Category: manuscripts
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The bog.
I’m stuck in a bog. Or at least, that’s how my work feels. It went overnight from ideas coming out of my ears to being trapped in icky-sticky mud that won’t release its grip on my feet and let me move. I’m not sure how it happened. One day everything was chugging along as normal…
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More planning
I’ve spent most of this week writing my common weal chapter and despite my misgivings about how much I would get for it, I’ve actually written about 4200 words. Last Sunday I spent the afternoon at my kitchen table, cutting 4 different versions of the same ballad into little pieces and sticking them back together…
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The Common Weal
This is the first time since I started back at work that I’ve really felt like I’m back at work. I’ve begun work on my fifth chapter, ballads and the common weal. But it’s been a funny sort of week. I spent Monday with my head stuck in my source material, trying to find the…
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Summer goals: the final score
The results of my summer goals: • Definition of ‘ballad’ for introduction. I’m part way through this, although it needs a LOT more work. I’m discussing it with friends that I met at the Psalm Culture conference in London in July and I’ve given it a lot of thought, but so far, there’s only a…
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Transcribing and Broadcasting
I went back to work on Wednesday, when my children went back to school. Most of my work this week has been on transcriptions of manscripts from the British Library but I’ve also read some secondary material. I’ve carried on working today, because despite my intentions to spend three whole days immersed in my primary…
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Oxford Archives
On Monday I did a day’s work on manuscripts held in the Bodleian Library. Particularly, of course, Ashmole 48 – Richard Sheale’s ballad collection. There is some dispute over the purpose of the collection. Sheale is known to have been a minstrel attached to the Stanley family, but interpretations over the years have described Ashmole…
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Summer goals update
I thought I’d give you a quick update on my progress towards my summer goals: • Definition of ‘ballad’ for introduction. I’m part way through this, although it needs a LOT more work. I’m discussing it with friends that I met at the Psalm Culture conference in London in July and I’ve given it a…
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Cambridge Archives
I spent this week in Cambridge. I’ve not been back to Cambridge since I went to the folk festival in 1994, where I got showered in (someone else’s) beer when the Saw Doctors came on stage and everyone cheered. That was before I got my A-level results. At eighteen, I was offered a place at…
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Psalm Culture and the Politics of Translation
This week I finally have something a bit different to say. I am aware, you see, that writing a blog about writing a PhD is a bit repetitive: “read some ballads, thought about the music, wrote about some ballads, went to a supervision meeting, did some more research, wrote a bit more, read some secondary…
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There it was, gone
A funny sort o f week. Today I sent off all my work for my panel meeting, which is scheduled for next week. My supervisors certainly have plenty to keep them busy – my research plan, training log and chapter plan don’t take up too much space, but the draft chapter on combining music and…
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