Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Regular Production Starts Feb. 3

With the New Year's program serving as the first pilot episode, I'd like to thank everyone for the feedback and comments.

The second pilot episode will be produced for the week of February 3. It's Mardi Gras time, so you probably know about the big servings on Fat Tuesday--but did you know about "Collop Monday?"

See you then!

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Chronicles of William Hone (week of December 30, 2007)

Pilot episode (1 of 3).

Click here to hear the program (mp3).


(Multiply.com users: Program online here
PRX.org stations/producers: Program online here )




------------------------------------------------------------------
Listen and discover:

--The Roman god who could see the past year and the New Year at the same time

--Customary New Year's gifts--some of them unwelcome!

--A sneaky winter-time method for staying in bed an extra ten minutes


It's exciting to post the premiere episode of this project. I'm indebted to this week's great performers: Tania Arens, Jamey Barnard, Steve Elrick and Andy Mollema. Plus Bob Newcomb, who performed "Auld Lang Syne" in the opening.

My favorite bit is the exchange between the all-too-cozy master of the house and his servant. We tend to use "sleepy head" or "lazy bones" these days, but Leigh Hunt, author of this dialogue, captures the essense of the problem with his term, "lie-a-bed." Now, where to locate one of those servants...

Happy New Year!

Vince

Program rundown:

Lament on the arrival of another year

Extract about Janus (Roman god of gates and avenues) from "A Poem on the New Year," by Cotton

Early-morning visitors on New Year's Day

Ritual use of juniper branches in the Scottish highlands

New Year's Day gifts

Pastrycooks in Paris, New Year's Day

New account-books opened up

Lie-a-bed dialogue by Leigh Hunt

Length of year-end festivities

The ox and the cake-toss on the eve of Twelfth Day in Herefordshire, England

Wassail greetings

Introduction

The "Chronicles of William Hone" is a short, weekly program that blends historical perspective with lively readings. Combining poetry, anecdotes and seasonal observations--all of these keeping time with the calendar--this program revives material first collected and published in the 1820s and 30s by English publisher William Hone.

The program, available in three pilot episodes, is available at two sites: http://vincehancock.multiply.com/ (general public) and http://www.prx.org/ (stations/producers).

This blog will serve to provide additional commentary and thoughts about this and related material.

Two links for fans of primary source material:

The William Hone BioText
An excellent introduction to William Hone, with biographical information and resources, etexts (featuring nine full-text works by Hone) and a bibliography/archives section. Created by Kyle Grimes (University of Alabama, Birmingham).

The Every-Day Book, v. 1, online
The complete, searchable text of Hone's 1825 "Every-Day Book." Includes a month-by-month, day-by-day index, along with a parallel index to the engravings. Also created and edited by Kyle Grimes, this site is a treasure.