3 - Signalling and Communicating

Summary

Abstract

Signalling, primarily the work of naval musicians, helped the English access coastlines, navigate treacherous waters, and keep the crew together during onshore explorations. However, signalling also made these musicians vulnerable, as trumpeters and drummers became easy targets in Spanish and Portuguese colonies. This chapter also focuses on methods of aural and nonverbal communication between the English and Indigenous people of Africa and the Americas, drawing from first-hand accounts of Drake's circumnavigation (1577–1580), Frobisher's second and third Northwest Passage voyages (1577–1578), and Davis's first Passage voyage (1585), among others. The “Communication” part of this chapter begins to define “kind entertainment” as courteous or casual diversion between the English and foreign contacts.

Keywords: naval musicians, ship signals, maritime communication, nonverbal communication, Francis Drake, Northwest Passage

Musicians and performers were mediators and constant communicators between parties. They would engage with the captain, crew, and foreign contacts using sensory methods that were distinct from yelling seamen. Aboard ship, there were ways of communicating and signalling based on court practices, and others on shipboard practices. The performing middle class participated in both, adapting their method of aural and gestural communication to suit the occasion, whether by orders or instinct. The second part of this book examines the work that maritime musicians and performers accomplished and how that work distinguishes them in the broader narrative history of English exploration. This opening chapter in Part II focuses first on the act of signalling, which was predominantly the work of naval musicians, though there were some exceptions. The second part of this chapter focuses expressly on the ways that English musicians and crew members communicated with Indigenous peoples through music, dance, gesture, and other nonverbal forms.

Signalling

Trumpet and drum signalling had multiple purposes, but I will focus on the two most prevalent in early English voyaging accounts: first, to get attention (or cause a distraction), and second, to assert power or authority. In many instances, these purposes overlapped. Rarely was a signal meant to exert power without also trying to get someone's immediate attention. One exception was the ritual naming of Mount Warwick on Hall's Island in 1577 during Frobisher's second Passage expedition. It was there that the trumpet “solemnly sounded” his horn before a prayer was said. Although not his intention for the ritual, Frobisher's trumpeter alerted the Inuit that the English had arrived.