Torres Strait Anglo

Thanks for that David Barnert, had I known sooner I'd have weighed in to alert ebay sooner. I "reported" the listing to ebay, a most unsatisfying experience.

I confirm that I own this concertina and have it in my possession. The photos on that listing, and the text, would seem to be copied directly from the ebay listing through which I purchased the instrument. The ebay-generated post-auction email that confirmed my purchase was sent on the 30th of July 2012. The person who sold it to me emailed as "Neil Connor", which is consistent with wording on an invoice from "The Button Box" that was (and still is) inside the wooden carry case. Since 30th July 2012 the instrument has not been traded or offered for sale.

Ah, yes, those endplates are beautiful. The left hand side says something like "Made especially for Capt Geo Salley, Gloucester Pt. Virginia" and the other side has a lovely engraving of a galleon approaching land, with the word "Godspeed" curved along the margin. I'll be pleased to post a photo of them, I'll be home in hopefully a few days, & able to do it then. Meantime here's all the rest of the photos I have of it. The last one is the national anthem of the USA being played, the day this thread was started. It plays beautifully on this particular concertina. Perhaps an appropriate tune for the occassion. (Though I know the tune by its former name, and use the lyrics that preceded its reincarnation as a national anthem).

Dan, thank you very much for this post. I'm the fortunate purchaser of the Dipper Shantyman F/C. Not sure when winter is for you (when you say you saw it come up for sale last winter) it was July 2012 when I purchased the Shantyman. I'm thrilled to learn some of the provenance of the instrument. I've typed it into a word document, printed it and it is folded inside the concertina case, for the next owner to read (once I've passed on that is!) I love the Shantyman, it is a sublime pleasure to play it. I'll never willingly part with it, but wouldn't mind anybody else playing it, especially if they are better than me - which would be most players, I'm not particularly good, merely able to spring for the purchase of a nice instrument. I've attached a couple of photos of the Shantyman at its new home in the southern hemisphere (well, just in the southern hemisphere, I'm only a few degrees south). The photo in the first comment (when I was still learning how to add photos) and one of these is of the concertina being admired by a stuffed local animal in the pub, and one of it adorning a statue of another local animal (I sometimes sit on the turtle head & play). The concertina is very much appreciated, and when I'm gone, it will be sold - hopefully to someone who also very much appreciates it.

Hmm, I remember a couple of "Englishes", a possible duet or two, a couple of Anglos, some violins, a guitar or two, a piano accordion, a couple of people picked up fluts or something now & then, there were a couple of what I presume are melodeons (I've never seen one in the flesh) and of all things, a saxaphone! I had a great time, & they even played two tunes I'd heard before: "Running Bear" and "Joe the Boat is Going Over" (at least, that's the name I know them by.) By & large it was somewhat of a cacophony, & if it wasn't for the fellow down the far end with the Melodoen (are they melodeons?) and the saxaphone, it really would have been a sound one couldn't have taken for more than a quarter of an hour of so. I've now experienced something I've only read about on this site, the phenomenon of a concertina sounding much different to the player than it does to the audience. I actually didn't recognise the sound of the concertina to begin with. I did have somewhat of a hankering to hear (for once in my life) a lone anglo played - English style, without any other instruments accompanying. This can be something to look forward to if I ever again get near to a "session". "Pub sessions are not that rare" Says Geoff Woof. Hehe, perhaps in England they're not! I've been in plent of pubs in my life, and until I lucked onto this site, I'd never heard of the phenomenon! I've experienced one session once, a couple of thousand km from home, thanks to another member of this site. But it was a totally different to the session at the Horseshoe. And that's another thing, that Horsehoe Arms pub is rather difficult to find. I near wore out a set of shoe leather looking for the place. Nobody that I asked directions of had heard of it, and I only came to the place by accident, I'd given up & was shortcutting back to London Bridge station when it appeared in front of me. There's about 10 acres there with more pubs to the acre than I've seen in my life! Popping in to a session wasn't the reason I was that far from home, and it was pure chance that Sunday afternoon was free, so I took the opportunity. I was there a week, and spent most of the time ensconced in the Hilton in Mayfair, or at the suburbs of Lancaster Gate, Wood Green, Cockfosters, or Guildford, deep in intense meetings. Guildford was my favourite, as it ...er.. dare I say so.. it felt more English, and possessed a much more pleasant and depressurised ambience. I'm most grateful that my ancestors were convicted and transported, as the weather was most unpleasant.

Don't know the player's name, it was a bloke though. I'm not all that outgoing, especially when on someone else's patch. However, it was great to see something I've never seen before (music session) and that I may never see again. One wonders did the players realise their playing that afternoon was being listened to by someone for whom that session was the only time in their life they'll hear or experience one? (session that is).

22 players at the November session, 7 of them playing concertinas of various types. Most interesting for someone who unexpectedly happened to be on the opposite side of the world for a couple of days (as you do). A thrilling and novel experience to see a session in a pub (something I'd never heard of before joining this forum) Have seen only other session in a pub (courtesy of a member of this forum) but it was nothing like "The Horseshoe". Even managed a few seconds of conversation with a couple of players, one was rather shocked that I knew about the session, & had a fair bit to say about how "private" they like to keep it (so I more or less didn't bother anyone after that).

Um...er.... yea...er.. um... okay! There is unlikely to be a Morris Dancer within a thousand miles of me. I've never seen Morris dancing, or a Morris dancer, & don't ever expect to. You're 100% correct though: The finer nuances of various ..er... styles are certainly lost on me, it's all "Morris Dancing" to me, & likely always will be.

Thank you Peter. Brilliantly fixed! (I had a go myself, but.. er... the results weren't all that good.....)

Hmm, this 6/8 tune still has a 5-beat bar in the third part, about the 6th bar.

No contact? Its only been a day or so, some of us have jobs that take us away from computers & such stuff for a time. The buyer may have had to put to sea or something, right as the auction ended.

We all miss Leo's weekly roundup. A marvellous effort! One of the highlights of my week is listening to, & watching, the entire set of videos. David Barnert & others: A sense of foreboding is within me also. It has been growing since the second consecutive weekly roundup did not appear.

Believe it or not, I'm finding Curtissimo's Frolick quite a challenge on the Anglo. Even transposed into C major doesn't help one bit! It looks so simple as sheet music, but boyo-boy-o-boy does it cause neural pain when I try to play it. The best I can do is the pace of one crotchet per second.

Another tune I'm learning. I quite like this one. Thank you very much for posting it!

Lovely tune, and so easy to learn (or perhaps I am improving as a player) Thanks so much Johanna. I'm unlikely to ever see or hear of the tune book referred to, (or any other tunebook for that matter) Thus postings in here are oh so very much appreciated!

Lovely tune! Thank you very much Dave! (& Cornerstone)

I'm with Dirge.

Sorry to hear this news. The Clancy Brothers, we can thank them for several Australian folk songs being promulgated worldwide, alas many these days believe those same songs to be Irish. As far as I can ascertain, the Clancys always credited those songs as ones they "had picked up in Australia".

Leo, that first concertina you link to is certainly an Anglo. But that second one, very boxy looking, could be a ... Chemnitzer!

Hehe, yes Dick, sort of like I'll avoid IRA songs (I love 'em) if playing to a pub full of British Squaddies. Or I'd lay off the "Soldiers of the Queen" genre when playing in a fiercly republican pub in Eire. If playing in Argentina I'd also self-censor the playlist of English music and leave in nothing heavier than "I do like to be beside the Seaside". As would all of us possessing a sense of diplomacy. Brixton South London (being Ten Thousand Miles away, may as well be on the moon) may be unkind to performers, but it could be no tougher on singers of racialist songs than my home turf. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever set foot in a pub where one could play a concertina & get anything but at the best, dark looks. I sympathise with the griping about the BNP hijacking folk music, and privately wish they'd lay off. But I have yet to encounter similar outrage at (the far more prevalent) left of political centre use of music, leaving me rather cold toward the one-sided objections.

No singing racially insulting songs? With respect: Go fly a kite, I won't be scratching "10 Little Niggers" from my playlist, it took me too long to learn it.

Second hand, New, doesn't matter. If the declared value of an inbound package to Australia is AUD $1,000 or more, you pay Australian customs. And pay them fast, or they'll return it to sender (you are likely to have to pay for this also). Individually, customs staff are great people who will provide no end of advice and help with the process. Collectively, the customs service (as an institution) is so abrasive that you will seethe for weeks/months afterward. The more thoughtful customs people will telephone you (brace yourself and have credit card ready). In my experience UPS will automatically dob you in to customs, and are very prissy about it. They are so self-righeous about it that it is likely I will go to my grave without ever again using UPS. (dobbing your customers in to the authorities is not much of a business development tactic) I concur with Malcolm Clapp, use the post office. My recommendation? Write on the parcel a value of less than AUD $800. I've never understood the North American bent for using shipping companies. For me they are heavier on paperwork, more expensive, inconvenient or downright difficult to find, and quite often bung on the most juvenile of performances over what should be to them, just another heavy object to ship (for example, try shipping a bottle of wine and see how they recoil) In a most wry twist, the delivery agent for those big name shipping companies someone paid double/triple the post office rate to, is often the local mailman. With the post office you just wrap the parcel, stroll to the post office, lick a few stamps, & (without having to submit to cross-questioning) hand it over the counter. Bye-and-bye it turns up at the destination address.

30-button Tedrow? This'll have you back playing non-stop, & no more inclination to make heretical statements about how much more fun it is to play Melodeon.

"NorthumbRIAN gathering" my apologies. (slaps forehead) For "warbling" please read "turns". My music theory lexicon is suffering from long disuse. When the .midi file, from the Tune-O-Tron converter, is opened in my music writing program, the turns in Northumbrian Gathering have a very (pleasant) "warbling" sound. I change the playback instrument to "accordion" or "flute" - on my sound card they are the closest sound to concertina. These light "whistly" playback instruments add to the pleasantness of the turns in N'mbrian Gathering. The only contact I have with Billy Pigg music is in this discussion thread and pasted into the Tune-O-Tron. Do not possess any CD's or tunebooks. I am able to squeeze out the melody of N'mbrian Gathering, but A maj can be a tricky key for C/G anglo. If I transpose N'mbrian Gathering into G I can more easily pick up the rhythm of the tune.