DEVON'S SLIDE - MP3
(372K)
Duke of Gloster's March
White Cockade
Robinson's March
While our group is from Eastern Massachusetts, the hotbed
of American fife and drum lies some two hours southwest
of us in the Connecticut River Valley. One of our friends
from down that way offered the opinion that what was missing
from our repertoire was "a good 2/4 march set"!!
Sensing our puzzlement, Jim Clark, also a native of the
valley, presented this drum score to accompany Sarah's
fife score by way of explanation. We named this set of
quick reels or slides after the misadventures of one of
our young fifers. It should be noted that the old Scots
rebel song "White Cockade" was played by the
Acton Minutemen as they followed Capt. Isaac Davis down
to the Old North Bridge at Concord on April 19, 1775 to
meet the English troops and fire "the shot heard round
the world".
Fife score: Sarah MacConduibh.
Drum score: James Martin Clark |
FUNERAL DUTY -MP3
(436K)
Dead March
The death rate in all but most recent military camps
was horrific, even without the assistance of enemy forces.
Until modern antiseptic procedures, funeral duty was an
all too frequent certainty for the field musician. Some
sources report George Washington's Continentals loosing
12,000 men to combat death, with over 120,000 to camp sickness.
Again it falls to the musicians to dignify the mundane.
This is the duty book funeral from Camp Dupont in Pennsylvania
circa 1815. "We all deserve a hero's burial after
passing through this vale of tears." (O'Corrain)
Fife score: Sarah MacConduibh
Drum score: Jim MacConduibh
Funerary detail: Pennywhistle, Steven
Taskovics; Tabor, Jim MacConduibh; Muffled
Drums, Andrea Taskovics and Michael Godin;
Bass Drum Rolls, Michael Cahill; Concert
Bass, Michael Moran. |
TATTOO -MP3 (412K)
Guilderoy
Trip to Ranelagh
The Honey Moon
A Quickstep
This duty evolved from the need of the army to keep up
good relations with the garrison town. At a particular
time of night, the corps of fifes and drums would march
from camp through the town with a detachment of the camp
guards to collect the soldiers from the taverns and other
establishments and return all to camp. This was not unlike
the modern Navy's Shore Patrol, and also served notice
in a fortified town that the gates would be closing for
the night. If the regiment was encamped in the field, tattoo
was beaten to signal the posting of night watch and closing
of the camp prior to lights out. Here are some marches
and a strathspey, led off with a suitably ominous rendition
of what appears to be an 18th c. chestnut,
"Guilderoy". NB: The term "tattoo" evolved
from the Dutch "Doe den tap toe", roughly
translated "turn off the taps" (as in beer spigots),
or stop serving liquor.
Fife score: Skip Healy
Drum score: Jim MacConduibh/John C. Moon. |
ASSEMBLY -MP3 (400K)
The Red Joke
The White Joke March
Green Joke
a 6/8 beating was used to move the men from the company
street over to the Parade Ground for Roll Call and Inspection,
Duty Rosters, etc. Here we use three bawdy songs to remind
the soldiers of last evening with the ladies in town. We
are told the colors in the titles refer to the various
conditions in which the men might find their intended.
We have named the set "Spumoni", after the tri-color
ice cream popular in our area during our fast fading youth.
Fife score: Sarah MacConduibh
Drum score: James Martin Clark |
