Charles Lyell, A Second Visit to the United States of North America, Vol. I (London, 1849), 327

Item

Title

Charles Lyell, A Second Visit to the United States of North America, Vol. I (London, 1849), 327

Includes music itself or text of song

no

Identity of singers; solo/group

enslaved oarsmen
solo+ group

Voice/instrument

male voices, also percussive qualities "keeping time to the stroke of their oars"?
percussive use of the oar in the water

Space/room

Altamah River in GA

activity

rowing a canoe

Ornamentation / improvisation

improvisation, also call and response?

genre

hymns, "love ditty"

Geographical location

Darien, Georgia

Notable adjectives

"loudly", "oddly", "profane"

Excerpt

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.

Context

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.

Bias of author

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.

Item sets