Topic: CRS Versions
(This continues a discussion begun on 28 November 2021.)
My copy of Carl Edward Zander and Wes Klusmann’s Camp Songs (1938) is 56 pages with 163 titles in the index. My edition of their Camp Songs ’n’ Things (1939) is 120 pages with 143 titles. The use of music explains the differences in page length. [1]
Both booklets mix “fun songs” with rounds, nineteenth-century popular songs, religious, and organizational material. In the 1938 version, Boy Scout songs [2] dominate the section of “Organization Songs” while some associated with the Camp Fire Girls, [3] Girl Scouts, [4] and Young Women’s Christian Association [5] are sprinkled through the collection.
The “Organization Songs” section of the 1939 books is more inclusive. Boy Scout songs still are the majority, but there are ones from the Farm Bureau, [6] 4-H, [7] Camp Fire, Young Men’s Christian Association, [8] and Young Women’s Christian Association. [E] In addition, the CFG, YWCA, and Girl Scout songs published in 1938 are included elsewhere in the book, as are some new Girl Scout [9] and YWCA songs. [10]
Many of the remaining songs fall into one of the categories for American folk music used by Carl Sandburg and John Lomax. [11] Two groups are “Sea Songs” and “Songs of the Range.” Chanteys are popular with Boy Scout camps that stress aquatic activities or have a Sea Scouts program. Cowboy songs have special resonance in the west. “Songs of the South” includes both spirituals and songs by Stephen Foster.
Zander and Klusmann are like Sandburg, whose goal is to present the songs people are singing. They differ from Lomax and Lynn Rohrbough who emphasize material they believe people ought to know or be singing. Thus, Rohrbough uses international songs from the Concord school [12] and its publisher, E. C. Schirmer, while the Boy Scout leaders use songs from a variety of sources.
Both include Augustus Zanzig’s “Walking at Night” [13] and the “Weggis Song.” The second was introduced by the YWCA in 1922. [14] They also share the English songs, “Green Grow the Rushes” and “The Keeper.” Rohrbough credits the first to a British songbook, [15] and probably learned the second from a Concord songbook. [16] The camp version of “The Keeper” goes back to Cecil Sharp. [17]
All the European songs used by Zander and Klusmann have choruses of sung syllables. I use the term “sung syllables,” rather than “vocables,” because “vocables” has become a generic term for any spoken sound that does not have a specific definition. It includes everything from words like “huh” to lyrics of Native American music. [18]
“Sung syllables” usually rhyme and often exploit literary techniques like alliteration, consonance, and ablaut reduplicatives. [19] “Weggis” uses the /L/ with different hard consonants in “hol-di-ri di-a.” The more challenging “Walking alternates labial and dental phonemes in “sto-do-lo pum-pa.”
Sung syllables are not nonsense, like “Tiddle de Wink de Wink de Woo,” [20] better known as “skinna-ma-rink-a-dink,” because they alternate textual verses with the choruses. Thus, they provide a way for older campers, who are under pressure to abandon their childish ways, [21] to continue making sounds for the joy of making sounds. Most have three verses, which provide three opportunities to sing the chorus. With “Walking,” added pleasure comes from the juxtaposition of the slow verse with the tongue-twisting chorus.
Zander and Klusmann included “The Foot Traveler” in Camp Songs and said it was from the Franklin Square Collection. [22] The editor, John Piersol McCaskey, began attending the Lancaster County Teachers’ Institutes in Pennsylvania. [23] His collection developed into eight volumes published by Harper Brothers between 1881 and 1892. [24] Its begins “on foot I gaily take my way” with a “tra la la” chorus.
The two editors added more European songs in 1939. “The Herdsman,” has a similar theme to “The Foot Traveler” with a yodeling-style chorus of “ho-le-a.” It first was published by the British Girl Guides in the Kent County Song Book. [25]
The other two European songs are drawn from the national song repertoire. Rohrbough published them in different versions. The Scout’s text for “Marianina” is by Homer Harbour, [26] while CRS has words by David Stevens. [27] The chorus exploits the alliterative qualities of the girl’s name when it combines it with “tra la la.” Zanzig said it was “a popular favorite in Italy, especially in Tuscany.” [28] He was using the Harbour words when he was touring, but, by the time he published Singing America, his publisher probably had indicated it already had copyrighted versions of the song. [29]
The Boy Scout version of “Tiritomba” was published by the Paul-Pioneer Music Corporation in 1933, [30] while CRS used one from the Concord school. [31] The Neopolitan song was published by Guillaume-Louis Cottrau in the early nineteenth century. [32] When Rohrbough’s songbooks reached audiences outside those that supported by youth groups included in Zander and Klusmann’s songbooks, people wanted rational explanations for words that did not fit the “tra la la” mode. CRS finally had to add “‘Tiritomba’ is meaningless, not a word.” [33]
For this blog, “Kumbaya” is the most important of these songs with unknown words that require explanation before some will sing them.
Notes on Performers
Carl Edward Zander, shown in the above photograph was born in 1897 to a man who had moved to California from Troy, New York, sometime before 1892, when he married a local women. [34] During World War I, Zander served in the artillery in France and Germany, [35] something that would have provided him with skills needed to run camps for adolescent boys.
At sometime, he leaned to play “the banjo, guitar, and a small wind instrument.” [36] After World War II, he worked with his wife’s brothers in a lumber company in Berkeley, and died in Contra Costa, California, in 1976. [37] His son remembers “sailings to Catalina Island aboard the boat he built with his Dad” and their “many adventures at the Scout Camp in the mountains.” [38]
His name became more prominent after he joined the national Scout staff to direct the organization’s camping program in 1943. [41] He was particularly active in integrating Order of the Arrow, one of those alternative local activities mentioned in the post for 28 November 2021, into the standard program. He retired in 1962 [42] and died in 1979. [43] “He is perhaps best remembered by a generation of Arrowmen for leading each National Conference in singing his favorite song, ‘The Happy Wanderer’.” [44]
Graphics
1. Carl Edward Zander. Photograph courtesy of his family.
2. W. H. Klusmann. Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas, morning edition, 10 April 1945. Copy from The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries website uploaded under the Creative Commons License.
End Notes
1. More details on these two songbooks can be found in the post for 28 November 2021. Zander and Klusmann are mentioned again in posts for 13 March 2022 and 20 March 2022.
2. The one with the most enduring popularity is “Trail the Eagle.” Its composer, Donald Monroe, was the first Scout executive for the Crescent Bay District Council. [45] He is mentioned briefly on page 172 by Patricia Averill. Camp Songs, Folk Songs. Bloomington, Indiana: Xlibris, 2014.
3. The CFG contributions are “Paddle Song” on page 18, [46] and “Camp Fire Law” and “Camp Fire Prayer” [47] on page 52.
4. The round “Hey, Ho!” is from Sing Together, edited by Janet E. Tobitt. New York: Girl Scouts, Inc., 1936. 57.
5. The YWCA published “As the Bright Flames Ascend” and “Each Camp Fire Lights Anew” in Girl Reserve Songbook, edited by Mildred Roe. New York: The Womans Press, 1923. 29. Girl Reserves was the young women’s group sponsored by the YWCA. “Each Camp Fire” is reproduced in the post for 28 November 2021 and 13 March 2022.
6. Lillian Atcherson, Florence Cheadle, and Catherine Wilson. “American Farm Bureau Spirit.” Copyright 1930 by American Farm Bureau Federation and reprinted on page 48.
7. “A Ploughing Songs” and “4-H Field Song.” Copyright by Home Publishing Company of Grinnell, Iowa. One is on page 83, the other on page 85. CRS identifies the composers as Fannie R. Buchanan and Rena M. Parish. [48]
8. Allen Spur. “Y.M.C.A. Song.” Copyright by Universal Publications and reproduced on page 87.
9. Marie Gaudette. “God Has Created a New Day.” 46 in Kent County Song Book, edited by Gladys Crawter, Doris Escombe, Audrey Page, and Alison Tennant for the Girl Guides. London: Novello, 1934 fifth edition. Reproduced on page 107. Gaudette is discussed by Averill on page 335 and her photograph appears on page 79.
10. Abbie Graham and John H. Glover. “Girl Reserve Litany,” reprinted on page 110.
Margaret Snyder. “Witchcraft.” Written in 1935 and copyrighted on 17 March 1937; reproduced on page 81. The song and Snyder are discussed by Averill on 348–351. Snyder’s photograph appears on page 571. The song is discussed in the post for 13 March 2022.
11. For more information on their organizational formats, see the posts for 5 May 2019 and 12 May 2019.
12. The Concord School is discussed in the post for 5 September 2021.
13. “Walking at Night.” 56 in Singing America, edited by Augustus D. Zanzin. Boston: C. C. Birchard, 1940. Czech, translated and arranged by Zanzig. It is mentioned the post for 28 November 2021. Averill provides more information on page 57.
14. “Weggis Song.” 2:160–161 in Folk Songs of Many Peoples, edited by Florence Hudson Botsford. New York: The Womans Press, volume 2, 1922. For more information, see the post for 13 March 2022.
15. “Green Grow the Rushes.” 59–60 in The New Fellowship Songbook, edited by H. Walford Davies. London: Novello, 1931. He says it is an “old song” and his Eton version came from Nevile Bray. It appears in Pocket Songster, edited for the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Delaware, Ohio: Cooperative Recreation Service. [49] 63.
16. Rohrbough never identifies a source, but it was published as “The Keeper” on pages 38–39 in A Book of Songs for Unison and Part Singing for Grades IV, V, and VI, edited by Archibald T. Davison, Thomas Whitney Surette, and Augustus D Zanzig. Boston: E. C. Schirmer Music Company, 1922. This page number is for the student edition called Concord 4. It appears on pages 44-45 of Concord 14, the version with piano accompaniment. An extract was published by E. C. Schirmer as Ten Folk Songs and Ballads. [50] Since it is identified as “traditional,” “English,” and “18th century,” Rohrbough may not have needed to cite his source.
17. Averill discusses “The Keeper” on page 231.
18. “Vocable.” Cambridge Dictionary website.
19. These techniques are discussed in more detail by Averill on pages 145–149.
20. Camp Songs, 45, and Camp Songs ’n’ Things, 94.
21. Averill discusses the consequences of pressures for rationality on children, and cites Freud on pages 112–113.
22. Camp Songs. 22.
23. Averill. 436. Teachers’ institutes are discussed in the post for 5 September 2021.
24. WorldCat website. “The Foot Traveler” appears in volume 5 of the Franklin Square Song Collection, edited by J. P. Mccaskey. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1888.
25. Kent County Song Book. 37. It is described as Swiss. My information is for the fifth edition. I do not know if it appeared in an earlier edition. These kind of youth group songbooks were not always collected by libraries and so do not appear on the WorldCat website.
26. “Marianina.” Italian melody, with English version by Homer Harbour and Zanzig; copyright by the National Recreation Association. Reprinted on page 68. Harbour earned a degree in English from Harvard in 1906, [51] and in 1911 co-wrote a song with Thomas Whitney Surrette of the Concord School. [52] He contributed eleven lyrics to the Concord schools book for the upper grades, mentioned in the above note 16, and later taught at the Brookline High School [53] where Zanzig was teaching in 1925. [54]
27. “Marianina.” Italian popular tune with words by David Stevens from Singing America. Reprinted on page 33 in CFG edition of Joyful Singing. Delaware, Ohio: Cooperative Song Services; copy provided by Josephine Weber of Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
28. Zanzig, Singing America. 82.
29. “Marianina.” Words by David Stevens and arrangement by Harvey Worthington Loomis; copyrighted by C. C. Birchard of Boston in 1924. [Worldcat website.]
“Marianina.” Words by David Stevens and arrangement by Gladys Pitcher; copyrighted by C. C. Birchard of Boston in 1927. [Worldcat website.]
30. “Tiritomba.” In Keep on Singing, edited by Kenneth S. Clark. New York: Paull Pioneer Music, 1933. Neopolitan Folk Song with English words by Fenton Gaylord; reproduced on page 54 of Camp Songs ’n’ Things.
31. “Tiritomba.” 27 in CFG Joyful Singing. Italian Folk Song from Ten Folk Songs and Ballads for School, Home and Camp. Boston: E. C. Schirmer, 1931. Another version is mentioned in the post for 13 March 2022.
32. Berny Devlin. Comment added 25 November 2011 to “Tiritomba (English translation).” Lyrics Translate website. Cottrau was a Frenchman who moved to Naples where he collected and wrote songs. [55] The first date for his revised Passatempi Musicali [56] on the WorldCat website is 1827.
33. “Tiritomba.” 17 in Music Makers for the Camp Fire Girls. Delaware, Ohio: Cooperative Song Service, copy purchased in 1975. Italian Folk Song, with English by Zanzig; © 1962, CRS, Inc.
34. Day Association Genealogical Committee. The Day Genealogy; A Record of the Descendants of Jacob Day and an Incomplete Record of Anthony Day. Boston: The Warren Press, 1916.
35. Carl Edward Zander family. Email, 3 November 2021.
36. Zander family.
37. BG. “Carl Edward Zander Sr.” Find a Grave website, 8 February 2021.
38. “Carl Edward Zander Jr.” Times-Standard, Eureka, California, 31 January 2012.
39. “Wesley Herman Klusman.” Mormon’s FamilySearch website.
40. “300 Boy Scouts in Annual Banquet.” Daily News, Los Angeles, California, 12 February 1932. 23.
41. “A History of ACA Presidents and Board Chairs.” American Camping Association website. He was president of the ACA from 1943 to 1944.
42. “NOAC 1967.” Order of the Arrow website.
43. FamilySearch.
44. Order of the Arrow. “The Happy Wanderer” was popularized in 1954 by the Obernkirchen Children’s Choir. Averill discusses its history on pages 311 and 332.
45. “Crescent Bay Historical Project.” Crescent Bay District, West Los Angeles BSA Council website, Jeff Morley webmaster.
46. “My paddle’s keen and bright” was written by Margaret Bradshaw McGee at Sebago-Wohelo in 1918. The camp was owned by the founders of Camp Fire, Charlotte Vetter Gulick and Luther Halsey Gulick. Averill has a short biography of her on page 445 and her photograph on page 565.
47. Words are credited to Rowe Wright.
48. The Bridge of Songs, edited by Max V. Exner for Iowa 4-H. Delaware, Ohio: Cooperative Recreation Service, 1957. 12 and 18.
49. This songbook is discussed in the post for 13 February 2022.
50. See note 31 for details.
51. Harvard Alumni Bulletin. 21:104:24 October 1918.
52. Homer Howells Harbour and Thomas Whitney Surrette. “Soldiers of the Republic.” Library of Congress website.
53. Murivan. Brookline, Massachusetts, high school yearbook, 1929.
54. See the post for 5 September 2021.
55. “Guillaume Louis Cottrau.” Wikipedia website.
56. Guillaume Louis Cottrau. Seconda edizione de' primi sei fascicoli dei Passatempi musicali. Naples: Calcografia e Copisteria de’ Reali Teatri, 1827.
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