The Concertina at Sea - The Anglo-German Concertina

nder the awning, to the music of a fiddle, concertina, and
a pair of castanets and cymbals. 20
u
Figure 10. This handsome Anglo concertina, built by
English maker George Jones, was carried by Seaman
William Figg aboard the HMS Royal Oak and the HMS
Juno
in the 1860s. © National Maritime Museum,
Greenwich, London.
In 1868, a 127 ton schooner, the Selene of
the Royal Navy
Yacht
Club, traveled from Gourock Bay, near Glasgow, to
the Mediterranean Sea. On the way out,
The first night on board was spent in forecastle jollity.
Billy Wren was
elected chief fiddler, because he owned and
played a concertina,
to the disgust of Vallance, the fiddler
from Skye. 21
Later in the voyage, on a pleasant evening, some musical
festivities began that document the use of minstrel music
on board. Minstrel music
by this time had become a global
phenomenon,
and its music and dances contributed much
to the sailor’s fun:
The dog-watch was filled with festivities. Phil’s
concertina, and the fiddler of Dunvegan, gave great
satisfaction. Charley the cook
did “Joe Brown” upon a
handful
of flour dusted down in the n----r fashion. The
hilarity was tremendous… 22
The Selene was a racing yacht, Clyde-built
in 1865, which
beat
several fast English schooners in the Cowes to
Cherbourg race in her first year. 23
Another type of schooner saw concertinas aboard at this
time: a Maine fishing schooner, the Nancy Hanks, bound
for fishing on the Grand
Banks in 1866. During a quiet
time on deck, eighteen year old sailor Ambrose Elwell
described this scene:
...one of the Swedes got out his accordion and played some
jiggy music to which several members danced. When the
Swede was tired, the Searsport boy, I remember, gave us
an excellent concert with a concertina which he handled
with great skill, playing many of the melodies which are
common along the Maine coast, including ‘Smith’s
Hornpipe,’ ‘Kendall’s Reel,’ ‘Drinkwater’s Portland
Fancy,’ which he rendered with such excellent time and
spirit
that we clapped our hands to the music and shuffled
our feet in various steps as we walked about the deck. 24
In early January of 1865, a three-masted bark named the
John Williams sailed from Gravesend, England. A
merchant ship, it was carrying a group of missionaries to
the South Pacific islands. It was not far into the Atlantic
when it was met by a particularly strong storm; the
outcome was a concertina’s use to accompany sailor’s
hymns
in the forecastle, sung in thanksgiving for
deliverance:
Fear possessed all souls. Our captain, mate and all hands
were on deck. All was excitement. Our ship fought nobly
through the raging sea, and our crew, though now wearied
and worn…managed her well. But the worst is to come, the
gale increased…About 11 a.m. the waves were going clean
over us. And to add to this, we heard that our whale boat,
which had hung on good strong davits …had
washed
away….If
you have never been on a ship at sea in a gale,
you can have no conception of our feelings.
Figure
11. The three-masted bark John Williams. From
The Sabbath Scholar’s Treasury, 1865.
At our wits end, we (missionary passengers) all met for
prayer. …Whilst we were singing a hymn, just after we had
done praying…the sun broke through….It was truly an
audible sign that our prayers were answered. You can
understand me when I say it was a holy, impressive, and
long-to-be-remembered occasion. Shortly after this, Mr
Turpie passed through the saloon, and he told us they
thought all danger
was over…..On the Thursday evening…
we
(missionary passengers) had a meeting of
thanksgiving….
We have a good captain and mate…and a crew that few
ships can boast of. Poor fellows! I was sorry for them, and
hope they will now get better rest. Last night, after prayers,
when all thought they would be for bed, we heard music,
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