Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: contrefaits
Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1992 10:15:00

In re: music and songs in the SCA.....

I need to preface my remarks with the statement that I have been a 
professional folklorist/"folk" singer since 1964. What I have learned about
period music I have learned within the SCA. I enjoy period music very much.

BUT..........

Frankly, folks, I'll keep singing what I feel the particular group likes.
If they want to hear "Born in the SCA," that's fine with me. If they want
to hear "My Love, My Love" (a period-like song of my composition), even 
better. There is a place and a time for BOTH types.

And I will keep learning tunes from Steeleye Span, and from 60's "folk"
music....Ewan MacColl's Child ballad recordings are a good source still.
They're good tunes, and even good lyrics. If they -work-, I'm for it.

And I pass on a comment made by Duke Siegfried v. Hoefflichkeit at Coronation
last....(I am paraphrasing, and leaving out the name of the Kingdom he was
speaking of)....' It is a shame that the art of SCA songs in (that Kingdom) 
is dying out. They've gotten so much into being Authenticity Nazis about the
music that they only perform what's documentable and preserved in 
formaldehyde.'

Never forget that the SCA song is a -living- folk tradition. It may not be 
the music of "The Court," but frankly, I don't perform much at Court. Too 
stuffy.

I prefer to perform for the people. And, if the thing I want to get across
works best with a recent IRA melody, FINE! If it works well with a Dowland
melody, FINE! If I need to write a new melody for it, FINE!

Example: 1950's rock'n'roll melody:

        BLACK LEATHER DOUBLET
                -Ioseph of Locksley
        (c) copyright 1991 W.J.Bethancourt III
        (Tune: "Black Denim Trousers")

CHORUS: He wore a black leather doublet, and great big floppy boots
        And black leather gauntlets edged in needlework and lace
        His hat was brave with feathers, his curls a master-touch
        You could tell he was a Cavalier...but you couldn't tell him much!

His beard was trimmed quite neatly, he wore perfume in his hair
And underneath his leather he wore silken underwear!
He was all lace and feathers, with diamonds in his ear,
His clothing was the envy of the local Cavaliers!

He buckled and he swashed and his Attitude was grand
He held the ladies of his Shire in the hollow of his hand
His wit it was astounding, he was quick with repartee
And serenaded all the Court with lovely roundelays

A lady could not cross the street with a puddle in her way
Our hero ran up boldly, and quickly saved the day
With a cloak from someone else's back, he covered up the wet
And walked the lady cross the street as quick as you can bet!

I'm afraid he wasn't listening to the cry of "Hold, M'Lord!"
And he didn't hear the growling of the evil demon Ford
For there came a redneck pickup that was California bound
And when the dust had cleared, all they found

CHORUS: Were his black leather doublet, and great big floppy boots
        And black leather gauntlets edged in needlework and lace
        They found his hat and feathers, and lacy cuffs and such
        You could tell he was a Cavalier...but you couldn't tell him much!

                       *

 Recent Irish melody:

                ONCE UPON A TIME
                        -Ioseph of Locksley
        (Tune: "Dublin In The Rare Old Times")
        (c) copyright 1992 W. J. Bethancourt III

  Raised on song and story, heroes could be found
  In the joyous tales of glory; Atenveldt's renown
  The revel halls and list fields, the minstrel's haunting rhymes
  Were all a part of Atenveldt; once upon a time.

  CHORUS: Ring a ring a rosy, as the light declines
          I remember Aten's glory, once upon a time

  Once cupon a time there was a Kingdom far away
  That sang a song of chivalry, in a happy yesterday
  Two thousand miles of country, from the desert to the sea
  A Kingdom carved from nothing; a Dream that came to be

  Our children played together beneath the White and Blue
  And we loved, and fought, each other, like families often do
  With Honour as our watchword, to find the Holy Grail
  Caught up into a different time, in a living fairy-tale

  CHORUS

  Oh the years have made me bitter, tho time has dimmed the pain
  And Atenveldt keeps changin', nothin' stays the same,
  The children go their own way now; they all are fairly grown,
  And my old friends have all gone away, and I sit all alone

  The Outlands and Meridies; Ansteorra's windy plains
  They all are Kingdoms, on their own, nothing seems the same
  My mind's filled full of memories, I turn to hear their chimes,
  And I still remember Atenveldt, once upon a time....

  CHORUS

  CHORUS II:  Ring a ring a rosy, as the light declines
              These -are- the days of Glory!
              These -are- the Good Old Times!

                          *

 And I can make -both- of the above sound quite period indeed!

                                                -Ioseph of Locksley
                                                 Very Grumpy today


... Ol' Joe Locksley had a Plot ... E-I-E-I-O ...
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.10

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