"Downeast Ceilidh" is Worth a Listen

I started listening about a year ago, after reading Rich Dillon's listing in our newsletter of Boston-area Celtic radio shows. Of all those shows, "Downeast Ceilidh" quickly became my hands-down favorite. Even my 2-year-old daughter began to look forward to the "Downy Cadie" every week, and now we are both avid listeners.

The DJ, Marcia Young Palmater, has been doing the show for nearly 26 years. She speaks very knowledgeably - and fondly - of the music and plays a wide variety: everything from fiddle, piano, bagpipe and guitar tunes to songs and mouth music. Even if you listen for several weeks in a row, you won't hear much repetition. She also provides events information for the Boston area and the Atlantic Provinces.

One week this past summer, a song was playing that my daughter loved because it had the phrase "socks and mittens" in it. Each week after that, she begged to hear that song. Finally, a bit exasperated, I gave in and called the station to request it for her. Thrilled to have so young a listener, the DJ played the song the next week, saying a 2-year-old named Rowena had requested it. By the way, it's called "Honest Working Man," not "Socks and Mittens."

Next time you're home at 6:30 on a Thursday evening, turn on the radio and give the "Downeast Ceilidh" a try. You won't be able to keep your feet on the floor!

- Phyllis Lindsay

December 14 Fiddle Club Meeting

We devoted the first part of the workshop, as we usually do, to the tunes handed out the previous month. We warmed up with "Sitting in the Stern of a Boat," by Reverend William MacLeod, who, saddened by his transfer from the Isle of Skye to a parish on the mainland, wrote this tune to reflect his feelings.

Next we played "Tail Toddle" and "Lord Binning's Reel". (Last month, Ed had mentioned that "Tail Toddle" was a song with nonsense lyrics and that Tony Cuffe had sung it at one of last year's meetings.

We moved on to "Monny Musk," originally called "Sir Archibald Grant of Monemusk's Reel." The Gow family renamed the tune in its 1790's collection. As a tip for sorting out where the snaps and long-short rhythms fall in a strathspey, Ed suggested making up words to go with it.

After this, we tried out the new tunes, six in all and learned one by ear. Phrase by phrase, with lots of repetition, we got it. "It" turned out to be the tune "O'er the Moor Amang the Heather." Then we heard a recording of Natalie MacMaster playing it.

After playing through the other new tunes, we ended the workshop with a session, focusing on this year's tunes. Before dinner, fiddler Debbie Billmers asked members to fill out a questionnaire she had written for her biology class. The survey concerned the connection, if any, between musical ability and artistic ability. It sparked a great deal of interesting conversation during the potluck.

Although there was no special guest and no dancing (Laura Scott was performing at the Christmas Revels in Houston), we had a very lively evening session, with about 25 members participating. The playing got underway shortly after dinner and continued until at least 9:30 (that's when my repertoire petered out for real and it was time to go home). - Phyllis Lindsay

Jan. 8 Fiddle Club Meeting Recap

By 4 p.m., our numbers grew to about 40. We warmed up with a session of this year's tunes. There was some bashfullness about starting tunes, though, so they tended to just end instead of going into another tune. Finally, Ed said that, as you're learning a tune, it's good to think of some tunes to follow it up with (a set of tunes in D, for instance) hecause the whole point is to sit down and enjoy playing for a while.

Among the tunes we played were some of the ones handed out last month: "O'er the Moor Amang the Heather," "Auld Rosin the Beau," (which can he played as an air, a jig or a waltz), and "Steer her up an' had her gaun," which Robert Burns adapted and wrote lyrics for.

About hallway through the workshop, Laura Scott arrived with copies of January's tunes, which we eagerly put through their paces (or did the tunes put us through our paces?). Ed taught us by ear "Struy Lodge," by Pipe Major W. Ross.

He also made an interesting connection between the composers William Marshall and Charles Grant. Burns, he said, considered Marshall ("The Banks of Spey") the best strathspey writer. Grant, a student of Marshall's, wrote "Glen Grant," one of our new tunes, and "Mrs. Jamieson's Favorite" from last year's Rally. At Marshall's deathbed, Grant played some of his teacher's favorite strathspeys.

The evening playing got underway around 7:30. There were about 25 of us, and Laura Davidson and Ed took turns accompanying on piano. Laura Scott led a few dances on the stage, which also was the scene of a brief pillow fight by the kids. Later, a few members did some stepdancing.

There was some discussion about the need for someone to help with coffee making, and Ed took the opportunity to say that all of the board members could use help. At that point, Mike Falkoff took on the role of fiddle club poet laureate, so to speak: "There's the store, the door, the floor and more." Say, brevity really is the soul of wit!

- Phyllis Lindsay

Celtic Net Home Page

The Celtic Link feature includes over a hundred hypertext links to keep the browser occupied for more than a Sunday winter's afternoon. There is a link to the Story of the Tartan which details the history of the origin of the kilt in Scotland and a link to the Cape Breton Pictorial Cookbook which makes available a few Scottish/Cape Breton recipes for the cyberchef.

The web site also includes links to those interested in Gaelic languages, including Scottish Gaelic. In addition to online lessons for beginning language students, there are also online dictionaries perfect for musicians who might be puzzled over the meaning of the title of an old Gaelic air - let alone its pronunciation. For the more proficient student, there is also a Classic Word Game offered.

The Celtic Home Net page offers the viewer more information than the average person has time to explore in a week. I think delving into its treasures might be the perfect excuse for taking a day off from work during the next snowy blast from the north.

- Richard Dillon

My Dowries's the Jewel

It's a' for the apple he'll nourish the tree,
It's a' for the honey he'll cherish the bee!
My laddie's sae much in love wi' the siller,
He canna hae love to spare for me!

You proffer o' love's an airle-penny*, worthless token
My dowries the bargain ye wad buy;
But an ye be crafty, I am cunnin,
Sae ye with anither your fortune may try.

Ye're like to the timmer o' yon rotten wood,
Ye're like to the bark o' yon rotten tree;
Ye'll slip frae me like a knotless thread,
An' ye'll crack ye're credit wi'mair nor me!

*Robert Burns