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Page 83 from Ethel Moir Diary, Vol 1

Moir, Ethel, 1916, Document
Page 83 from Ethel Moir Diary, Vol 1
Page 83 from Ethel Moir Diary, Vol 1
Page 83 from Ethel Moir Diary, Vol 1
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Library Item
Item no
25278
Title
Page 83 from Ethel Moir Diary, Vol 1
Description
& kitchen stores, arranged the dressings tents & "slacked" the remainder of the time. Lilias & I have a tent together & we love it - it's like Paradise after that awful barrack room "down yonder" - Before turning in the last few nights we've made ourselves a camp fire & sat round it, hour upon hour, singing "rag times" & telling ghost stories. In the distance the Serbs & Russians are playing the same game. We love listening to their singing, it is so weird & sad. The Russians are a people for whom music is a delight. The air seems full of music (not up here, it's another kind of music!) & the people are always humming a song. On Sundays & holidays the village girls walk to & fro
in pairs singing endlessly. When soldiers on the march sing, there is always a combination of solo & chorus, & in the chorus there is a kind of part singing, which seems to be based on free improvisation, with twists & twirls & a racing above & below the melody. These melodies are truely expressive of the national spirit - slow & plaintive - expressing sorrow, solitude or joy - but always monotonous.
Artist / maker
Date
1916
Size
20.4 x 16.0 cm
Type
Location
Edinburgh and Scottish Collection