The Deep River Ancient Muster

The Deep River Ancient Muster is one of the largest fife and drum musters in the USA and has been going since the 1950s. This year there were about 60 corps that came and performed, including the Western Plains Fife and Drum Corps. It was a nice sunny day, not exceptionally hot, but enough to make it feel like a fife and drum event in July. There were plenty of people watching the parade, and we could hear exclamations of surprise and welcome when they saw that we were from Colorado. After we finished the parade we walked back to the end to join “F Troop” (that’s the name for everyone scrambled into one corps).

After the Parade we ate lunch, got some Italian ice, and sat down to watch the corps perform. It was fun to see the different kinds of corps. Some were very good historically, some musically, some in marching, some good in multiple categories. There were many corps from New England, but some from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Switzerland, Illinois, ect… and some individual members from California, Michigan, Colorado (from the Mile High F&DC), and Missouri. We won the award for the corps that traveled the farthest at 1,963 miles (the Swiss corps must have disqualified themselves or something). Here is a video of our performance (we were 23^rd):

We also bought stuff including a pretty neat book, Connecticut’s Fife and Drum Tradition by James Clark that I might reference in the future. To conclude here is a poem I wrote on the way home.

The fife and drum which long ago

Called the folks to church on time

And told the soldiers when to go

And bounced along with beat and rhyme

That which told of liberty’s cry

And that which carried the firm hand

Of the justice of our great land

That would not tolerate the invader’s plan

This still sounds off hill and glen

And calls and shrikes to land and main

To not forget those mighty men

To take courage and rise again

-Peter Bringe

 Memor!