October 2011 Events

(latest first)

Saturday, October 8, 9 am - 4 pm - FREE
Downingtown Friends Fall Festival
800 Lancaster Avenue
Downingtown, PA

Colonial Revelers will perform at noon - a lunchtime concert of songs popular between 1700 and 1800.

In 1774, John Downing donated land for the Lionville Friends to build a school.  Friends around "Downing's Town" were granted permission to meet at the school in 1784.  In 1806, Jenu Roberts donated land for the building of a meetinghouse for Downingtown Friends.

For more information about Downingtown Friends and this event, click here, phone 610-269-4223 or email info@downingtownfriendsmeeting.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday, October 1, 10 pm - 4 pm - FREE
Newlin Mill Fall Festival
219 South Cheyney Rd
Glen Mills, PA

Colonial Revelers will perform two sets of period music at 11:30 am and 1:30 pm. Also on hand will be living history and craft demonstrations and tours of the house and mill.

Newlin Mill is the oldest operating grist mill in Pennsylvania. It was built by Nathaniel Newlin in 1704, the third mill built on the site by the Newlin family, who had come to America in 1683. The mill was run by the Newlins until 1817, then by other owners through 1941. A descendent of the Newlin family bought it in 1958 and began restoring it to its 18th century appearance. Besides the mill, this living history site has two houses, an office, a barn and a grain storage building.

For more information about the park, its history, and this event click here , email
info@newlingristmill.org or call 610-459-2359.

September 2011 Events

(latest first)

Sunday, September 18, Noon-4 pm
Stafford Heritage Picnic
Manahawkin Lake Park
49 West Bay Ave
(Rte 9 and Main Sts)
Manahawkin, NJ

Colonial Revelers will stroll around the lake and sing at this great multi-era living history event.

In the early part of the decade, Stafford Heritage Days took up a whole weekend and included a reenactment of the Battle of Cedar Bridge, the last engagement of the Revolution (darn those New Jersey loyalists!). Living history groups of all eras showed up, including colonial pirates, temperance ladies, a vintage baseball team, and the most eerily realistic General Grant, Chamberlain and Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln you'd ever want to meet. Then the recession hit, resources were limited and the project was put on hold. This year, we're glad to see a  comeback. Come out and join us. It's always fun.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday, September 11, 11 am - 3 pm
Battle of Brandywine Reenactment
Brandywine Battlefield
Route 1
Chadds Ford, PA

Colonial Revelers will provide period music in the living history area whenever guns and cannons are silent.

The Battle of Brandywine took place on September 11, 1777 and was the largest battle of American Revolution, with Washington's forces numbering about 15,000 and the British with perhaps 17,000 troops. Washington held a decent position on the hills above the Brandywine Creek, but he was in a loyalist/pacifist neighborhood. Deliberate misinformation, poor communication, bad reconnaissance and inexperienced soldiers all contributed to the American defeat, yet they were able to retreat to Chester and regroup. The British were hampered by the heat of the day and the length of time they took to march around the American flank to ford the creek.

Come tour Washington's and Lafayette's Headquarters, view living history demonstrations, eat colonial food and, of course, hear Colonial Revelers sing.

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?

EVENTS

Sunday, July 3 at 9:30 am
St. Matthews United Methodist Church of Valley Forge
600 Walker Road
Wayne, PA 19087

On the eve of the anniversary of our Independency, Colonial Revelers will perform the music of Mr. William Billings and Mr. John Cole during Sunday morning services at St. Matthews.


Saturday, July 30, 10-4
Frederick Muhlenberg House
151 W. Main Street
Trappe, PA 19426

Colonial Revelers will provide 18th century songs from 11 to 1 at the Speaker's House Living History Day, a BBQ fundraiser for the restoration of the Frederick Muhlenberg House.  Lunch will be pork BBQ, cole slaw, corn-on-the-cob and soft drink.  Activities include colonial cooking, music, spinning, dying, weaving, blacksmithing, woodworking, military demonstrations and tours of the house.  Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for seniors, $5 for kids 6-12, and free for children under 6.

Frederick Muhlenberg became the first U.S. Congress Speaker of the House in 1789. The house was built in 1760 and purchased by Muhlenberg in 1781.  He was born and grew up in Trappe.  The house of his father, Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, has also been restored by the Trappe Historical Society.  Henry was a Lutheran pastor sent to Pennsylvania in the 18th century as a missionary.  Besides Frederick, his sons included Major General Peter Muhlenberg of the Continental Army.  Sons-in-law were also generals and politicians, and one grandson became Governor of Pennsylvania.

For more information, call 610-489-2105 or email info@speakershouse.org

FYI: The Keystone Grange Fair is the same day, not far away on West 1st Avenue, 9 am-7 pm.  Come and spend the whole day in Trappe!

We would be pleased to see you this month.

Your humble servants,
HH

If You Can't Stand The Heat...

 

"Hide not your talents, they for use were made.

What's a sun-dial in the shade?"

Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack

Dear Patrons,

A suitable reply to the above question today might well be that a sun-dial in the shade would be cooler.

In an effort to provide relief to ourselves and our readers, we list here time-tested methods of dealing with the summer heat.


1.  If you must labor outside, a fresh, damp cabbage leaf placed 'twixt cap and head will keep you cooler.  This is a centuries old method, most recently employed famously by a ballplayer named Babe Ruth.  Change the leaf every few hours.

2.  Dig a hole.  On a hot summer's day, the bottom of a 6 foot hole will be at least 20 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the top. For those who shy from this solution, likening it to being laid
untimely in their graves, perhaps use the hole only to store perishable food.  Add a large chunk of ice, well-salted and wrapped in flannel, and your milk, butter, and fresh meat will
keep well.

3.  Should digging a hole prove strenuous in the heat, you may lower your jugs of milk and such to the bottom of your well with the same results.

4.  For those fortunate to have a cellar beneath their homes, 'tis a fine, cool place to dwell on a warm afternoon, all the more so if no one thinks to look for you there.  Bring a book and a few pints of good ale (chilled first in the well) to help pass the hours.  If discretion is unnecessary, leave the book above and bring your friends below for an afternoon of song.

Your humble servants,
HH

Weaving the Maypole

by Elena Santangelo

When I was a kid, and I saw photos of people dancing around a Maypole while holding brightly colored ribbons, I thought it looked pretty silly.  Oh, I didn't have anything against folk dancing--in fact, I liked it.  I grew up in an Italian family and we all learned to do the Tarantella at weddings.  But I didn't get why you needed a pole or a piece of ribbon to hold onto.  Why not just dance?  Of course, I'd never actually seen a Maypole dance performed.

When I finally witnessed, then participated in May Day celebrations, I came to understand that the dance, though fun, was only a means to an end.  The steps are fairly easy.  Children and awkward adults like myself can do them, and often do, because something about Maypole dancing makes you want to join in.  But the gist of the whole thing is to take those ribbons and plait them around the pole, or create a web away from the pole, using only the dance moves.

The great thing is, preteen boys will dance with girls because they concentrate more on making the pattern than on getting cooties.

Spider's Web

In the simplest Maypole dance, the Grand Chain, every other person around the pole clockwise while the rest go counterclockwise, alternately ducking under ribbons and lifting theirs over the next person.  Dancers can walk, skip or do a polka step.  In a variation called Barber's Pole, every other person stands still while the others move clockwise, then they switch and the second group goes counterclockwise.  Dances such as Spider's Web, Gypsy's Tent, Jacob's Ladder and Pyramid form out-from-the-pole patterns.

I've seen Maypole dances where, once the dancers are holding their ribbons out and taut, a green wreath is placed over the top of the pole.  As the plait is formed, the wreath moves down the pole.  If the dancers reverse their steps, the wreath moves back up.

Below is a video of kids weaving a Maypole.  Enjoy!

Historical Harmonies note:  Our May Revelers troupe will perform and teach Maypole dances anywhere we have room to set up our pole.  If you're within a few hours drive of the Philadelphia area and would like to host a workshop or May Day celebration next year, please contact us at historicalharmonies@gmail.com

Your humble servants,

HH

Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791)

Most Americans don't recognize the name of Francis Hopkinson. Some know enough to state that he was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.  Beyond that, he's been more or less lost to history, but this patriot ranks right up there with Franklin, Jefferson, Hancock and Washington.

Hopkinson was born and died in Philadelphia, and lived part of his life in New Jersey, representing that colony in Congress.  He was in the first graduating class of the College of Philadelphia (which merged with the University of Penn in 1791), then studied law.  He also served on the committee that drafted the Articles of Confederation.  Besides becoming a lawyer, statesman, and jurist, he's been described as "a mathematician, a chemist, a physicist, a mechanic, an inventor, a musician and a composer of music, a man of literary knowledge and practice, a writer of airy and dainty songs, a clever artist with pencil and brush and a humorist of unmistakable power" (Tyler, Literary History of the American Revolution).

It's as a writer and musician that we'll discuss him here.  He is credited with being America's first secular poet-composer, having published his first song in 1759 at the age of 21.   Hopkinson also became well-known for his essays, many of which were satirical, such as his "Typographical Method of conducting a Quarrel" and "Essay on White Washing."

He combined his songwriting and satires during the Revolution to produce works such as "The Treaty," "The New Roof:  A Song for Federal Mechanics," and "The Battle of the Kegs."  The latter song was set to Yankee Doodle and comically described an incident that took place in January of 1779, when the British occupied Philadelphia.  The Continental forces were  experimenting with floating mines made from powder kegs.  They sent them down river toward the city in an attempt to damage the British ships docked there.  Redcoats were dispatched to shoot at the kegs, to set them off before they could do harm.  Hopkinson's song told of the brave British troops valiantly waging war against the kegs. Here's a verse:

The royal band now ready stand,

All ranged in dread array, sir,

With stomachs stout to see it out,

And make a bloody day, sir.

The cannons roar from shore to shore,

The small arms make a rattle;

Since wars began, I'm sure no man

E'er saw so strange a battle.

About the same time, Hopkinson wrote a tribute to Washington entitled "A Toast."

'Tis Washington's Health,

Fill a bumper around,

For he is our glory and pride;

Our arms shall in battle with

Conquest be crowned,

Whilst virtue and

He's on our side.

"A Toast" can be heard on Colonial Revelers CD Revelry, Reflection and Revolution. See our website for details.

As always, your humble servants,
HH