Charles Lyell, A Second Visit to the United States of North America, Vol. I (London, 1849), 327
Item
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Title
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Charles Lyell, A Second Visit to the United States of North America, Vol. I (London, 1849), 327
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Includes music itself or text of song
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no
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Identity of singers; solo/group
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enslaved oarsmen
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solo+ group
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Voice/instrument
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male voices, also percussive qualities "keeping time to the stroke of their oars"?
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percussive use of the oar in the water
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Space/room
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Altamah River in GA
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activity
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rowing a canoe
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Ornamentation / improvisation
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improvisation, also call and response?
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genre
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hymns, "love ditty"
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Geographical location
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Darien, Georgia
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Notable adjectives
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"loudly", "oddly", "profane"
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Excerpt
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He came down the river to meet us in a long canoe, hollowed out of the trunk of a single cypress, and rowed by six negroes, who were singing loudly, and keeping time to the stroke of their oars. He brought us a packet of letters from England, which had been sent to his house, a welcome New Year's gift; and when we had glanced over their contents, we entered the boat and began to ascend to the Altamaha.
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Context
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In this section of the book, Lyell was describing the experience he had while traveling on a canoe on the Altamaha River, in the village of Darien. On the canoe with him was Hamilton Couper, a slave owner, and a few enslaved oarsmen. On the canoe, the oarsmen were singing, and Lyell writes about what he heard.
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Bias of author
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Lyell describes the music as sounding odd to him, and he said that the oarsmen were singing loudly. It seems like he might have had a preconceived notion about what enslaved Americans sound like, which is not necessarily in the most positive light.