Colonial Revelers October Events

October is Harvest Festival time! Come hear Colonial Revelers at the following events:

Newlin Grist Mill Fall Harvest Festival
Saturday, October 4
10 am to 4 pm

219 Cheyney Rd (at Route 1)
Glen Mills, PA

Newlin Grist Mill was built in 1704 and operated commercially until 1941. Now it's a historic site and park. At their fall festival, the 18th century comes alive with the sights, sounds, and smells of colonial America. Tradesmen and artisans will demonstrate papermaking, colonial brewing, iron making, brickmaking, blacksmithing, historic baking, and milling throughout the day. Displays include bee skeps, colonial money, and chair caning. Stop by to see a dairy cow, heritage sheep, and chickens. Listen to colonial music, learn period dancing, play colonial games, decorate a pumpkin, and enjoy a hayride through the 160-acre grounds. Colonial Revelers will sing 2 sets, at about 11 am and 1 pm, right out in front of the house. You can't miss us.

Admission is free. Parking is $5 per car. More information at http://www.newlingristmill.org/#!fall-harvest-festival/c1m63

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Downingtown Friends Meeting Fall Festival
Saturday, October 11
9 am to 4 pm

800 East Lancaster Ave.
Downingtown, PA

Colonial Revelers will perform for the lunch crowd at noon, and this year by special request, we'll be adding in a few of our 19th century seasonal songs into our mix of colonial church hymns, tavern songs and tunes from the Revolution.

Also at the festival you'll find craft vendors, live folk and rock music, Downingtown's famous Festival foods (their vegetarian chili is amazing!), and serious garage-sale finds at the Friends Mercantile. You'll be able to learn about the history of Downingtown Friends from the Quaker Heritage Exhibit inside, featuring antique Quaker clothing and memorabilia. At 1:30 pm, in authentic early American Quaker garb, the Friends will reenact the first wedding that took place at the meetinghouse in 1806. For the kids, they offer children’s crafts and games. There’s also a hay wagon ride and exceptional face painting for both kids and adults.

Admission and parking are free. Park across Lancaster Avenue. More info at http://downingtownfriendsmeeting.org/fallfestival.htm

In The Good Old Colony Days

by Elena Santangelo

Between the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the Constitution eleven years later, the United States had no federal government and no federal taxes.  A Tea Partyers dream.

Only a loose Confederation held the states together.  Each state had its own laws, ways of raising revenue, and even its own paper currency.  Then again, not many folks wanted the bills anyway. The only money worth anything was gold and silver coins, and they were hard won. In those years, after fighting an expensive war, the country was broke and in its first economic depression.

Many of the soldiers who fought in the Continental Army weren't given their back pay or pensions. The states had their own militias to worry about. Greedy men took advantage of the situation, like the Morrises, who held a monopoly in trade agreements for tobacco.

Here's an old 17th century song that resurged in popularity during that decade:

In the Good Old Colony Days
When we lived under the king,
Lived a miller and a weaver and a little tailor--
Three jolly rogues of Lynn.

The first line says it all. In the 1780s, lots of folks lamented the "good old colony days" before the Revolution. The song goes on to tell how the miller stole corn, the weaver stole yarn, and "the little tailor, he stole broadcloth for to keep the three rogues warm."  The poor and working classes in America could more than identify with the rogues' need to provide themselves with food and clothing.

However, all sinners must be punished so

The miller drowned in his dam,
And the weaver hung in his yarn,
And the Devil laid his Claw on the little tailor
With the broadcloth under his arm.

Eventually, though, the Constitution provided for a strong and flexible Federal government and decent trade with Europe was established, bringing Americans fancy French imports like flannel, denin and corduroy (giving little tailors a wider choice of fabrics).

Still, while the America of the 1780s wasn't the government-less Utopia some citizens envision today, there was no Capitol Hill, and no Congress as we now know it. So how bad could it have been?

'Tis The Season

now 1787 is Ended,
it happy is if we are mended,
God grant if not we may be.
Martha Ballard's diary, December 31, 1787

Christmas in colonial America was far different from Christmas as we now know it.  Almost all of our present-day customs--Santa Claus, caroling, gift-giving, the tree and extensive decorating, and even the sacred celebration of the birthday of Christ--were Victorian innovations.

Before the 19th century, Christmas was a minor religious holiday. Many Christian sects didn't celebrate it at all, partly because the actual day wasn't specified in the Bible, and also, as the Puritans put it, the season promoted drinking and debauchery. (The Puritans, in fact, outlawed Christmas.) Most stores and markets were open on the 25th. At first, only Catholics held services. Protestant churches joined in after many of their congregants began attending the Catholic masses to hear the special music of the day.

How was the season observed?  The wealthy threw elaborate dinner parties.  Poorer classes, knowing the rich were congregating for the Yule, went door-to-door, asking for money or food and drink in return for a wassail (that is, a toast to the health of the host and his family, often sung).  Servants and workers were given coins by their employers and patrons.  Some people observed customs brought over from Europe--mistletoe, the making of mince pies, a Yule log, perhaps modest decoration of the mantel with things like leaves, pine cones, or a few apples, to be eaten during the season.  No one would have wasted food, let alone something like a pineapple, which very few could afford, by nailing it over the door.  A poor man would have stolen the fruit before the night was out, to feed his family.  In the taverns, a bowl of special punch might be prepared.  And now that the harvest was done, if the roads were frozen enough for mudless travel, visiting neighbors and relatives was common.  Time to hear stories (ghost tales were popular in the long nights), to sing and catch up on news and gossip.

Most Americans now consider Thanksgiving through December 25th as the Christmas season, but that's a recent development, defined by 20th century merchants.  Traditionally, Yuletide is December 25th through January 6th (Epiphany--the day the Magi visited Christ).  In early America, since many people were farmers whose calendars were determined by the solstices and equinoxes, Yuletide began for some on December 21.

January 6th--also called "Old Christmas"--was the 12th day of the Yuletide (you know, 12 drummers drumming?).  Both its eve and the night of Epiphany have been called Twelfth Night.  In colonial America, Twelfth Night was a traditional time for weddings, and for a final party before the Yule came to a close.

As for music, many lyrics of our traditional carols, such as Joy To The World, Hark, the Herald Angels Sing, and While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night, were sung to earlier tunes.  The American composer Williams Billings wrote several fun-to-sing Christmas songs, including A Virgin Unspotted and Methinks I See A Heavenly Host.  And of course, the wassails mentioned above were very popular, most using some variation of the words

God bless the Master of this House
The Mistress also
And all the little children
That 'round the table go.

One of Historical Harmonies favorite Yuletide songs is the shape-note hymn Milford, which was published in 1802 and most often attributed to James Stephenson.  In the video, Colonial Reveler tenor Jason Gagliardi performs all 4 parts.  We hope you enjoy it.

Happy Yuletide to all!

Your humble servants,
HH

Bringing in the May

'Twas on a bright morning,

A morning in May,
When all the lads and lasses,
They all came out to play.

On Saturday, May 8th, we of the Colonial Revelers will forsake 18th century America to don the traditional white clothes and flowers of 19th century England as we dance around the Maypole. Join us at The Piazza at Schmidt's, 1050 North Hancock Ave., in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia. Shows at 11, noon, 1 and 2.

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The ancient Celts celebrated eight holidays. Four were the solstices and equinoxes. The other four were halfway between each solstice and equinox. Of these, only Lughnasadh, the August 1 "first harvest" celebration has fallen pretty much by the wayside.

The November 1 "final harvest" holiday of Samhain is familiar to us now as Halloween/All Saints/All Souls Day. Imbolc, the February 1 holiday meant to hurry spring along, became the sacred holiday of Candlemas but retained its secular roots in the observance of Groundhog's Day.

Beltane, May 1st, was the Celts' second most important holiday, and has been known and celebrated as May Day for at least a thousand years. This served as a nice break after the back- breaking jobs of plowing and sowing. Once your seeds are the ground, you also want to assuage the powers that be to make your seeds grow, so the holiday was a fertility festival, a notion being helped along by the rebirth of spring, when all wild green plants bud, and birds and animals give birth. Humans welcomed a day to sing, dance, flirt and otherwise frolic with members of the opposite sex.

The Sports of May, a canon from Thomas Warren's Collection (1775), can be heard on Colonial Revelers CD Revelry, Reflection & Revolution. The single MP3 is available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/colonialrevelers .

Our Story


Twixt Christmas Day and Candlemas (February 2), if the roads be frozen enough for foot or carriage or sleigh, this is the season for visiting neighbors and friends--and of sitting by the fire and storytelling. Here, then, is ours:

Once Upon A Time there lived a talented troupe of performers known as The Philadelphia Revels. Each December they'd present a special show of music, dance and storytelling from a different culture or historical era. And each season a small group of cast members would perform in community outreach programs, bringing songs and dances of the season to children and elder citizens who could not attend the main show.

In the year 2000, The Philadelphia Revels chose "Christmas in Colonial Philadelphia" as their theme and, as usual, the group performing outreach programs took part of their show out into the community. Unlike other years, however, long after the main show was over and the New Year brought in, nursing homes, churches and historic sites were still asking for programs of colonial music. The songs may have been enchanted. Or possibly the proximity to Philadelphia and Valley Forge generated extra interest in colonial themes.

Whatever the case, two years later the small outreach group was still performing colonial songs, a capella and in costume, when they were asked to help raise funds for a beautiful old historic church. The ensemble's first full length concert was presented at the church in June of 2002, and the group adopted the name Colonial Revelers.

The Philadelphia Revels ceased operation soon after, but demand for the colonial concerts and workshops continued, so Colonial Revels was adopted in January 2006 by a brand new non-profit organization: Historical Harmonies.

Historical Harmonies stated purpose is "To educate the public by providing a fuller understanding of history, and in particular American history, through the performance of vocal/choral music of specific eras." Besides sponsoring all Colonial Revelers activities, the organization produces May Revelers and Victorian Carolers. The former troupe presents celebrations and workshops of May Day music and traditions. The latter performs seasonal music of the Victorian era as well as programs of Civil War era songs.

In January 2007, Colonial Revelers released their first CD, REVELRY, REFLECTION & REVOLUTION, featuring songs that might have been sung in colonial taverns, churches and military camps.

On January 1, 2010, look for CD #2, DOWN AMONG THE DEADMEN, a compilation of 17th and 18th century tavern songs.

Will they all sing happily ever after? Stay tuned.

Your servants,
HH

Courteous Reader,

Here comes the Orator! with his Flood of Words, and his Drop of Reason.
Poor Richard's Almanac, 1735

An almanac, by definition, is designed to inform the reader month by month throughout the year.

While those of us in Historical Harmonies cannot claim to be experts in, say, the best planting time for pumpkin seeds, we would like to share what we know of historical--in particular, 18th century-- vocal/choral music. Through this almanac, we can also keep you informed of our events and recordings, and give you an idea of who we are, what we do, and why we do it.

We hope to entertain you here
And delight throughout the coming year.

Your servants,
HH