Royal Musical Association Annual Conference
Thu 08 Sept
|University of Durham
Durham was delighted to be able to return to an in-person format for this year’s conference. The programme was extraordinarily varied, both in terms of its content and breadth of participation.
Time & Location
08 Sept 2022, 19:00 – 10 Sept 2022, 23:00
University of Durham, University, The Palatine Centre, Stockton Rd, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
About the event
‘Sally Brown and Sailor John’: Women and the Shanty Tradition
When one thinks of sea shanties, often the first image that comes to mind is of a rough sailorman belting out the old songs of the sea at the top of his voice - the epitome of the “brutal sea dog” that Captain Whall describes in his accounts of shanty singing. Where, then, is the woman’s place in this undoubtedly male-centric tradition? The lyrics of shanties often refer to the wives and mistresses that the sailors have waiting for them back home (or would certainly like to have waiting for them when they reach shore) yet the relationship between women and sea shanties is more complicated than one might think. Laura Alexandrine Smith, for example, was one of the earliest collectors of sea shanties and while Smith's seminal work, The Music of the Waters, was severely criticised by her male counterparts, Joanna Colcord’s later work on…