Katherine Butler

Cartoon-style figures of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, flanked by musical notes, surround the title 'Singing the Tudors'

Primary School Teachers! Are you looking for fun resources for teaching the Tudors? Check out this 6-week programme 'Singing the Tudors'. Lessons plans, slides, singing videos, etc. Free download: northumbriaknowledgebank.flintbox.com/technologies...
#primaryedusky #music #earlymodern #singing

Med Ren starts today! If you're new to the conference do come and say hi and look out for Caro's pubtrip this evening.

Don't forget to register this week!

Text-based logo for Boydell and Brewer

An image of Lenka Hlávková. She is wearing a green jumper and green neck scarf. She has light brown hair, pale skin, and she is smiling.

We are pleased to announce the continuation of 2 awards.

The @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social award for the Best Poster Presentation at MedRen2025

And the Award in Memory of Lenka Hlávková for the most promising paper by an PGR/ECR

More information can be found here: www.medren2025.co.uk/awards

For the full list of Late Show events visit: thelateshows.org.uk/2025

#TheLateShows2025 #TheLateshows #NorthumbriaUni #NewcastleGateshead #CultureNight

Looking forward to taking part in the Newcastle Late Shows on Saturday. Come along and help me write a 'Newcastle Late Show' catch (I can also teach you a Tudor drinking song!). Details: thelateshows.org.uk/2025/northum...

Cover of my book which has a nightingale and a rose on it

My first book Improvising Otherwise: A Decolonial Feminist Approach to Improvisation in Early Modern Culture is out now with @openbookpublish.bsky.social 🌺 it's open access and free to read and download here: www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116... #newbook #improvisation #earlymodern #feminist

📣 Calling all altos, tenors and basses aged 11-18! ✨

On Sat 28th June we will host our first ever day for young singers aged 11-18. This is aimed at parish church choir choristers, and other young singers with experience looking to gain new ensemble and leadership skills. 🧵

Starting a new chapter on religious rounds today. What new recent lit on domestic devotion/lay pietyy in 16th/early 17th C Britain should I not miss? #earlymodern

We're pleased to be able to publish the provisional conference schedule!

More information on registration will be availble next week.

www.medren2025.co.uk/conference-p...

Selfie of four singers in front in redbrick Jacobean frontage of Kiplin Hall

Fun day out singing rounds and catches in the long gallery at Kiplin Hall with Michael, Liza and Eimear, and visitors. Songs included some found at the hall itself #earlymodern #musicology @britishacademy.bsky.social

Penelope Gouk and Linda Phyllis Austern both have great work on this topic from the Englush perspective

Event poster with image of people in Jacobean costume singing, playing instruments and having a merry time. For event details see the URL in the post

In North East UK and making plans for May bank holiday weekend? Why not visit Kiplin Hall and join in with singing some fun Jacobean rounds? All age/ family friendly 15-minute drop-in workshops 11am-2pm on 3 May. All voices welcome! kiplinhall.co.uk/events/pop-u... #earlymodern #singing #history

Do you have a UK music degree? Would you be willing to share your career story, whether in or outside of music? A student intern is building a website to highlight where music degrees can lead. Please do get in touch if you could contribute, or share with anyone you know. Many thanks! #musicology

Fascinating. Was just this week looking at a 16th- century round (song) about cheating millers, so this was very timely for me!

Looking forward to taking part in the Newcastle Late Shows in May this year. What a fab programme they've put together. If you're nearby do come and visit our stop (no. 67) on the culture crawl 'Sound Travels' for music-making, singing, craft and exciting new research: thelateshows.org.uk/2025

Thanks to the SRS for their contribution to our project via their Public Engagement Grant scheme! www.rensoc.org.uk/funding-priz....

Screenshot of session details: 11am Wellesley Room, 3rd Floio, Marriott Cipley Place Biston

At #RSA2025 and looking for a fun morning session? Try our workshop on ubiquitous music-making in #earlymodern England. No musical experience necessary. Ballads, rounds, psalms, theatre songs, instrumental variations...

This article on the representation of angels on the early modern stage looks fascinating. Can't wait to read!

Great to see this article in issue. Did Elizabethans really that the soul was a musical harmony? How and why was idea used in English post-Reformation musical debates? (Open acccess) #earlymodern #musicology

I'm one of the organisers of the Gilbert White and his Contexts conference this June, celebrating the author of the Natural History of Selborne. We've got some great keynote speakers, outings, and many brilliant papers. Proposal submission is open online until 4 April. www.gilbertwhite.org.uk

A lovely pint of beer in a pub.

Registration is now open for 'Everyday Music Scenes: Pubs, Clubs and ‘Stutes', RMA Study Day, Newcastle University.

14th-15th April 2025

www.rma.ac.uk/2025/03/10/r...

That's certainly the kind of meaning I'd had in mind when I only knew about verse 1. The Scots and refs to 'hanging on the wall' though?

Yes, though it's unlikely given the context that the verses were new for the play, so they could refer to an older scenario and have been circulating for some time. A mid-16thC origin for the verses would not be implausible given the other catch it appears with. Might have to stay a puzzle!

Source is a university play, undated but probably early 17th C. Introduced as an old roundelay and sung alongside another catch in existence since at least 1580 (about merry magpies in a pear tree) in a drinking scene of country characters. Songs not specific to plot (no Scottish connections)

Music score for catch 'the old dog, the jolly old dog as he lay in his den-a. With addition verses 'The sack that hangs on the wall, O Scots do you see?' and ' jug, bag, purse, sack, that on the hanging be.'

So here's a scored version. The 3 parts of the melody are aligned in score so the harmony can be seen. The first verse text survive in several notated copies dating back to the mid-16th C. The second and third verses occur in a single, text only source.

Love this idea! Will try to post a scored version later when back at my desk (just off to sing some catches with some school pupils...)

The first verse about the dog made sense until I thought, until I found the latter two verses in another source!

Sorry, shoukd gave said, these lyrics are all sung as separate verses, not in combination. For space I omitted some nonlexical baugh waughs (barking) that are are sung dialoguewise in parts two and three of the catch.