Crosscurrents Blog

The Music of the Waters: A Collection of the Sailors' Chanties, Or Working ... By Laura Alexandrine Smith : This relatively rare and out-of-print collection has a larger and more diverse array of the non-English chanteys and maritime songs than those found in Hugill, Colcord, or Doerflinger. Many of the songs have notated tunes, making the collection especially useful to singers. " "

Primary Source Texts: Google Books for Singers Want a first edition of the Child ballads (1860) or Ritson's Ancient Songs and Ballads (1829)? A facsimile edition of The Universal Songster, or Museum of Mirth (1834) or D'Urfey's Pills to Purge Melancholy (1719)? How about a collection of full-text books on American naval song from 1800 to 1820 ? They're yours, in print, for the cost of the paper and your time. Download them to your own machine as PDF and have at it. Or leave them online: simply add them to your library and search them with a few clicks. All that's missing is that lovely musty smell of leather bindings. Google Book Search is a feast for the desktop scholar. Visit the site to see all their amazing features--this isn't a how-to piece per se . Take away the news that it has never been easier to do your own primary source research. Find out for yourself where a song came from; where and how it was first collected and printed; what the collect...

The Golden Whales of California and Other Rhymes in the American Language ... By Vachel Lindsay : A chantey just waiting for a tune! ""

The Columbian Naval Melody: A Collection of Songs and Odes, Composed on the ... By Henry B Anthony : An 1813 collection of American naval ballads, hymns, and songs covering the era from the American Revolution through the War of 1812. "

Bentley's Miscellany By Charles Dickens, William Harrison Ainsworth, Albert Smith : Three of my passions here conjoined: whiskey, May, and song. Ah, the wonder of the keyword search. OH the May-morn of yore was a blithe one, I ween, When they danced round the pole on the old village green ; When the maids gather'd dew at the break of the day, And they wore a bright wreath for the Queen of the May. Though the good times are past, and the world has grown cold, Still the dew and the flowers are as sweet as of old ; Still the sky laughs with love, and the earth with good cheer, And the birds sing their merriest song of the year. Wake up, Marion, wake — come away, come away ! Tis the morn that we love, — 'tis the morn of the May ! Our steeds but thy coming, fair loiterer, wait ; Hark the neigh of Black Gipsey below at the gate ! Her bridle I've wreathed with the freshest of green, And I 've cull'd thee a rose, love, that 's fit for a queen. The h...