Straws in the Wind: Ballads and Broadsides, 1500-1800

Conference 2006 wallensFebruary 24-26, 2006
Annual EMC Conference
McCune Conference Room (HSSB 6020)

The Early Modern Center of the University of California, Santa Barbara and its affiliates invite scholars to attend the EMC Winter Conference, “Straws in the Wind: Ballads and Broadsides, 1500-1800.” This two-day interdisciplinary event derives its title from a comment made by John Selden (whose collection of ballads Samuel Pepys built upon) in touting the importance of ballads, or what he called “libels” of his time. “Though some make slight of libels,” Selden protests, “yet you may see by them how the wind sits. As take a straw, and throw it up into the air; you shall see by that which way the wind is, which you shall not do by casting up a stone.” This conference provides a space to interrogate these “scattered straws” from a range of perspectives. How do they function as cultural artifacts or as indicators of their historical moments? What are the lasting impacts and legacies of ballad culture? If ballads and broadsides have the capacity to show trends of popular culture, do they also have the potential to change them?

The two-day program offers seven exciting panels representing a variety of disciplines, on topics including ballad collection, aesthetics, monsters, gender and transgression, class, the political and the transatlantic.

Among the speakers are such distinguished scholars as:

Julie Crawford
Frances E. Dolan
Dianne Dugaw
Patricia Fumerton
Anita Guerrini
Ruth Perry
Sean Shesgreen
William B. Warner
Joy Wiltenburg

In addition to two days of formal panels and papers, the conference will include an evening of song and ballad performance! For more details on the program, please see the working conference schedule.

Registration information is available below. You may register by mail or email.

Conference Sponsors

The University of California Humanities Research Initiative (UCHRI)

And from UCSB:
The Early Modern Center
The College of Arts and Sciences
The Division of Humanities and Fine Arts
The Interdisciplinary Humanities Center

As well as the following UCSB departments and programs:
English Department
Art History
Comparative Literature
Dramatic Arts
French and Italian
History
Spanish and Portuguese
Women’s Studies


Call for Papers

CFP Deadline: October 15th, 2005

The Early Modern Center at the University of California Santa Barbara invites paper proposals for “Straws in the Wind: Ballads and Broadsides, 1500-1800,” an interdisciplinary conference to be held at UCSB on February 24 and 25, 2006.

“Straws in the Wind” derives its title from a comment made by John Selden (whose collection of ballads Samuel Pepys built upon) in touting the importance of ballads, or what he called “libels” of his time.  “Though some make slight of libels,” Selden protests, “yet you may see by them how the wind sits.  As take a straw, and throw it up into the air; you shall see by that which way the wind is, which you shall not do by casting up a stone.” This conference provides a space to interrogate these “scattered straws” from a range of perspectives. How do they function as cultural artifacts or as indicators of their historical moments? What are the lasting impacts and legacies of ballad culture? If ballads and broadsides have the capacity to show trends of popular culture, do they also have the potential to change them? Papers should address issues central to the study of ballads and broadsides. Possible topics might include:

ballad collections as reliable sources of the past
formal features of ballads and broadsides (woodcuts and blackletter print)
ballad music and tunes
the “problem” of women on the streets
representations of transgressive genders and sexualities
the preoccupation with monsters and wonders
violent encounters notions of nation and national identity
the rise of the political broadside in both England and America

In addition to two days of formal panels and papers, the conference will include an evening of song and ballad performance!

The Early Modern Center at UCSB is uniquely positioned to host “Straws in the Wind: Ballads and Broadsides, 1500-1800,” as we have recently begun work on a one-of-a-kind online archive of English broadside ballads, 1500-1800. This ballad archive will provide a fully searchable database and catalogue of high-quality facsimile images (digitized in three sizes) as well as modern transcriptions of the broadside ballads provided in such a way that the viewer never loses sight of the original ballad artifact.  Sung versions of the ballads will also be available. We have already mounted and fully catalogued the 1,857 ballads in the Samuel Pepys collection, together with some transcriptions and songs of the ballads. Click Here to visit the Pepys Ballad Archive. We hope that this conference will continue in the spirit of the archive project, fueling inquiries and investigations of ballads and broadsides that consider the artifact as well as its many implications.

Proposals for twenty-minute papers should be 300 words or less and be submitted by September 15 to the Straws in the Wind website, using our Online Submission Form. Please direct questions and concerns to emc_conference_06@yahoo.com.


Conference Schedule

Day One: Friday, February 24

8:15 | Shuttle Departs South Coast Inn for UCSB Campus

8:30-9:00 | Registration and Coffee

9:00-9:30 | Introduction
Patricia Fumerton (English, Director EMC, UCSB), “The Spacious Voices of Broadsides and Ballads: Pepys’s Blackamoor, Black and More”

9:30-10:45 | Session 1. Re-Collecting Ballads
Moderator: Joseph Nagy (English, UCLA)

Alan H. Nelson (English, UC Berkeley), “Humphrey Dyson: Unheralded Collector of Early English Ballads”
Giles Bergel (English, University of London), “‘An Acquaintance of a Much Lower Stamp’: Thomas Percy and the Dicey Press”
Mary Ellen Brown (Folklore/Ethnomusicology, Indiana University), “Child’s Ballads and the Broadside Conundrum”
Gerald Egan (English, UCSB), “Encoding an Electronic Archive of English Broadside Ballads”

11:00-12:15 | Session 2. Street Aesthetics: Woodcuts and Black Letter
Moderator: Mark Meadow (Art History, UCSB)

Elizabeth Mitchell (Art History, UCSB), “William Hogarth’s Pregnant Ballad Sellers and the Printer’s Matrix”
Sean Shesgreen (English, Northern Illinois University), “Crude Woodcuts from a Hawker’s Basket: Images for ‘The Bottom Levels of the Social Scale’”
Angela McShane-Jones (History, Oxford Brookes University), “The Singing Shoemaker, Richard Rigby: Cobbling Together Popular Political Ballads in Early Modern England”

12:15-1:30 | LUNCH

1:30-3:15 | Session 3. Monsters and Wonders
Moderator: Robert Erickson (English, UCSB)

Tassie Gniady (English, UCSB), “Do You Take This Hog-Faced Woman As Your Lawful, Wedded Wife?”
Julie Crawford (English & Comparative Literature, Columbia University), “Monsters in the Margins”
Joel Slotkin (Introduction to the Humanities Program, Stanford University), “Chimerical Allegories in Early Modern Broadside Ballads”
Anita Guerrini (History, UCSB), “Advertising Monstrosity: Broadsides and Human Exhibition in the Early 18th Century”

3:15 | Shuttle Departs UCSB Campus for South Coast Inn

4:15 | Shuttle Departs South Coast Inn for Chase Palm Park Center

Evening Events at Chase Palm Park Center

4:30-5:30 | Reception

5:30-6:30 | Lecture-Performance
Introductory Remarks: Stefanie Tcharos (Music, UCSB)

Dianne Dugaw (English, University of Oregon), “Fighting and Sailing Women in Folksongs and History”

6:30-8:00 | DINNER

8:00-9:30 | Night of Songs
Ballad Tunes performed by:

Jennifer Bowen (Geography, UCSB)
Revell Carr (Music, UCSB)
Dianne Dugaw (English, University of Oregon)
Katherine Meizel (Music, UCSB)
Rebecca Mounts (English, UCSB)
Ruth Perry (Literature, MIT)
Rob Wallace (English, UCSB)

*With a special guest appearance by renowned early modern vocalist Judith Nelson*

9:30 | Shuttle Departs Chase Palm Park Center for South Coast Inn

Day Two: Saturday, February 25

8:45 | Shuttle Departs South Coast Inn for UCSB Campus

9:00-9:15 | Registration and Coffee

9:15-10:30 | Session 4. Gender and Transgression I: Hearing Voices
Moderator: E. Heckendorn Cook (English, UCSB)

Niamh J. O’Leary (English, Pennsylvania State University), “Singing Community: Listening to Women’s Voices in Early Modern Street Ballads”
Simone Chess (English, UCSB), “‘And I my vowe did keepe’: Oath Making, Subjectivity and Husband Murder in ‘Murderous-Wife’ Ballads”
Thomas Pettitt (Literature, University of Southern Denmark),“Folk Song and Femicide: Journalism vs. Tradition in the Early English Ballads of the Murdered Sweetheart”

Coffee Break

10:45-12:15 | Session 5. Gender and Transgression II: Crime
Moderator: Liberty Stanavage (English, UCSB)

Frances E. Dolan (English & Women’s Studies, UC Davis), “Tracking the Petty Traitor across Genres”
Joy Wiltenburg (History, Rowan University), “Ballads and the Emotional Life of Crime”
Ruth Perry (Literature, MIT), “Brother Trouble: Incest and Murder in English Ballads”

12:15- 1:30 | LUNCH

1:30-2:45 | Session 6. Class and the Collective
Moderator: Patrick Ludolph (History, UCSB)

Steve Newman (English, Temple University), “‘The Maiden’s Bloody Garland’: Thomas Warton and the Elite Appropriation of Popular Song”
Melissa M. Mowry (English, St. John’s University), “‘Poor-whores,’ ‘Apprentices’ and ‘Citizens’: The 1668 Bawdy House Riots and the Imperative of Collectivity”
Christa Lynn Pehl (Music, Princeton University), “The Representation of Lower-Class Diet in Seventeenth-Century English Broadside Balladry”

3:00-4:45 | Session 7. Political Broadsides: From England to the Americas
Moderator: Elisa Tamarkin (English, UC Irvine)

Corrinne Harol (English, University of Alberta), “Relics in a Whiggish Age: Jacobites, Ballads, and Pretentious Bastards”
Scarlet Bowen (English, University of Colorado, Boulder), “‘Sold to Virginny’: Kidnapping Tales, Indentured Servitude, and the Anti-Emigration Movement, ca. 1680-1720”
Noelle Chao (English, UCLA), “Polly, Musical Crossing, and the In-Betweens of Circum-Atlantic Performance”
William B. Warner (English, UCSB), “Yankee Doodle, Masculine Anxiety, and the American Way of War”

4:45-5:30 | Reception and Open Discussion

5:30 | Shuttle Departs UCSB Campus for South Coast Inn

8:00 | DINNER at Opal


Night of Songs

Events at the Chase Palm Park Center
Friday, February 25, 4:30-9:30

Please join us at 4:30pm on Friday for an evening of events including a reception, a spectacular lecture-performance from Dianne Dugaw, a scrumptious catered dinner, and the performance of a number of ballads (many of which are pertinent to various “Straws in the Wind” talks), including a special guest appearance by renowned early modern vocalist Judith Nelson.

To reserve your seat for the Night of Songs, please register early and include an additional $25 for dinner ($15 for students) with your registration fees.

4:30-5:30 | Reception
The beautiful, beachside Chase Palm Park Center should grant an amazing sunset view for this wine and beer reception.

5:30 | Welcome
Patricia Fumerton, Director of the Early Modern Center and Pepys Ballad Archive

5:30-6:30 | Lecture-Performance
Introductory Remarks: Stefanie Tcharos (Music, UCSB)
Dianne Dugaw (English, University of Oregon), “Fighting and Sailing Women in Folksongs and History”

6:30-8:00 | DINNER
Between performances enjoy a delicious dinner catered by Brouillard’s.

Buffet Menu

8:00-9:30 | Night of Songs

Anne Wallens Lamentation, performed by Rebecca Mounts
This Maid Would Give Ten Shillings for a Kiss, performed by Katherine Meizel
Battle of the Birds, performed by Revell Carr
Chevy Chase, performed by Ruth Perry
Yankee Doodle, performed by Revell Carr with Rob Wallace (on the drum)
To Anacreon in Heaven, performed by Judith Nelson with Jennifer Bowen (on the harpsichord)
The United Lovers, performed by Judith Nelson with Jennifer Bowen (on the harpsichord)

BREAK

Fair Flower of Northumberland, performed by Ruth Perry
Innocent Shepherd and the Crafty Wife, performed by Revell Carr and Katherine Meizel
The Cunning Age, performed by Dianne Dugaw, Katherine Meizel, and Ruth Perry
The Husbandman’s Delight, performed by Revell Carr and Jennifer Bowen (on the harpsichord)

CHASE PALM PARK CENTER

Located on Santa Barbara’s beachfront, the Chase Park Palm Center provides a beautiful view of the ocean and Stearns Wharf.

Chase Palm Park Center
236 E. Cabrillo Blvd.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Directions from South Coast Inn :
Turn LEFT on CALLE REAL.   (0.7 Miles)
Turn RIGHT at N PATTERSON AVE (0.2 Miles)
Turn LEFT onto 101 South (7.5 Miles)
Take the GARDEN STREET exit.  (0.2 Miles)
Turn RIGHT onto GARDEN STREET.  (0.3 Miles)
Turn LEFT onto E. CABRILLO BLVD.  (0.1 Miles)
Chase Palm Park Center will be on your RIGHT, on the ocean side of Cabrillo, across the street from the Carousel.

Directions from Downtown :
Follow STATE STREET Southeast, toward the ocean.
STATE STREET ends at CABRILLO BLVD.
Turn LEFT onto E. CABRILLO BLVD.  (0.3 Miles)
Chase Palm Park Center will be on your RIGHT, on the ocean side of Cabrillo, across the street from the Carousel.

Parking:
Two public parking lots are located at Cabrillo Boulevard on the ocean side of the street and across the street at Garden Street.

Please email any questions to emc_conference_06@yahoo.com.


Saturday Dinner

All conference participants are invited to join us for dinner at opal in downtown Santa Barbara on Saturday evening.

This dinner provides the opportunity for participants to socialize over a delicious, elegant meal. The fixed-price menu ($35/person) offers a selection of items from opal’s eclectic California cuisine.

Click here to see the evening’s menu.

So that we can make the proper arrangements with the restaurant, please RSVP for dinner when you register for the conference, before February 10th. To confirm your reservation, please include with your registration a check for $35 payable to Patricia Fumerton.

Please email questions to: emc_conference_06@yahoo.com.


Registration Information

Registration Deadline: February 10th.

Please register early; there is limited seating for the Night of Songs and Saturday dinner.

You may register by mail or email.

Conference Fees:

Registration: The conference is free and open to the public.
Night of Songs Event [Reception and Dinner]: $25 ($15 for students)
Saturday Dinner: $35

To confirm your reservation for the dinners, please send a check for the appropriate amount to Jessica Murphy at the address below. A check with your name prominently marked should be made out to Patricia Fumerton.

To register by mail:

Please download and mail your completed REGISTRATION FORM to the address below.

Jessica Murphy
Department of English
2607 South Hall
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California 93106-3170
(805) 893-4365
jcmurphy@umail.ucsb.edu

To register by email:
Please include the following information in an email to emc_conference_06@yahoo.com.
Type “Registration” in the subject line.

Your Name
Departmental Affiliation
University Affiliation
E-mail Address
Mailing Address
Telephone Number
Are Faculty, Student, or other?
Will you attend the Night of Songs event on Friday night?
Will you attend the Saturday dinner?

Confirm your dinner reservations by mailing a check for the cost of the meals to Jessica Murphy at the above address. Your check should have your name prominently marked and should be made payable to Patricia Fumerton.

Be sure to register early for the Night of Songs Event and the Saturday dinner! Seating will be limited.

Feel free to contact the conference committee with any questions at: emc_conference_06@yahoo.com

Conference Coordinators:

Patricia Fumerton
Kris McAbee
Anita Guerrini
Jessica C. Murphy
Simone Chess
Liberty Stanavage
Tassie Gniady
Mac Test
Paxton Hehmeyer