Wow .... my head is spinning ... now i have a headache.... *L*
Grey Aengus (aka Jim)http://www.greyaengus.com often in error, never in doubt --- On Tue, 3/3/09, Gary Plazyk <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Gary Plazyk <[email protected]> > Subject: [HG-new] Re: Hurdy Gurdy Girls > To: [email protected] > Date: Tuesday, March 3, 2009, 5:40 PM > Hi! > > I am also interested in following this thread. We had some > discussion about it on this list in June 2006; following is > part of a post I made then. > > Very best regards, > > -Gary P. (in rural northern Illinois near Marengo, between > Elgin and Rockford IL) > > Gary Plazyk, [email protected] > Fuzzy Bear Farm > http://profiles.yahoo.com/g_plazyk > http://www.BearCreekMusic.us > http://www.RavenswoodMorris.org > > "Music is too important to leave to the > professionals." -Robert Shaw > > > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: Re: [HG] Hurdy gurdies in American Civil War? > Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2006 11:05:41 -0500 > From: Gary F. Plazyk <[email protected]> > Reply-To: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > > Hi! > ... > [Omitted: discussion of the hurdy gurdy in the 1937 movie > _Captains Courageous_ starring Spencer Tracy] > ... > > *** I did some further searching on Google (search term > "hurdy gurdy" "New Orleans"), and found > a few promising lines of research. In the Lark in the > Morning web site's history of the Hurdy Gurdy ( > http://larkinthemorning.com/article.asp?AI=41&bhcd2=1151589961 > ), they mention: > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > Meanwhile, the hurdy gurdy has come to the United States, > no doubt in the hands of traveling Frenchmen. It is said > that around 1850, there were a few hurdy gurdys being played > in New Orleans. There is mention of one in New York about > around 1940. There is an early California dance tune > discovered in Watsonville, California, which is actually a > French tune called La Valso-vienne. No one knows how it > originally arrived from France. A friend of mine remembers a > man coming to town with his hurdy gurdy back in the Oklahoma > oil days. Any information on the use of the hurdy gurdy in > the United States which anyone would like to share with us > is welcomed. > ... > BIBLIOGRAPHY: > BAINES, ANTHONY, European & American Musical > Instruments, The Viking Press, New York, 1966 > BROCKER, MARIANNE, The Hurdy Gurdy, Archiv Productions, > Hanover Germany, 1972 > D'ALBERT, ARRIGO, Mendocino, California > JENKINS, JEAN, Eighteenth Century Musical Instruments: > France and Britain, Thanet Press, London, 1973 > LEPPERT, RICHARD D., Arcadia at Versailles, Swets & > Zeitlinger B.V., Amsterdam, 1978 > MUNROW, DAVID, Instruments of the Middle Ages and > Renaissance, Oxford University Press, London, 1976 > MARCUSE, SIBYL, Musical Instruments: A Comprehensive > Dictionary, W.W. Norton & Co., New York, 1975 > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > > *** In The Strange Life of the Hurdy Gurdy and other Tales > ( http://www.exulanten.com/hurdy.html ), there is an > interesting connection between California and Australia gold > rush saloon dancing girls and the hurdy gurdy. > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > ... > The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound > similar to a bagpipe. The continuous sound is produced by > the action of a rotating wheel, turned by a hand crank, > rubbing against strings, just as violin strings are sounded > by a bow being drawn across them. Some think that the > instrument was imported from France by the Ukrainian > Cossacks who took part in The Thirty Years War, but others > think it originated in the northern part of Iberia some time > prior to the eleventh century A.D., and still others have > said it originated with the Moors. It has been around for a > long time and has a colorful history. > > An English decree from 1651 that travelling musicians had > proper licenses. "The hurdygurdyists, both men and > women should be removed completely so that we no longer need > to see their vulgar and disorderly talk and gestures which > the travelling musicians delight in cultivating together > with other impertinances." > > It fell from popularity for a time, then re-emerged as a > popular novelty among the nobility in the 17th and 18th > centuries, and older guitars and lutes were sometimes > rebuilt into hurdy-gurdies. By the 18th century, Haydn wrote > two concerti for the hurdy-gurdy, Mozart included it in a > couple of pieces, and its use was later suggested in > Schubert's piece "Der Leiermann." ("The > Hurdy-Gurdy Player") > > Then,there was the other definition of a Hurdy Gurdy. Poor > Hessian farmers in the 1820s made wooden brooms and > fly-whisks during the winter to sell in summer at nearby > markets in the surrounding areas, and to increase sales they > expanded into other German cities and town and eventually > even to France and England. Then they found that their wares > sold better if they brought along dancing girls who played > the Hurdy Gurdy. This gave birth to a sort of 19th century > "pimp" who would talk the parents of these young > girls into letting them travel with him and entertain in > dance halls on the promise they would send a fair portion of > their earnings home. > > The "Hurdy-Gurdy girls" and "Hessian Broom > Girls" ended up all over the globe. Many travelled out > to gold-rush California, others ended up in the Australia > mining regions. By 1865, laws were passed in Germany to > prevent the practise of enticing young girls into what was > considered a debauch life,and the practise, at least in > public, died out. > ... > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > *** Following up on this, I checked the Dance History > Archives at Streetswing.com ( > http://www.streetswing.com/histclub/a1a.htm ), which > documents all sorts of musical theatrical performances; they > actually have a distinct category for hurdy gurdy. If > I'm reading their table correctly, they document hurdy > gurdy performances at: > * the Alabam Night Club, Chicago IL, 1920's > * the Bird Cage Theater, Tombstone AZ, 1880 > * La Paradis, Washington WA, 1920's > * Valentino's, New York NY, 1890's > > There was a saloon called The Hurdy-Gurdy House in Virginia > City MO. > > "The Hurdy-Gurdy Girl" performed at the Wallack > Theater in 1907. > > There was a dance called the "Hurdy Gurdy", > possibly originating in France in the 1850's associated > with "Prostitution, Striptease, Hootchy Hootchi - > Cootchi" [!] > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > *** The web site The Hurdy-Gurdy Girls ( > http://www.hotpipes.com/hggirls2.html ) has some pictures > and the disreputable history of the association between > hurdy gurdy and the American Gold Rush. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > In looking into all of this further, this writer finds it > intereting that something so once-notorious and spectacular > as this lengthy and widespread episode seems to have been > largely overlooked or misunderstood by modern historians. > For example Susann Palmer, in her excellent reference work > "The Hurdy Gurdy" (David & Charles: London, > 1980) bristles at the suggestion of hurdy-gurdies in dance > halls; she writes, "A supplement to the Oxford English > Dictionary (1976) humiliates the hurdy gurdy further ... it > gives as ... used in North America: 'hurdy-gurdy girl, a > dance hostess in a hurdy-gurdy house, being a disreputable > type of cheap dance hall.' ... It is almost certain that > these 'hurdy-gurdy houses' were places where > mechanical barrel-organs were installed." (pp. 41-42). > Meanwhile, we find the government of British Columbia, > Canada exhibiting confusion on its web site dedicated to the > gold rush there, not about the presence and nature of the > hurdy-gurdy girls who came > there during the 1850s (see photo above), but about the > meaning of the term "hurdy-gurdy" and the > womens' relationship to the instrument. We at Nova > Albion Research are continuing to look into this subject and > will expand these comments as information is uncovered. We > would also like to bring Kurt Reichmann's > "Hurdy-Gurdy Girls" exhibition to North America, > if suitable sponsorship can be found. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > This site highlights the confusion created by the fact that > "hurdy gurdy" is commonly used to refer to at > least three vastly different music producing mechanisms: > - the rotating bow on keyboard stopped stringed instrument > we play > - the "organ grinder" music roll pipe or reed > barrel organ > - the cranked music box > > > *** There's quite a treasure trove of references when > you use the search terms "hurdy gurdy house" and > "hurdy gurdy girl" - mostly references to saloons > and houses of ill-repute! > http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060606/NEWS04/606060345/1037 > http://www.phantomranch.net/folkdanc/articles/boysnite.htm > http://www.suite101.com/lesson.cfm/17161/609/7 > http://www.umwestern.edu/Academics/library/libroth/MHD/vigilantes/DIMSDALE/chapters/chap1.html > http://www.rootsweb.com/~orgenweb/bios/jamespoindexter.html > http://www.bookideas.com/reviews/index.cfm?fuseaction=displayReview&id=1454 > http://members.aol.com/Gibson0817/bbasin.htm > http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20060616/DAYTON/106160070 > > > I would guess that there is good material here for a > Master's Thesis on the history of the hurdy gurdy in > North America. I'm particularly intrigued by the > assertions that the hurdy gurdy was used in Western saloons > during the 1840's-1880's. (Does anybody have access > to a Masters Thesis database? Maybe somebody has already > done this?) > > -Gary P. > > > Also, here's a tantalizing comment from Sara Johnson: > > Finally, of the Southern Appalachian Culture, Richard > Trythall says: > "Respecting the traditional Celtic fondness - almost > to the point of > exclusivity - for plucked and bowed string instruments, > mountain musicians > gradually integrated number of new string sounds into > their music. Over the > course of the centuries, instruments such as the guitar, > banjo (an > instrument of African origin), Hawaiian steel guitar (lap > and pedal > versions), dobro, and string bass were added while, of > course, the primacy > of the fiddle (the prima donna and "devil" of > Celtic music) > and the use of other traditional stringed instruments of > equally ancient > lineage such as the mountain dulcimer, the autoharp > (developed from the > zither family), the mandolin (developed from the lute > family), and the > ghironda (hurdy-gurdy) was continued." > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hurdygurdy" group. 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