The Rise of the Banjo

[Trapdoor2]

The Rise of the Banjo

 

By S.S. Stewart

 

“The Banjo hung on the Kitchen wall,

(The sea-bass shone in the white-washed hall”)

‘Twas only the crude device of a slave,

Frowned upon by many then counted brave;

Sneered at by those too blind to see-

That through Evolution and Minstrelsy –

The time would arrive when it would be

The instrument to stand per se.

 

Years passed by, the slave was free

To sing his joyous minstrelsy.

The Banjo then in tone improved,

Pressed onward, too, as all things moved,

And the musician now its strings would touch-

(Just a little, not too much,)

And ladies here and there would condescend,

Their dainty fingers just to bend,

To test its harmony.

 

As time continued in its flight

(Just as the day succeeds the night)

The proud with humble pride just then,

Began to notice that from the pen

Of some influential literary men,

Came oft brief notices, couched in words of praise,

Stating that out of the distant fog and haze

Had arisen something upon which all might gaze

With native pride.

 

For ‘twas not a mere fancy-

Nor the whim of some Miss Nancy-

Which caused them to say

That before them lay

One of the rarest gems of Modern Art-

And all that was needed was a little start,

And it would keep going.

A few more years were numbered with the dead

(And all the while the Banjo crept on towards the head).

Now artists had begun to praise it,

So fools thought best no more to haze it;

And ladies, too, perchance, would hail it

And with fancy ribbons nail it

To the boudoir wall.

 

The dude would pluck its strings at times

And also swing it (like a bell in chimes).

The dudes also monkeyed with its strings,

And would attempt that part that swings

(With an awful strain upon those strings).

And often there would be a tussle,

For it required both brains and muscle,

And sometimes the bursting of a bustle

Would enliven things.

 

Now there arose a great confliction-

But what was feared a grand eviction

Proved to be a benediction

For some titled Nabob over the sea

Introduced the Banjo at an afternoon Tea.

(And where else would you have a man go?)

So over the seas

It became quite the cheese

To play the Spanish Fandango.

Then time in its cycle-

(Round like a rim)

Continued to speed on its way;

And gradually, but surely, it became quite the thing

For all on the Banjo to play.

Evolved from a cheese box-

(Such may have been the case),

But from less than a cheese box,

Came the human race.

It is therefore not well to rail;

For those who do may fail

To perceive the rarest beauty of the opening flower,

Which, by the aid of sunlight and the gentle shower

Rises from the earth at break of day.

 

The pen, they say, is mightier than the sword;

That depends on how ‘tis used;

The Banjo may have grown up from “a three-string gourd,”

But should it therefore be abused?

The Human Race, from the time of Noah’s Ark-

But stop – this is a mere speculation,

So now, hark! A certain fact I’ll mention:

All great things have once been small-

Even our earth, so large and round like a ball,

At one time did not exist at all-

(Before the days of Adam)

Great trees from little ones may grow;

The gourd gives place to the Modern Banjo.

A poor beginning may have a good ending,

If one but keeps his steps bending

Onward toward the top.

Another that strikes me is just this,

That although a fool may in his ignorance find bliss,

‘Tis only those who really learn and know,

And not those who merely turn a crank and go,

That have sufficient brains

And will take the pains

To learn the Banjo.

 

The Banjo now hangs in the Magic Circle,

And we can look back o’er the past,

With Evolution looking up and

Involution looking down-

It finds its place at last.

‘Tis not the hopeless “might have been,”

As the cry of men who dream,

But still the hopeful “yet to be”

That greets our Queen.

Ever onward – scale the heights,

Up the pinnacle of art,

Up above the masthead lights,

(She’ll go, for She has got the start.)

 

So never fear the dreaded tussle,

Which caused the rupture of a bustle;

Nor the stigma of the negro hand,

Which once was echoed o’er the land.

For all things in their place are good;

First we have milk, then solid food;

Just remain in a joyful mood-

Don’t mind the dudess or the dude,

But treat yourself just like a friend,

And there’ll be little left to mend;

For old Dan Tucker, in his day,

And Picayune Butler, too,

Did their best – it was their best,

But that’s not best for you.

Just take this motto to your heart,

This brief advice before we part;

When on the Banjo you display your art-

Always use the S. S. Stewart

 

 

[Joel Hooks]

A standing ovation to Marc!!!

In as published form on my website, last in the list. The cuts are great.


http://web.me.com/joelhooks/Site/Instruction_%26_Music_Collections....

[Jody Stecher]

I am taking SSS's advice and am not minding the dudess. I am less sanguine about the sea bass. The sea bass is in quotes as well as in parentheses. Is he visiting from some other poem? Has the banjo replaced the sea bass in the white washed hall?

[Trapdoor2]

It does seem like the first lines are excerpted from somewhere...probably from the Journal.

Intriguing that he would invoke the nickname of a long dead Vice President (Miss Nancy). And I also find interesting that he speaks of Evolution w/o comment.

In the woodcuts, I like the idea that the gourd-banjo is portrayed as a something like a turks-head gourd (lobular).

I find sea-bass delicious but tonally it is a bit fishy.

[Jody Stecher]

tone-a-fish? It's good with tomatoes.

Trapdoor2 said:

I find sea-bass delicious but tonally it is a bit fishy.

[Joel Hooks]

It is from the first two lines of "The Old Jaw Bone."

He makes reference to evolution several times in the Journal, I don't know for fact as I have not devoted a lot of research to it, but it seem that the modern pseudo mania surrounding these "hot button" topics are just that... modern.

Not to get too far from the topic, but it seems many of these are modern (1950s origins?) political devices used to scare the weak minded and get their votes.

OK back to it. After reading it, I thought that it sounded familiar. He published it under the title "The Banjo- An Extemporaneous Poem," in the June- July 1889 issue. But we don't get the wonderful cuts.

Did anyone notice that the gourd banjo on page 6 has a short string hump, three strings and two pegs at the top. Where the cut on page 3 has three strings with three pegs on the head?

[Trapdoor2]

I hadn't noticed. Cuts of the banjo are often inaccurate. I would love to see one built on a gourd like that though.

There is a great sense of humor behind all this. I absolutely love the cut of the "solid food". That chicken must have been solid thru and thru to deserve an ax!

Either that or it is a re-tasked cut from "Lizzie Borden's Chicken Dinner".