The Music of Bonny & Read CD liner notes 1. Spanish Ladies This is a capstan shanty (a shanty sung as the capstan was turned to raise the anchor), sung as ships were homeward bound. A ballad by the name of Spanish Lady was registered in England December 14, 1624 with the Stationers' Company. It is possible that tune is related to this tune or one of the variants listed. However, according to the Oxford Book of Sea Songs the earliest known reference to Spanish Ladies is in the logbook of the Nellie of 1796.  2. Colonel Frasier A well known and widely travelled traditional reel. Variants have been recorded in Ireland, Scotland, America and elsewhere. Musicians were very welcome on board ship and sailors loved a good tune and a dance. Popular instruments for nautical musicians when Bonny & Read sailed were fiddle, whistle, flute, jaw harp. While we longed to use a concertina (they always sound so sailor-like), they weren’t invented until the 19th century. Una plays the reel on the harp, a practice which is well documented in the stately homes of England and Ireland in this period. 3. Fare thee well Juliana Collected in the 1890’s by Joanna Colcord. A homeward bound capstan or windless shanty. Joanna grew up on board ship with sailors' shanties and dance music and was one of the earliest collectors of this music. In her own words: I still recall the thrill of hearing the crew of a British ship lying beside us in Shanghai sing the old shanty "Goodbye, Fare Ye Well", as they heaved up anchor, and of comprehending for the first time that this was beautiful and distinctive music" Joanna Colcord, "Childhood At Sea An Early Education In The Realities Of Life," Portland Sunday Telegram and Sunday Press Herald, July 12, 1936. 4. Prelude in F Major by J.S. Bach (1685-1750) What better composer to turn to than J.S. Bach when we wanted to create the upper class atmosphere of Captain Woodes-Rogers’ home? Originally a keyboard piece, it was considered quite acceptable at the time to adapt music to the instrument at hand. The harp was a very popular instrument to have in the home and was considered an advantageous skill for any aspiring young women. 5. In Old Jamaica We’ve slightly changed the words to suit the play. The original is In South Australia. South Australia is another shanty, a work song sung by sailors on the sailing ships that made weeks-long journeys half way around the world, in this case through the turbulent seas around the tip of South America. 6. Irish Trot In 1651 John Playford published his first collection of country dances, The English Dancing Master or, Plaine and easie Rules for the Dancing of Country Dances, with the Tune to each Dance. The publication was such an outstanding success that Playford (and after his death his son, Henry) continued to publish new editions of the work right up to 1728 with additional dances as well as the original dances. The tunes sometimes change from edition to edition, showing changes in musical fashion. The Irish Trot is one of a number of dances with an Irish connection, so in honour of Anne Bonny we thought we’d use it. It appears in all the editions of The Dancing Master although interestingly the rhythm changes from undotted to dotted and ends up sounding like a traditional hornpipe. There are many dance tunes called “trots” at this time. It may be that this is the earlier term for what later becomes hornpipe. If Playford’s Dancing Master had continued to be published up to the present day The Irish Trot might be played like this… - 7. Run aground Grace is a mighty singer-songwriter and when we discovered that she had written a song call Run aground and that it mentions a pirate ship, we just had to include it on the CD.  8. Will ye go to Flanders Said to be an army song, some writers believe it refers to the Duke of Marlborough’s 1708 Flanders campaign, others ascribe it to the 1740 campaign. We, of course, prefer the earlier date. The words of two verses are found in David Herd’s 1776 collection “Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, etc”: Will ye go to Flanders, my Mally – O? Wil ye go to Flanders, my bonnie Mally – O? There we’ll get wine and brandy And sack and sugar-candy Will ye go to Flanders, my Mally – O? Will ye go to Flanders, my Mally – O? And see the chief commanders, my Mally – O You’ll see the bullets fly, and the soldiers how they die And the ladies loudly cry, my Mally – O! The other two verses sung are as learned from Dolores Keane and John Faulkner (CD Broken hearted I'll Wander).  In the play the verses found in David Herd are song.  We believe John Faulkner composed the other two verses. 9. Spanish Ladies A reprise of this homeward bound shanty. We hope in a short while to see you again!