working for Browning Firearms, JMB also designed, and patented the Browning Auto-5, the first semi-automatic shotgun, which remained in production until 1998, a 98 year production run, not bad for a shotgun that sounds like a corn-sheller when it cycles.

FILM AT 11	Posted: 08/04/2008
According to the good folks at AuthorHouse, the electronic version of Haya Safari is now available.  The print version should be along any day on account of printing presses do NOT work at the speed of light.

SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE

Posted: 08/04/2008

OK so it only took three weeks to break my own rules of engagement.  It's my website so tough noogies.   Democratic Party Platform, 1864 Resolved, That in the future, as in the past, we will adhere with unswerving fidelity to the Union under  the Constitution as the only solid foundation of our strength, security, and happiness as a people, and as a framework of government equally conducive to the welfare and prosperity of all the States, both Northern and Southern.   Resolved, That this convention does explicitly declare, as the sense of the American people, that after four years of failure to restore the Union by the experiment of war, during which, under the pretense of a military necessity of war-power higher than the Constitution, the Constitution itself has been disregarded in every part, and public liberty and private right alike trodden down, and the material prosperity of the country essentially impaired, justice, humanity, liberty, and the public welfare demand that immediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities, with a view of an ultimate convention of the States, or other peaceable means, to the end that, at the earliest practicable moment, peace may be restored on the basis of the Federal Union of the States.  [This is the so called Vallandigham Plank, named after the author, Clement Laird Vallandigham, of Dayton, OH and Windsor, Ontario.] Resolved, That the direct interference of the military authorities of the United States in the recent elections held in Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, and Delaware was a shameful violation of the Constitution, and a repetition of such acts in the approaching election will be held as revolutionary, and resisted with all the means and power under our control.  Resolved, That the aim and object of the Democratic party is to preserve the Federal Union and the rights of the States unimpaired, [that is SLAVERY] and they hereby declare that they consider that the administrative usurpation of extraordinary and dangerous powers not granted by the Constitution — the subversion of the civil by military law in States not in insurrection; the arbitrary military arrest, imprisonment, trial, and sentence of American citizens in States where civil law exists in full force; the suppression of freedom of speech and of the press; the denial of the right of asylum; the open and avowed disregard of State rights; the employment of unusual test-oaths; and the interference with and denial of the right of the people to bear arms in their defense is calculated to prevent a restoration of the Union and the perpetuation of a Government deriving its just powers from the consent of the governed.  Resolved, That the shameful disregard of the Administration to its duty in respect to our fellow citizens who now are and long have been prisoners of war and in a suffering condition, deserves the severest reprobation on the score alike of public policy and common humanity.  Resolved, That the sympathy of the Democratic party is heartily and earnestly extended to the soldiery of our army and sailors of our navy, who are and have been in the field and on the sea under the flag of our country, and, in the events of its attaining power, they will receive all the care, protection, and regard that the brave soldiers and sailors of the republic have so nobly earned."  SOURCE:   Reprinted in Donald Bruce Johnson, comp., National Party Platforms, vol. 1, 1840-1956, rev. ed. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), pages 34-35.   Of course you could counter all of the above with the statement made by Illinois Democrat Senator John Alexander Logan, who said, on the floor of the US Senate: "Though not all Democrats were traitors, Every traitor was a Democrat—though to be historically correct—he revised the record to read 'Rebel' instead of 'traitor', the two terms being synonymous to John A. 'Black Jack' Logan.

John W. Campbell Revisited

Posted: 07/28/2008

John W. Campbell, who wrote under the name Don A. Stuart, was the long-time—1939-1971—editor of Astounding Stories (later renamed Analog Magazine).  During the decades of his editorial career, he ‘discovered’ Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, E.E. Smith, Ron Goulart, A.E. van Vogt, Phil Graham, and L. Ron Hubbard, to name only a few.             But it was Campbell’s editorializing I remember most.  Every month, Analog would have a new Campbell editorial, guaranteed to warp your outlook on life.  Because John Campbell made it his policy to champion the Devil’s Advocate side of any issue.  And he did it with ruthless logic.  For doing so of course he has been stigmatized as variously (depending on who is doing the reading) a racist, a neo con, pro-slavery, pro welfare, war-mongering, peace freak.  He loved each and every slur.  Because if he wasn’t being pelted with fruit and garbage by a torch and pitchfork carrying mob, it meant he wasn’t being read.  And if he wasn’t being read, no one was buying Analog.             I recently found an excerpt of one of Campbell’s letters.  In it he writes to Lurton Blassingame, Hollywood writer, founder of the American Library Foundation, literary agent for Frank Herbert and Rosemary Taylor, about the craft of writing fiction.  The letter is worth a read:   “The real suasion power of fiction lies, and always has lain, in the non-logical solution to the old logical paradox, "Epaminondas, the Cretan, says `All Cretans always lie.'"  The more fiction is kept at the level of fiction, the more the reader is forced to accept that any conclusions he reaches from the words of a professed liar are his own, personal conclusions, and that he, not the author, has reached that conclusion.  Jesus used parables –fictions— because what any listener derives from a fiction is the listener's own thought. And that sticks far deeper and tighter than the ideas of an external mind.  Properly done, you could produce a profound anti-Nazi feeling in the reader by telling a story 100% from the viewpoint of a dedicated, fervent Nazi.             Here I fear Bob[ Heinlein] is going to induce considerable anti-patriotism in a lot of readers by telling a story from the viewpoint of a 100% dedicated patriot. Therefore, the points with which I agree with Bob in full make me uncomfortable when presented in this overly-homiletic fashion. And there are points with which I disagree very strongly —including, as a matter of fact, his fundamental thesis-point. That shooting-war is, was, and forever will be, amen.             That thesis produces a decidedly down-beat, hopeless, what's-the-use-of-this-old-cycle-again feeling. And I have reason to believe it's false.  Bob bases his proposition on "A living organism that does not grow, dies. Therefore the existence of two or more organisms in the Universe inescapably implies physical combat."  Not true. It does imply competition —but not necessarily physical. Primitive organisms do, in truth, have to grow physically or die; higher organisms have discovered ways of growth that are nonphysical, and so can cease physical growth. We do not need new territory, if we can develop new dimensions. The saurians tried the route of unlimited physical size —and were licked by small mammals, who tried unlimited adaptability instead. E. E. Smith, in his Lensman series, suggested other directions of growth. Smith's "Lensmen" could have handled the "Bug War" with neatness and dispatch; the "Bugs" were ruled entirely by a few brain-Bugs. The Lensmen, by controlling mentally a few of those directive intelligences, could have made all the physical weapons of all Bug Warriors totally futile —because intelligence was concentrated so completely that the whole race could be paralyzed by reaching a few control centers… The physical aspect is absolutely necessary…If you assume…that it is both necessary and sufficient, then we might as well quit trying now, because physical powers we already have, and there's no place else to go. We can "make lace" —we can grow Bigger and Better Brontosaurs— but there is no higher level of reality to explore. Physical war is inevitable . . . if only physical techniques are real. They are real; Rome did destroy Carthage physically.  But the Glory of Rome wasn't destroyed physically; the Rome that was Rome —the real, dynamic entity— was dead, and had been dead for centuries when the Goths and Vandals started carving for dinner.  A prefrontal lobotomy doesn't destroy the physical man, any more than the loss of a finger does. But. If you've ever had the experience of dealing with a lobotomized . . . he's dead. Deader than any corpse. France wasn't destroyed physically. The Germans, English, and others tried hard, but they didn't achieve their intent.  The United States did more to kill France than any other nation . . . and we weren't even trying! . . . But when you discover weapons vastly more efficient than your teeth, you stop biting. When you find techniques of destroying an enemy that are more efficient than cutting, burning, or blasting him . . . you stop that method.  War as we've known it is about through. There are more efficient techniques.  Brain-washing isn't physical torture, you know . . . but it's very effective. Men stopped killing off the enemy tribe . . . when they learned how to enslave them. The new weapons aren't piddling little thermonuclear bombs; those are ineffective. Spankings for primitive tribes, and small children, yes. But for older children, a tongue-lashing--when well done--is more dreaded than a spanking. It's a weapon that cuts deeper.             For more mature tribes . . . being made to recognize their own stupidity is more effective than being spanked physically.             Without the proposition that we are going somewhere now . . . the upbeat push that fiction needs to fulfill its job of stimulating people to try for something better than we have, or have had. Regards, John W. Campbell, Jr.”

The Guns of Kitty Feller I

Posted: 07/25/2008

This week’s GGP (Gratuitous Gun Porn) features the Kathleen Mahoney Feller’s Colt 1884 Lightning Magazine Rifle chambered in the non-standard 32-40 Winchester cartridge.  The usual chambering was the 32-20 but Kathleen wanted something wi9th a little more power.  Whether she purchased the rifle in the non-standard chambering from Colt or had Ruckerman do the work in Yankton, it remains the rifle she used for table meat for the rest of her life.  She also used it to defend her children on at least one occasion—but that’s part of another story entirely.  Henry was allowed—ordered—to use the Lightning instead of his bigger 405 to save damage on the meat.  And it was also the rifle he used in his war against the coyotes.   The 32-40 was introduced in 1884 as a target cartridge in the Ballard Union Hill Rifle No 8. In that loading it drove a 165gr lead bullet in front of 40 gr of black powder at a little over 1400 fps and established a reputation for fine accuracy.  In 1886 Winchester and Marlin added it to their lever action and single shot lines.  Discontinued in the 1930s, Winchester renewed manufacture of this cartridge in the 1980s, offering it as a chambering in the John Wayne Commemorative Rifle.  When used in a strong action the 32-40 is the equivalent of the venerable 30-30 as well as most other modern high powered cartridges out to 300 yds.  As it is it was popular for medium game up to large deer.  And for small to medium game and varmints it did very well out to moderate ranges.   The Colt Lightning Rifle has had a rebirth due to the rapid growth of the Cowboy Action Shooting sport and is now being manufactured by several makers, foreign and domestic, in a moderate price range.