2010 Schedule
Several live appearances of the 2nd South Carolina String Band have already been scheduled:
Ball in Lynchburg, Va on 27 March
Concert in Gettysburg: June 19
Concert in Gettysburg – 2-5 July
CONCERT & CIVIL WAR ENCAMPMENT:
Renfrew State Park, Waynesboro PA
7:30 pm. 7 Aug 2010
EDINBURG OLE TIME FESTIVAL, Edinburg, Va:
Dance and performances throughout the day
Sept. 18th, 19th. 2010
CEDAR CREEK RE-ENACTMENT, Middletown Va:
Dance and Performances throughout the day on Sutler Row
16, 17 October 2010
Please direct your booking questions to the address below:
What is a “Dulcem Melody” (as used in the chorus of Nelly Bly and in the title to one of your CDs)? What is the definition of the word “Dulcem?” And while your at it, what is a “wellumscope” as used in the last verse of Angelina Baker. I have searched high and low for the original meanings of these terms but with no success. Many thanks in advance for any help you can give me.
George Launey
Lakeway, TX
George! — If you’re still out there, I am most heartily sorry to have taken so long to satisfy your curiosity regarding the adjective ‘Dulcem’ in the album entitled, ‘Dulcem Melody’ (that said, I note that none of the OTHER band members have beaten me to it…), and fully cognizant of the import of the popular phrase, ‘Don’t Mess With Texas’ (got some good fans there!), I shall now hasten to the task…
The term ‘Dulcem’, if I am not mistaken is a Latin word (and several Latin-ophiles in the band will enjoy correcting me if I am) meaning ’soft’ or ‘gentle’. ‘Sweet’, is another possible substitution. Clearly a versatile adjective. We chose it for the title as a tribute for our favorite minstrel-era composer, Stephen Foster, who (obviously) composed a song of the same name, and was fond of the word, using it in a few other ditties. BTW, the proper pronunciation of the word is: Dul-sum. The ‘c’ is soft, not hard, thus subtly adding by its sibilance to its literal meaning .
‘Wellumscope?’ Why, old hoss, dat would be’s a fieldhand’s (read slave’s) attempt at pronouncing the word ‘telescope’. At least that was the certainly less than culturally sensitive contemporary white minstrel performer’s concept of what a slave might call such an instrument. One can only wonder what damage a minstrel-man, finding himself in the midst of ‘darkest’ (as it used to be called) Africa, might inflict on the local dialect’s pronunciation of say, the African word for ‘elephant’, or ‘rhinocerous’.
In any case, George, there it is. Late, but better, as they say, than never. Of course, you are certainly to be forgiven if you have long since given up and gone home…
We’ll try to do better in future.
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