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The Smith and Hatt Manuscripts
Edith did relatively little field work, in the narrow sense, after the 1960s, and her broadcasting career came to an end
in the mid-1970s. However, she never gave up the search for folk songs and stories, as she continued to be involved
in the publishing of books, on a regular basis. It is evident that Edith was always sensitive to any new folk material
which came her way. This was a trait that led directly to her 1981 edition of Sea Songs and Ballads from Nineteenth-
Century Nova Scotia: The William H. Smith and Fenwick Hatt Manuscripts
The book came into being as a result of Edith reading the short story "Blind McNair" by the well-known Canadian
novelist Thomas H. Raddall. The central figure in the story was a wandering ballad singer and the main event was a
ballad singing contest. When Edith read the story, having the memory that she had, she realized many of the stanzas
quoted from the songs in the story were not from any printed source of which she was aware. In 1975, she wrote
Thomas Raddall of Liverpool, Nova Scotia, to ask him about the songs.
Raddall replied by letter that he never had collected any songs deliberately but was quite aware of many when he was
at sea as a teenager. In 1940, he had persuaded Brenton Smith, the son of wind-jammer Captain William H. Smith,
to write down the songs his father was singing. Later Raddall came across a small manuscript book of sea ballads
that was once owned by the 19th-century sailor, Captain Fenwick Hatt. Hall's son George had the book and would not
part with it, but did allow Raddall to make a typewritten copy.
Edith seized the opportunity and went to Nova Scotia, eventually locating both manuscripts in the archives at
Dalhousie University. She edited them, deciphering much of the handwriting to establish the song texts; as well, she
prepared an extensive analysis of each song (Fowke 1981: 1-5). According to Edith, the Hatt manuscript contains the
earliest Anglo-Canadian songs discovered to date, and the Smith manuscript is one of the largest collection of sea
shanties ever found in Canada (Fowke 1990: 298-99). The song texts and analyses were assembled, without
accompanying music, into the 118-page softcover book and released by Folklorica Press of New York in 1981.
Edith felt she had published enough books of songs by the 1970s (Fowke 1990: 298). Her interests began to move
more toward folklore and children's song. She had become familiar with the work of the Hungarian composer, song
collector, and music educator Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967). Kodaly had developed a successful method of teaching
music at the elementary school level. For a number of years in the 1980s, Edith lectured at the University of Calgary in
conjunction with the Kodaly summer diploma program (Rogers 1982: 30; Choksy: 1998).
In 1982 Edith received her third honorary doctorate, from York University, and in 1983 she was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Canada. In 1984 she was given an honorary life membership in the Canadian Folk Music Society; the
same year she left her fulltime position at York University, but continued to teach a course on ballads and folksongs.
In 1 986, she received her fourth honorary doctorate, from the University of Regina. Also in 1986, she won the
prestigious Vicky Metcalf award for children's publications (Anon. 1996: 18).
Edith's renewed interest in folklore and children's songswas reflected in the number of books on these subjects she
published throughout the late 1970s and the 1980s. The Bibliography of Canadian Folklore in English, co-authored
with Carole Carpenter and Folk Tales of French Canada appeared in 1979. Riot of Riddles and Songs and Sayings of
an Ulster Childhood, the latter with Alice Kane, appeared in 1983. Explorations in Canadian Folklore, also co-
authored with Carole Carpenter, was published in 1985. Tales Told in Canada appeared in 1986, and in 1988,
Canadian Folklore and Red Rover, Red Rover: Children's Games Played in Canada were issued.
Throughout this period, Edith also continued to provide folksong articles to the Canadian Folk Music Bulletin. As well,
she wrote essays on folk music and folklore for specialized publications such as the Festschrift for Horace F. Beck By
Land and by Sea: Studies in Folklore of Work and Leisure.
Final Publications
1994 was the last year any new books authored, or coauthored, by Edith, were published. Legends Told in Canada
was the final folklore publication, and . Family Heritage: The Story and Songs of LaRena Clark, co-authored with Jay
Rahn, was the last of the folksong books. This volume was based on the song tapes of LaRena Clark, a singer
whom Edith had begun recording in the 1960s, in Richmond, Quebec. Later LaRena moved and the song collecting
continued. Although she lived many years in the Ottawa Valley, she had been raised in central Ontario, near Lake
Simcoe, to which she returned. Edith continued collecting from her throughout the 1980s.
Edith's most prolific informant, LaRena could sing in their entirety more than 600 traditional songs, all learned during
childhood from her own family. Even more remarkable was that LaRena had only started singing the old songs after
she had raised her children and they had left home (Fowke and Rahn 1994: 16-18).
Edith, who had already established herself as the primary contact with LaRena, asked Jay Rahn to be the music
collaborator on the LaRena Clark book. Every few weeks, Edith would give Jay tapes of LaRena's singing, a half
dozen or so at a time. Jay then prepared the musical notation of each song directly from the tape, exactly as it was
sung. After the notation of a set of songs was complete, Edith would ask, "Are the tunes good?" (Rahn 1998).
Family Heritage: The Story and Songs of LaRena Clark by Edith Fowke and Jay Rahn was published by The
University of Calgary Press in 1994. It contains a biography of LaRena Clark, as well as an analysis of her singing
style. Historical notes supplement each of the 93 songs which are presented with their complete text, music, and
guitar chords. One of the most difficult tasks in the preparation of the book was deciding which songs would be
included, since the source material was so vast. The latter part of the publication provides more notes on the music
and its sources, as well as a complete list of LaRena Clark's recordings and original compositions.
Detailing 22 folk stories from different times and all parts of the country, Legends Told in Canada, published by the
Royal Ontario Museum in 1994, was the final folklore book Edith edited. Edith contributed to the Canadian Folk Music
Bulletin right up to her death in March, 1996. The magazine that month printed an obituary of Kenneth Goldstein,
prepared by his friend Edith. Two months after her death, her recollections of Alan Mills appeared in the Bulletin.
Edith did not intend these to be her last publications. At the time of her death she was completing a book of bawdy
songs, which she had been working on with Kenneth Goldstein. She had also been working on a book of women's
folk songs as well as a cookbook in songster format (Fruitman 1996; Rahn 1998).
Conclusion
Edith donated books, tapes, and notes to the University of Calgary's library. To all of Canada, she left a wealth of
published materials and an indelible mark on folksong and folklore scholarship. A self-taught song collector and
folklorist, she did things her own way. Despite criticism, Edith never apologized for being a popularizer, answering her
critics by saying (Ross 1996):
What a lot of nonsense! I am criticized because I am a popularizer, which is apparently a bad thing. But I feel
if I collect from the folk, I should return to the folk.
Edith had a passion for folklore and folk song, and she wanted to pass it on to all Canadians. She also wanted
Canadian institutions to recognize the value of folk culture. In Folklore of Canada, Edith wrote about (1996: 12):
. . . folk culture — what Dr. Dorson has termed "the hidden submerged culture lying in the shadow of the
official civilization about which historians write." In the search for our national identity surely this folk culture
deserves more recognition that it has so far received.
Edith Fowke liked folk songs because they were about ordinary people, and she considered herself ordinary. She
said "What ordinary people do is important" (Ross 1996). In her life and publications, Edith Fowke proved her point!
References
Caputo, Virginia. (1989). "Continuity and Change in Canadian English-Language Children's Song: A Replication and
Extension in 1988 of Edith Fowke's Fieldwork 1959-1964." Unpub. MA thesis (Music), York University.
Carpenter, Carole Henderson. (1979). Many Voices: A Study of Folklore Activities in Canada and Their Role in
Canadian Culture. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada.
Choksy, Lois. (1998). Correspondence with author, Mar. 2. Donald, Betty. (1975). "Edith Fulton Fowke." in Irma
McDonough, ed. Profiles. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association, rev. ed.: 69-72
Fowke, Edith Fulton. (1948). Toward Socialism: Selections from the Writings of J.S. Woodsworth. Toronto: Ontario
Woodsworth Memorial Foundation.
_____(1949). "Canadian Folksongs." Canadian Forum 29/346 :177-79; 29/347: 201-202.
——-. (1951). They Made Democracy Work: The Story of the Co-operative Committee on Japanese Canadians.
Toronto: The Co-operative Committee on Japanese Canadians.
_____and Richard Johnston, comp, ed. (1954). Folk Songs of Canada. Waterloo, Ont. : Waterloo Music.
_____and Alan Mills, comp., ed. (1956). 0 Canada: A History in Song. New York: Folkways FW3001.
_____and Richard Johnston, comp., ed. (1957a). Folk Songs of Quebec. Waterloo, Ont. : Waterloo Music.
_____ and John D. Robins, comp., ed. (1957b).Logging with Paul Bunyan. Toronto: Ryerson Press.
_____ and Alan Mills, comp., ed. (1957c). Songs of the Sea. New York: Folkways FA2312.
___, comp. (1958). Folk Songs of Canada. New York: Folkways FMOO5.
___, comp. (1958). Folk Songs of Ontario. New York: Folkways FE4005.
______ and Alan Mills, comp, ed. (1960a). Canada's Stonj in Song. Toronto: W.J. Gage.
__, comp. (1960b). Per's Four Play Eastern Square Dance Music: Jigs and Reels, vol. 2. New York:Folkways FW8826.
______ and Joe Glazer, comps. (1960c). Songs of Work and Freedom. Chicago: Roosevelt University Press.
__, comp. (1961a). Irish and British Songs from the Ottawa Valley. New York: Folkways FM 4051.
___, comp. (1961b). Lumbering Songs from the Ontario Shanties. New York: FolkwaysFM4O52.
——-. (1964). [liner notes tol Stanley D. Baby, Songs of the Great Lakes. New York: Folkways Records, FE4018.
—. (1965a). Saskatchewan— The Sixtieth Year: His torical Pagean t. Regina: Saskatchewan Diamond Jubilee and
Centennial Corporation.
—, comp. (1965b). Traditional Singers and Songs from Ontario. Hatboro, Pa.: Folklore Associates.
___, ___, (1965c). Trent University Archives, ms. #97-1016.
______. (1965d). "News Jottings: Edith Fowke." Newsletter of the Canadian Folk Music Society. 1/1: 7-8; 1/2: 10-11.
___, comp. (1965e). LaRena Clark: A Canadian Garland. Topic 12T140.
© Canadian Journal for Traditional Music
Citation Format
Kirby, Allan (1998). What Ordinary People Do Is Important: Edith Fowke's Life And Publications. Canadian Journal for
Traditional Music: 26, 1 [iuicode: http://www.icaap.org/iuicode?176.26.1.1]
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