Victorian Songs

[Trilby]

I wonder if anyone could help. I am a teacher of 8/9 year old children and we are doing a topic on Victorian Britain. Does anyone have any suggestions of reasonably simple period songs that would be suitable. We have to be quite careful about content of songs... I have changed the words to "Haul Away Joe" as describing your girl as fat and lazy isn't the thing to do ! So her name was Masie !!

I would appreciate any suggestions.

 

 

Trilby

[PeterT]

I wonder if anyone could help. I am a teacher of 8/9 year old children and we are doing a topic on Victorian Britain. Does anyone have any suggestions of reasonably simple period songs that would be suitable. We have to be quite careful about content of songs... I have changed the words to "Haul Away Joe" as describing your girl as fat and lazy isn't the thing to do ! So her name was Masie !!

I would appreciate any suggestions.

 

 

Trilby

Hi Trilby,

 

I've searched through a book entitled "The Illustrated Victorian Songbook", and the two most likely candidates seem to be:

 

Daisy Bell (Daisy, Daisy)

Two Lovely Black Eyes

 

Of course, you could teach just the chorus to each, which would be even simpler.

 

Regards,

Peter.

[Hilary]

Try the Cecil Sharpe book of English Folk songs for Schools. There's probably a copy in the back room of your local library or indeed the school may still have a copy. They are all relatively traditional and already cleaned up songs, that he collected from around the country.

If you don't have a source locally, you could contact Cecil Sharpe House in London. If they haven't got a copy they should be shot!

[JimLucas]

I wonder if anyone could help. I am a teacher of 8/9 year old children and we are doing a topic on Victorian Britain. Does anyone have any suggestions of reasonably simple period songs that would be suitable. We have to be quite careful about content of songs... I have changed the words to "Haul Away Joe" as describing your girl as fat and lazy isn't the thing to do ! So her name was Masie !!

Haul Away, Joe is a Victorian "period" song? I always thought it was a shanty, and that shanties weren't sung much in those days, except on ships. (On a separate note, with dozens of verses to choose from, you could just leave out "fat and lazy". Isn't changing the words to a song to bow to contemporary prejudice contrary to the goal of representing what the period was like?)

 

Even the songs collected by Cecil Sharp were mainly old ballads, weren't they? I.e., "timeless", rather than specifically "Victorian".

 

I would think you'd want to learn some of what were the popular urban songs of the day. Both sentimental songs and humourous songs were great music hall favorites, and I'm sure your "kids" might enjoy at least some of the humourous ones. I have some favourites of my own, but I don't know whether they're Victorian or later. (American publications always include a copyright date, British ones never seem to.) Things like I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am or With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm or When Father Papered the Parlor, for example. And some other favourites that some adults might consider "inappropriate" for "children", though I suspect the kids would enjoy them.

[Trilby]

Thanks for all your ideas, I will try and put some of them into practice ( and practise !). I am not entirely sure of my sea shanty history but I went to a very interesting talk on them at this years Scarborough Seafest and I am pretty sure they would qualify as Victorian ( I was told they were only in common use for a very short period of time). Also I didn't know there were lots of verses, in the book I have there are 3. So I shall investigate further.

 

The others you mentioned Jim are definately "music hall" standards so would be roughly of the period. I am only aiming to give them a flavour of the entertainment.

 

As for the changing of words being a bow to contemporary prejudice, I suppose it is possible to argue that case though I tend more towards it being a bow towards a more enlightened time now ! Guess I am just a pc casualty.

 

Thanks to all for your ideas ( I am off to the library !)

 

Regards Trilby

[Leo]

I wonder if anyone could help. I am a teacher of 8/9 year old children and we are doing a topic on Victorian Britain. Does anyone have any suggestions of reasonably simple period songs that would be suitable. We have to be quite careful about content of songs... I have changed the words to "Haul Away Joe" as describing your girl as fat and lazy isn't the thing to do ! So her name was Masie !!

I would appreciate any suggestions.

 

 

Trilby

Trilby

 

I don't think anything from the "Victorian" era would be "acceptable" for today's environment. Most of the stuff I found was somewhat graphic, but then again I suspect it was the times. I came across this site that has an item you might be interested in half way down the page. Victorian songs of miners, weavers & navvies, farm labourers & fishermen, beggars & ballad singers from Pete Coe. He does school workshops, and plays a melodeon, so he can't be half bad. His poster on the bottom of the page has a breakdown.

 

http://www.backshift.demon.co.uk/schools.htm

 

Thanks

Leo

Edited October 3, 2006 by Leo