Local artist Christopher Thomas will be holding an exhibition of drawings at Wanstead Library this month, celebrating the ballad of Sir Patrick Spens
Sir Patrick Spens is among many English and Scottish ballads to have made their way to North America with the early settlers. The story tells of a reluctant sea captain, Sir Patrick Spens, who’s enveigled into sailing to Norway in midwinter to bring the Scottish king’s new bride home.
A winter voyage in the North Sea is bound to be hazardous, but our hero convinces his crew that it’s for their king, and so they are under an obligation. Indicating the inevitability of stormy weather, one of the crew points out:
I fear, I fear, my captain dear,
I fear we’ll come to harm.
Last night I saw the new moon clear,
With the old moon in her arm.
They set sail with a diplomatic mission of Scottish lords on board. As the narrative progresses, the weather worsens, the drama grows and the ship goes down in the mountainous waves.
The lyrics were first collected and published in the United States by the American academic Francis James Child in the mid-19th century. In the early 20th century, Cecil Sharp and Maud Karples made often tortuous journeys in the Appalachian mountains to collect songs and their tunes. In the 1960s, the Child ballads had a resurgence of interest in the English Folk Song Revival and many wonderful recordings have been made of them by Anne Briggs, Sandy Denny, Fairport Convention, Martin Carthy and many other talented musicians.
My exhibition in Wanstead Library is a section of an ongoing piece of work based on the Child ballads and their legacy. My work is primarily concerned with observational drawing, which I apply to portraiture, narrative and landscape.
Christopher’s images will be on display at Wanstead Library from 13 January until 1 February. For more information, visit christhomasart.co.uk