Études irlandaises
38-2 | 2013 Ulster-Scots in Northern Ireland today: Language, Culture, Community
Wesley Hutchinson (dir.)
Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/etudesirlandaises/3485 DOI: 10.4000/etudesirlandaises.3485 ISSN: 2259-8863
Publisher Presses universitaires de Caen
Printed version Date of publication: 20 December 2013 ISBN: 978-2-7535-2887-1 ISSN: 0183-973X
Electronic reference Wesley Hutchinson (dir.), Études irlandaises, 38-2 | 2013, « Ulster-Scots in Northern Ireland today: Language, Culture, Community » [Online], Online since 20 December 2015, connection on 23 September 2020. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/etudesirlandaises/3485 ; DOI : https://doi.org/ 10.4000/etudesirlandaises.3485
This text was automatically generated on 23 September 2020.
Études irlandaises est mise à disposition selon les termes de la Licence Creative Commons Attribution - Pas d’Utilisation Commerciale - Partage dans les Mêmes Conditions 4.0 International. 1
EDITOR'S NOTE
Acknowledgments Études Irlandaises would like to thank the following individuals and bodies for permission to reproduce material in this volume: – William Davison, for permission to reproduce “Yin Life”; John Erskine for permission to reproduce “Tha Merle bi Lagan’s Loch”; Willie Drennan for permission to reproduce a passage from “Andy Blair”; James Fenton, for permission to reproduce “Jeerin the Jum” and “A Nighber Wumman”; Dan Gordon, for permission to reproduce a scene from The Boat Factory; Jennifer Orr for permission to reproduce her message; Philip Robinson for permission to reproduce “Ayont the knowes”; – The Ulster-Scots Language Society for permission to reproduce the “Dolly McQuoit” passage from The Humour of Druid’s Island by Archibald McIlroyand Samuel Turner’s, “Leezie McMinn”; – The Ulster-Scots Community Network for permission to reproduce a page from Fergie an Freens oan tha Fairm and the translation of the relevant passage into English. I would also like to thank Anne Smyth, Philip Robinson, Ivan Herbison and Eull Dunlop for their invaluable help as intermediaries with several of the authors whose work is reproduced here and for their advice on detailed points of translation. Any mistakes that may remain are entirely my fault. Thanks also go to Liz Hoey, Local Studies Librarian, Ballymena Library, for her ongoing generous assistance. A note on terminology Readers may be puzzled by the variety of terms and spellings used in the following articles : Ulster-Scots, Ulster Scots, Ullans… Given that the choice of each of the contributors is the result of a conscious decision – some actually explain their preference for a particular form – it has been thought best simply to respect their preferred orthography or terminology. Foreword The views expressed in this volume are those of the individual authors. They do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or of Études Irlandaises.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Ulster-Scots in Northern Ireland: from neglect to re-branding Wesley Hutchinson
Ulster-Scots in Literature ans Publishing
Publishing the “invisible” language – some influences on Ulster-Scots publishing in the modern revival period Anne Smyth
Beyond the rhyming weavers Ivan Herbison
Poetic justice: ensuring a place for Ulster-Scots literature within the school curriculum in the north of Ireland Carol Baraniuk
Ulster-Scots Psalmody: A Consideration Philip Robinson
Ulster-Scots in the Community
Broadcasting Ulster-Scots: Ulster-Scots media provision in the modern revival period Laura Spence
Fiddles, Flutes, Drums and Fifes Willie Drennan
The Ulster-Scots Musical Revival: Transforming Tradition in a Post-Conflict Environment Gordon Ramsey
Language and Politics in Ireland – a Constructive or Destructive Interconnection? Ian James Parsley
The Irish Ulster Scot Liam Logan
Common Identity Ian Adamson
A Selection of Ulster-Scots Writing
A selection of Ulster-Scots writing Selection and commentary by Wesley Hutchinson Wesley Hutchinson
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Comptes rendus de lecture
(Lecture de) Synge and Edwardian Ireland Hélène Lecossois
(Lecture de) Community Politics and the Peace Process in Contemporary Northern Irish Drama Hélène Alfaro-Hamayon
(Lecture de) Art in Ireland since 1910 Alexandra Slaby
(Lecture de) Your Place or Mine ? Marjorie Deleuze
(Lecture de) Ireland Through European Eyes : Western Europe, the EEC and Ireland, 1945-1973 Marjorie Deleuze
(Lecture de) A History of Ireland in 100 Objects Marjorie Deleuze
Étude critique
(Critique de) Être là (Grennan), Sans titre (Squires) et L’Observatoire des Oiseaux/The Bird- Haunt (Clifton) Clíona Ní Ríordáin
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Ulster-Scots in Northern Ireland: from neglect to re-branding
Wesley Hutchinson
1 Just over ten years ago, Etudes Irlandaises brought out a special issue on the Irish language: La langue gaélique en Irlande hier et aujourd’hui, edited by Danielle Jacquin (n° 26-2, winter 2002)1. This issue reflected the high level of interest in France for the Irish language and for Gaelic culture in general2. I would like to preface this introduction by thanking the board of Etudes Irlandaises for agreeing to back the idea of pursuing this interest in questions relating to language and culture in a special issue of the journal given over to an area that has received infinitely less attention in France: Ulster-Scots in Northern Ireland.
2 Ulster-Scots language and culture have been the object of attack on a wide variety of fronts. Significantly, criticism has been root and branch. In its most extreme form, it is alleged that there is quite simply no language and that the entire “tradition” is merely an “invention”.
3 Much of the debate has centred on the language question: is Ulster-Scots to be seen as a language in its own right, a dialect of Scots, a dialect of English, a “patois”, or simply, as the now classic put-down has it, “a DIY language for Orangemen”? Those interested in the terms in which the debate on language has been carried on in relation to Ulster- Scots should look at the work of Michael Montgomery3, Raymond Hickey4, Máiréad Nic Craith5 and John Kirk6. But they should also look at the pages of the local newspapers (particularly the Andersonstown News and the News Letter), at the responses to public consultation exercises7, and at the debates in the Northern Ireland Assembly. The very variety of these sources indicates that the impact of this debate goes well beyond the world of academia. It is part of a much broader political discussion that follows well- worn and relatively predictable paths. On the one hand, there are those, largely but not exclusively, in the nationalist and especially republican community who accuse Ulster- Scots of having been conjured up ex nihilo as a Trojan horse designed to serve the purposes of a radical unionist agenda, a lure through which to channel much-needed funding away from the Irish language. On the other hand, there are those, again largely but not exclusively, in the unionist and loyalist community who, while often attacking
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Irish in the North as a front for a predominantly Sinn Féin cultural agenda, seek to defend the linguistic status of Ulster-Scots and its legitimacy as the expression of a significant cultural tradition with roots deep in the history of the region.
4 Discussion on the authenticity of the Ulster-Scots project as a whole has been coloured by this political framing at several levels.
5 It would be difficult to deny that much of the progress Ulster-Scots has made to date has been the result of pressure brought by unionist politicians during the political negotiations that have been on-going since the beginning of the 1990s. Thus, Ulster- Scots made considerable headway in terms of official recognition when it was given a passing mention in the 1998 Agreement sandwiched between a similarly laconic reference to “the languages of the various ethnic communities” present in Northern Ireland and the infinitely more detailed – and promising - clauses dealing with the Irish language8. This transitory appearance on the official radar was to be reinforced the following year in the “Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Ireland establishing Implementation Bodies”, a document which defines “Ullans” as “the variety of the Scots language traditionally found in parts of Northern Ireland and Donegal”, and commits the signatories to the “promotion of greater awareness and use of Ullans and of Ulster Scots cultural issues, both within Northern Ireland and throughout the island” 9. This resulted in the setting up of a North/South Language Body with two separate and largely autonomous all-island agencies, financed by the British and Irish governments, Foras na Gaeilge for Irish and Tha Boord O Ulstèr-Scotch (aka The Ulster- Scots Agency) for Ulster-Scots. Within the same logic, when the UK government accorded Irish Part III status alongside Scottish Gaelic and Welsh when it ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 2001, Ulster-Scots was recognised as meeting the “Charter’s definition of a regional or minority language” and was granted the lower, Part II status10. At another key stage in the peace process, i.e. during the negotiations at Saint Andrews (2006) called to kick-start the stalled Northern Ireland institutions, Ulster-Scots once again re-emerged as an issue11, especially with the DUP delegation, shadowing discussion on Irish which was being pushed by Sinn Féin12.
6 Thus, as has been the case with Irish, political pressure has been instrumental in pushing forward the process of official recognition of Ulster-Scots. Such coupling of language and culture with political affiliation explains much of the stridency of the debate.
7 However, in the case of Ulster-Scots this political connexion has proved particularly problematic in terms of image. Irish has long had strong associations with a radical political agenda. Aodán Mac Póilin identifies the more explicitly political orientation adopted by Gaelic League at its AGM in 1915 as the key factor in the language movement losing what support it had within the unionist community13. Whereas the language was to filter into the ethos of the new state in the South as one of the foundation stones of the new status quo, the linking up of language with a radical political agenda re-surfaces among the republican prisoners in the North at the time of the hunger strikes14, a phenomenon that was to feed into Sinn Féin’s increasingly relaxed incorporation of the language as part of the broader political and cultural struggle of the modern republican movement15. In contrast, Ulster-Scots language and culture have not had the same on-going, historical relationship within unionism. The
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question therefore arises as to why the issue should emerge with such force on to the political and cultural scene in Northern Ireland apparently out of the blue? When looked at from the outside, it is the suddenness of this phenomenon and the strongly political nature of much of the support that appear suspect.
Varieties of neglect
8 A large part of the problem stems from the fact – or so it is claimed – that no-one had ever heard of Ulster-Scots or an Ulster-Scots community before the 1990s. If, as the Ulster-Scots state, they belong to a centuries-old tradition, why has this not been charted as such on an on-going basis? If such a tradition exists, who can be seen as being responsible for the failure to register continuities? What factors contributed to this failure to produce a satisfactory discourse?
9 An answer to this may lie in notion of neglect. The etymology of the word – from nec legere – involves the idea of not (nec) picking – something – up, not selecting (legere). If Ulster-Scots has suffered neglect, the question is where does the source of this negative choice lie? Is it internal? What makes people decide “not to care for” – in both the sense of being indifferent to and of not cultivating – a given cultural phenomenon? How does that indifference manifest itself? As Sean O Faolain points out, a culture can indeed choose to neglect itself: [T]raditions can die [...] They die, not for being interfered with but for not being interfered with. Tradition is like the soil that needs turning over, compost, change of crops. It has to be manhandled, shaken up – and sometimes given a rest. It is not those who question ritual who kill it. They get to know it better, and add to it by that knowledge, and add to it even while they rebel against it. But those who examine nothing and question nothing, end by knowing nothing and creating nothing16.
10 The failure to conceptualise the tradition, or, rather, as we shall see, to conceptualise the tradition in a continuum, has left it vulnerable not only to the stagnation that O Faolain envisages but also open to the accusations from without that there is in fact no tradition there in the first place.
11 Or does the failure to conceptualise have an external cause? In terms of a minority culture, as is the case here, there is indeed the further distinction to be drawn between the political and cultural élite on one hand and the members of the community with which the culture is associated on the other. Is there evidence that those in power have contributed to the structuring of that discursive neglect?
12 Further, when a tradition has gone through such a period of neglect, whether through its own omission or as the result of structural exclusion, what motivates a community to reverse that indifference, to discover or recognise worth, to repair what has fallen into disuse, to reinvest spaces, practices that have been abandoned, to commemorate a past that has fallen into abeyance? Where does the impetus for this reengagement lie?
Culture dominante / culture dominée
13 One possible way into the debate might be the opposition between culture dominante and culture dominée17, the former being accorded prestige status by virtue of its control of the key institutions of the State, the latter being excluded from formal public
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expression by virtue of its minority status, its association with a community challenging the powers that be or as a result of a refusal to recognise any intrinsic worth as a distinct culture. Wilful neglect of indigenous cultures has been a charge regularly addressed against élites in colonial situations. It forms part of a broader strategy of containment and in the case of Ireland for example intervenes as an alternative to open attempts to anglicise by physical force or legal constraint. Active, structural neglect of the Irish language, such as what we find in the broader context of the British administrative machine in Ireland, is an illustration of this lateral strategy of exclusion which is designed to operate in the very long-term. Thus, in the 1850s after the cataclysm of the Famine, Revd M. Mullin in his poem, “The Celtic Tongue”, laments: For, ah, though long with filial love it [Irish] clung to Motherland, And Irishmen were Irish still, in tongue, and heart, and hand! Before the Saxon tongue, alas! Proscribed it soon became; And we are Irishmen today, but Irishmen in name! [...] Through cold neglect [Irish is] dying, like a stranger on our shore […] 18 (my emphasis in heavy print)
14 According to this reading, neglect is structured by the imperial centre and applied to a periphery in an attempt to accelerate the latter’s anglicisation. The systematic downgrading of the language and the culture it embodies involves issues of prestige which encourage users to abandon the language in preference for the langue dominante. It is this process of abandonment which leads inexorably to Hyde’s comment in his famous “On the necessity for de-anglicising Ireland” (1892) that, “We must arouse some spark of patriotic inspiration among the peasantry who still use the language, and put an end to the shameful state of feeling… [that] makes young men and women blush and hang their heads when overheard speaking their own language.” Hyde here is pointing to what the Occitans refer to as vergonha, the sense of shame that results in those who inherit the dominated culture themselves choosing to accelerate its destruction by integrating into their own consciousness the subaltern nature of that culture.
15 This complicity between the two levels in a diglossic equation is indeed a theme that emerges across Europe in the 20th century in the wake of decolonisation with regard to the indigenous minority cultures and languages present in the territories of the former colonial powers. Robert Lafont, writing in 198019, points to mechanisms that explain how the speakers of lesser-used languages assimilate their second-class status, thus ensuring that the negative effects of the neglect by the authorities are reinforced by the alienation of those who should be the language’s most ardent supporters but who are loath to challenge the position of the langue dominante on what has become its home ground, the intellectual, the scientific, the administrative life of the community: You must always bear in mind that diglossia reproduces its structures within the very consciousness of those who defend the dominated language. Thus, when the Limousin speaker is confronted with a standardised version of Limousin, he will regard the terms that make his Limousin “more sophisticated” as alien […] As a general rule he will validate the lower status of everyday speech by attributing ideological value to it. All dominated languages are languages of “the heart”, or “the guts”; they are the pretext for a populist attack against intellectuality. It is through this tortuous route that domination is ensured. The standardisation of languages is a battle that takes place within the diglossic consciousness20.
16 In Spain we find similar preoccupations, as in Joan Fuster’s seminal Nosaltres els Valencians (1962), when he talks about the inferiority complex that results from what he refers to as the suculsarisme of the peripheral, dependent culture. Fuster, writing in
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Valencian on the effects produced on “provincial” culture, points to the frustration and resentment that this artificially engineered linguistic and cultural hierarchy engenders, notably with regard to the sensation of being at a remove (“ex-centric”) and incomplete21.
17 It is clear that Ulster-Scots culture could easily see itself as fitting in to these patterns. Historically, it has been the object of total indifference by the organs of State, whether the British State apparatus in London or Dublin (up to 1921) or the unionist élite in Stormont in charge of the devolved institutions which systematically showed its (class?) preference for “metropolitan” culture. The low prestige associated with any non-standard form of expression ensured that the Ulster-Scots community – almost exclusively rural based – was encouraged to abandon a “culture” which, if less visible or subversive than Irish, was seen as backward-looking, peripheral, and – ultimately – embarrassing.
18 The question remains as to why, faced with this situation, the Ulster-Scots themselves failed to defend their culture more effectively, to do what Raymond Williams called “tending”. An explanation for this should perhaps be sought in relation to the political ambiguities of the Scots’ experience in Ireland.
The triangular model
19 Anyone looking at Ireland from the beginning of the twentieth century up until today would be only too familiar with the “two traditions” model which identifies two often antagonistic composite identities, a majority “Irish Ireland”, closely associated with Catholicism and Gaelic culture, and a minority “British Ireland”, closely associated with Protestantism, and of which most Ulster-Scots today would consider themselves to be an integral part. However, as everyone knows, this straightforward, binary opposition is a relatively recent phenomenon. Historically in Ireland, and in particular in Ulster since the Plantation at the beginning of the 17th century, we had a triangular arrangement of cultures – Irish, English and Scottish – directly associated with each of their respective principal religious communities – Catholicism, Anglicanism and Presbyterianism. However, the triangle in question was anything but equilateral in terms of access to power and expression.
20 The “English” component, had constant access to public expression and recognition through the administration of the State, through the Anglican Church of Ireland as by law established, and through the army. This predominance is felt especially in the language field in transactions between the individual and the State, and is particularly intense in the school system which is put in place in the early 19th century as a means to accelerate the processes of anglicisation. This “dominant” culture was made all the stronger by virtue of its colonial reach, its local Anglo-Irish manifestation being merely one facet of a global trans-national norm.
21 In Ireland, this dominant Anglo-centric culture co-existed alongside the indigenous Gaelic Irish culture, which although it reflected the cultural preferences of the majority population, remained, as we have seen, largely excluded from official public expression, being limited to the private domain. However, this culture dominée was very conscious that this marginalisation was the result not of any natural process of cultural decline but rather of conscious Anglo-centric political decisions that formed part of a broad
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policy applied throughout the British Isles and the Empire. The (sometimes idealised) memory of a dynamic, original culture in terms of literary expression and indigenous political and ecclesiastical institutions fuelled what was ultimately to prove to be a successful separatist constitutional agenda at the end of the 19th century.
22 The Anglo-centric culture also excluded a second culture dominée, the Scottish Presbyterian tradition. It had at times suffered similar, if less pronounced, political and cultural marginalisation and neglect to that experienced by the Irish Catholic tradition; however, its relationship with the dominant culture, and its relationship to Ireland – its terre d’acceuil – were infinitely more complex.
23 Whereas after the Plantation of Ulster, Presbyterianism, the principal nucleus of Ulster-Scots culture, quickly emerged as one of the largest of the non-Catholic communities in Ireland, it was looked on as a suspect community by the Anglo-centric state apparatus and for a time excluded from power by the dominant if minority episcopalian Church of Ireland. Indeed, the triangular reality of political, cultural and religious life in Ireland involved much more intricate relationships than those that would have been the norm in a straightforward binary, colonial setting. Here, the Scots (as members of the catch-all “British” community) were at once an essential player in the dominant colonial project in Ireland while at the same time being the victims of sporadic Anglican discrimination. Concretely, this meant that, in times of political crisis, the Scots community in Ulster could “go either way”, a perfect illustration of what Fuster calls instabilitat ‘nacional’. Whereas demographically and in terms of territory, the Scottish component could never hope to challenge the position of the Catholic Irish, politically it could never hope to rival the Anglo-Irish establishment. Its strategy consisted in seeking out security in a constantly changing and profoundly complex environment.
24 A reading of the autobiographies and personal accounts of the experiences of the early Presbyterian ministers in Ulster in the 1620s and 1630s, people like the Reverend Robert Blair, minister in Bangor, or the Reverend John Livingstone, minister in Killinchy, shows the levels of tension that existed as a result of their non-conformity, and the depth of insecurity vis-à-vis the decision-makers in Edinburgh, Dublin and London. The tension between the Scots in Ulster and the various power centres, be they of the English Church, the Scottish Church or the British State, on the one hand, and the omnipresent indigenous Irish community on the other, was to be a permanent feature of the realities of the life of the community. Despite the fact that the Presbyterians finally came into the British fold (in the course of the 19th century), the historical ambiguities are an essential feature of the collective identity of the Scots community in Ulster; they lie at the heart of the way it assesses its position on an on- going basis and in the ways in which it is perceived by the two competing “others”. Concretely, it means that they have been absorbed into one or other narrative according to the circumstances of the moment, presented either as British Protestants as at the time of the Plantation and during the siege of Derry or as Irish republicans as during the Rising in 1798. But each time they are presented as second fiddles, contributing to a strategy that has been worked out elsewhere and for purposes that go beyond what are seen as their limited, and ultimately “provincial” interests. Thus, they find themselves in the marginalia and footnotes of histories that present national narratives of which they are never the centre.
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The need to counteract neglect
25 When therefore do we find evidence in the Scots community in Ulster of reaction against this situation of sucursalisme that Fuster conceptualises? When does the pressure to counter neglect express itself and how?
26 Basically we have two fundamental frames: one which involves violence, one which prefers narrative.
27 The first is visible within the revolutionary context of the 1790s, the culmination of the alienation resulting from the post-Williamite period of anti-Presbyterian discrimination by the State that led to the first major waves of emigration to America. In the “Turn Oot” in 1798, (sections of) the Scottish Presbyterian community chose to resolve the issue of their subservient ex-centricity through a break with the imperial centre. Their decision to side with the Catholic, Irish majority was designed to place the community within a new Irish frame where a new plural narrative of an Irish nation would emerge, one of the strands of which would be that of the Scots Presbyterian community in Ulster.
28 The second stimulus to radical cultural re-examination is also essentially in reaction to the policies of the imperial centre. It emerges when it becomes conceivable that the centre might not hold, i.e. when the catch-all “Britishness” that the Ulster-Scots had bought into during the 19th century might be under threat, not so much from Irish rebels, as from a fundamental re-think of Britishness by elements within the British establishment itself. This is the case at the time of the Home Rule debate – especially from the 1880s and up to the stabilisation represented by Partition –, and again in the 1990s under the influence of “cultural traditions” theory put in place under the auspices of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985. On each occasion, we find elements of the Ulster-Scots community self-consciously turning to their multiple history – in Scotland, in Ireland and in North America – to construct a cohesive narrative from the fragments of their past. On each occasion we get a flurry of activity designed to trace a third way in the form of a metanarrative that sought to prove that a large section of the population in the North of Ireland does not see itself as Irish at all and that it would be a mistake to include it in a cultural and political project for which it has no sympathy. Significantly, an essential strand of the resistance to both the Home Rule project22 and to the North-South logic of the AIA23 consists in isolating and celebrating what is distinctly Scots about Ulster, as if the English component of “Britishness” were already seen as being too lukewarm, too ambiguous, too contaminated by misplaced liberal idealism. In this way, members of the community who had casually neglected to develop any coherent political reading of their community suddenly find themselves forced to reconsider the wisdom of that position.
29 The Ulster-Scots tradition therefore only comes into focus at times of crisis. Although writing on Ulster-Scots themes continued sporadically through the twentieth century, this activity is never given any particular prominence – never being integrated into the school system, for example. In any case, at no point under Stormont do the Northern Ireland authorities ever seek to produce a metanarrative similar to what had been set in motion at the time of the Home Rule crisis: narratives remained firmly unionist narratives. Indeed, at key moments during the twentieth century, it was clearly preferable not to produce an alternative Ulster-Scots reading of events. During World War Two for example – and in its aftermath – the pressure was on to present a united
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front within “British Ulster”; clear blue water had to be placed between it and de Valera’s neutral Ireland. Nobody needed what could in effect be read as a divisive, potentially separatist discourse. Reference to Ulster-Scots emigration, for example, should emphasise how those involved illustrated the intrepid nature of the frontier spirit; it should not focus too much attention on the reason for the emigration in the first place, i.e. that it represented a flight from an intolerant, exclusive, Anglican State that was afraid lest Presbyterian church democracy might spill over into the political arena. In any case, as with Cooke’s analysis in Hillsborough of inter-Protestant rivalries under Wentworth, these tensions were to be seen as having taken place in illo tempore and as having been resolved by more recent solidarities in the face of much more pressing threats. Nevertheless, any historiography foregrounding the role of the Ulster-Scot had self-consciously to maintain a series of delicate balances. Thus, in a text like Ulster Sails West, published during the Second World War to emphasise the strength of the links that existed between (Protestant) Ulster and the American GIs arriving in Northern Ireland in preparation for D-Day, although Marshall identifies those emigrating to America in the early 18th century as the “people of the Scottish nation in Ulster”, he is quick to emphasise “who had given their strength and substance and lives to uphold the British connection there”, a factor which, he claims, explains their “great indignation” at being misrepresented in America as “a parcel of Irish24”. Clearly, historical narrative with an Ulster-Scots spin could be used on occasion to score points on a number of frames simultaneously.
30 However, this points to a fundamental dilemma at the base of the Ulster-Scots project. When the community – at least since the 19th century – opts to construct a narrative of itself, it takes the risk of opening up divisions within the “British” community in the North25. When it chooses to throw in its lot with a broader British agenda, its own identity – indeed, the very basis on which it constructs its claim to that identity – disappears in the (increasingly suspect) gaps in the narrative.
31 The phase that we are in at the moment and one that is reflected in the articles in this volume can be seen as the most recent stage in the process of cultural construction, or rather re-construction, a process which implies distance and imposing a structured, coherent and cohesive overview on a multiplicity of phenomena that had not necessarily been brought together under a specific Ulster-Scots brand-name. The process involves a double movement which consists in extracting what is recognizably Ulster-Scots from a range of contexts that have sought or been allowed to assimilate various individuals or events into their own narratives, while at the same time using those heterogeneous and hitherto scattered units to construct what is a specifically Ulster-Scots narrative. It is fundamentally about acts of identification, re-branding and classification. Such cultural taxonomy is a necessary phase in the stabilisation of a narrative, which is itself a necessary pre-requisite to having a frame through which to view an on-going collective reality.
32 However, it involves more than simply cataloguing what has been done in the past. It is about more than simply filling in the gaps. It also involves carrying the process on into, and beyond, the present. It is precisely this aspect that interests us in the present volume.
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The contents of the issue
33 The issue has been put together with two main criteria in mind. The first has to do with content frame which is primarily concerned with issues of culture and community, rather than language. The second has to do with the spatial frame of the contributions. The issue looks exclusively at what is going on inside Northern Ireland. All of the contributions come from individuals based in Northern Ireland and who, at one level or another, have been closely, personally involved in one or other aspect of this on-going and wide-ranging debate. The idea therefore was to seek out material which would provide insight into the internal workings of the processes by which the Ulster-Scots cultural agenda is being put in place on the ground and how it is in the process of becoming an integral part of the cultural landscape in Northern Ireland26.
34 It goes without saying that representations of Ulster-Scots culture go well beyond the six-county frame to include a series of other spaces and communities – Scotland, the Ulster-Scots community in the border areas in the Republic, Canada, the United States. While being only too conscious of the vital contribution that these spaces have made to the consolidation of the emerging image of Ulster-Scots and to the internal dynamic of the Ulster-Scots community, it was felt preferable to limit the content of the issue in this way so as to concentrate on what is clearly the epicentre of the overall project. There is, however, clearly enough material for a second volume of essays on the Ulster- Scots diaspora!
35 The issue is divided into three sections.
36 The opening section features four articles centred on aspects of Ulster-Scots literature and publishing.
37 Anne Smyth, in her article entitled “Publishing the ‘invisible’ language – some influences on Ulster-Scots publishing in the modern revival period”, looks at one of the main areas that have contributed to the recent revival of interest in Ulster-Scots. The Ulster-Scots Language Society, of which she is chair, is responsible for Ullans, first published in 1993, a magazine which has played a major role in bringing to the attention of the public the considerable body of work that exists within the Ulster- Scots tradition. This has involved locating and reediting material much of which has long been out of print. But as importantly, the Society has been involved in encouraging the publication of new writing in Ulster-Scots. Smyth’s article points to the need to establish a benchmark for the quality of material in and on Ulster-Scots. Some of this material initially selected by Ullans features in the selection of Ulster-Scots writing at the end of the present volume.
38 Ivan Herbison, in his article, “Beyond the Rhyming Weavers”, looks at what is unquestionably one of the fundamental bodies of writing in Ulster-Scots – the work of the “weaver poets”. In this essay, Herbison reconsiders the position of John Hewitt whose The Ryhming Weavers (1974), is widely seen as having played a seminal role in drawing attention to the intrinsic interest of this literary tradition. Herbison argues that Hewitt’s time frame is too restrictive and suggests that the tradition should be seen as continuing to function well into the twentieth century.
39 Caroline Baraniuk’s paper, “Poetic justice: ensuring a place for Ulster-Scots literature within the school curriculum in the north of Ireland”, examines the way in which the lively tradition of poetry in Ulster-Scots which Herbison discusses has failed to find any
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place in the education system in Northern Ireland. She questions the exclusion of this literary tradition from the classroom and calls for a re-think on the part of those designing the curriculum in order that pupils might have access to this material which forms such an integral part of their cultural heritage.
40 Philip Robinson, in his essay entitled “Ulster-Scots Psalmody: A consideration”, addresses what historically has been another area of fundamental importance to the literary tradition of the mainstream Ulster-Scots community: the place of religious texts and in particular the significance of the Psalms. Robinson’s own work as an author is impregnated with a deep knowledge of the significance of the Bible as a means by which to access the inner workings of the community he foregrounds in his novels. In this paper, he explores the intimate nature of the latter’s relationship with the Psalms and explains the complex issues involved in translating them and the Scriptures in general into Ulster-Scots.
41 The second section of the issue looks at the presence of Ulster-Scots culture in the broader community.
42 Laura Spence, in her “Broadcasting Ulster-Scots: Ulster-Scots media provision in the modern revival period”, offers a broad overview of how television and radio have responded to the demand within Northern Ireland for material in and on Ulster-Scots. Speaking from first-hand experience as a producer with BBC Northern Ireland, she gives a very precise idea of the considerable diversity of material that has been put out – ranging from adaptations of literary works to programmes on history and language. As with publishing and the school curriculum, television and the radio are key indicators of the extent to which minority cultures succeed in penetrating the public sphere and in establishing their presence as part of the cultural mainstream.
43 Spence’s paper is followed by two papers on what is undoubtedly one of the most important areas of popular involvement with Ulster-Scots-related activity: music. Willie Drennan, himself a traditional musician, in his article, “Fiddles, Flutes, Drums and Fifes”, gives what he sees as an identikit image of Ulster-Scots music. He goes on to give a first-hand account of his experience of the music scene in Northern Ireland as someone who has actively promoted Ulster-Scots material. Once again, his direct, personal experience – he founded and headed the Ulster-Scots Youth Orchestra and currently publishes the paper Ulster Folk – allows him to give an invaluable assessment of the many difficulties facing the Ulster-Scots music scene.
44 Gordon Ramsey’s paper, “The Ulster-Scots Musical Revival: Transforming Tradition in a Post-Conflict Environment”, comes at the issue of Ulster-Scots music from the totally different perspective of the anthropologist. In this paper, Ramsey explores what distinguishes the Ulster-Scots music scene from that of Irish traditional music not only in terms of style, but also in terms of the social make-up and expectations of the performers and the audiences.
45 The last three papers look at various aspects of the connections between Ulster-Scots and political and religious affiliation. Once again, each of the articles on what is a particularly sensitive area comes from someone with a recognizable “voice” in Northern Ireland.
46 Ian Parsley, Chairman of the Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund, in his essay, “Language and Politics in Ireland – a Constructive or Destructive Interconnection?” looks at what he sees as the damage that can result from too close an association between a minority
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language and a political agenda and calls for more work to be done to reinforce the language component of the Ulster-Scots equation. Liam Logan, a presenter with the BBC’s flagship radio programme on Ulster-Scots, A Kist o Wurds, in his, “The Irish Ulster Scot”, gives us the perspective of an Ulster-Scots enthusiast who comes from the Catholic nationalist community. Whereas a considerable body of material is now available on Protestant commitment to the Irish language, little or nothing exists on the theme of Catholic involvement in Ulster-Scots. In the concluding essay, “Common Identity”, Dr. Ian Adamson, founder of the Ullans Academy, looks at the ways in which Ulster-Scots can contribute to moving debate on language and cultural issues away from the confrontational frame in which it has been so often contained and towards a shared, dialogic position. The article shows some of the surprising connections discussion on Ulster-Scots issues can stimulate within sectors of the community which are frequently excluded from cultural debate.
47 The final section of the issue presents a small selection of Ulster-Scots texts designed to give readers a taste of the kind of material available. The selection includes material from the beginning of the 19th century until today.
Conclusion
48 O’Faolain talks in the passage quoted above of the need for a tradition to be “manhandled, shaken up”, and points out that questioning rituals, far from destabilising them, can result in their being strengthened. There are clear signs in work by people like Fenton, Robinson, Davison and others that there are those within the Ulster-Scots community today who are prepared to challenge the familiar paradigms and to move beyond the reassuring patterns of the past. The next phase in the process should continue to push further in that direction.
NOTES
1.
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5. For example, Máiréad Nic Craith, Culture and Identity Politics in Northern Ireland, Houndmills, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, especially Chapter 4, p. 70-94. 6. For example, his work as editor in the remarkable Belfast Studies in Language, Culture and Politics series published by Cló Ollscoil na Banríona, Queen’s University, Belfast. 7. For example, the Public Consultation on Proposals for An Ulster-Scots Academy organised by DCAL in 2008. 8. The Agreement, Agreement reached in the multi-party negotiations, Economic, social and cultural issues, paragraph 3. 9. See North/South Co-operation (Implementation Bodies) (Northern Ireland) Order 1999, Schedule 1, “Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Ireland establishing Implementation Bodies” available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/859/ schedule/1/made 10. Even though Irish in Northern Ireland obtained Part III status under the Charter, the Irish language lobby considers that the British government has taken a minimalist approach to their commitments. For an explanation of this position, see: http:// www.pobal.org/english/europeancharter.php See also Aodán Mac Póilin, Towards an Irish Language Strategy for Northern Ireland, Belfast, Ultach, 2012. 11. St. Andrews Agreement, Annex B, “Human rights, equality, victims and other issues”: “The Government firmly believes in the need to enhance and develop the Ulster Scots language, heritage and culture and will support the incoming Executive in taking this forward”. 12. The terminology used in the text is strikingly similar. Compare: “enhance and develop the Ulster Scots language, heritage and culture” with “enhance and protect the development of the Irish language”. The British governments’ commitment on this occasion to bring forward an Irish Language Act (Acht na Gaeilge) has yet to be fulfilled. 13. See Aodan Mac Poilin, “Plus ça change : The Irish language and politics”, in Aodan Mac Poilin (ed.), The Irish Language in Northern Ireland, Belfast, Ultach Trust, 1997, p. 31-48 : “The 1915 meeting was the moment when the language movement was subsumed into the nationalist political movement” (p. 42-43). 14. See Diarmait Mac Giolla Chriost, Jailtacht: The Irish Language, Symbolic Power and Political Violence in Northern Ireland, 1972-2008, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2012. 15. This is not to say that the republican movement has a monopoly of control on the language in the North. As with Ulster-Scots, Irish is a house of many mansions. Nonetheless, it cannot be denied that the republican movement has maintained a particularly high profile in defence of the language. 16. Sean O’Faolain, “1916-1941: Tradition and Creation”, The Bell, vol. 2, n° 1 (April 1941), p. 7 and p. 11, quoted in François Sablayrolles, “La Biographie historique et son influence sur la fiction réaliste de l’entre-deux-guerres en Irlande : L’exemple de Sean O’Faolain”, doctoral thesis, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3, 2013, p. 60. 17. See Langue dominante, langues dominées, Paris, Edilig, 1982. This is a collection of essays which had originally appeared in the review, Pourquoi?, with an introduction by Robert Lafont.
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18. Revd M. Mullin, “The Celtic Tongue”, in Tony Crowley, The Politics of Language in Ireland, 1366-1922: A Sourcebook, London, Routledge, 2000, p. 168. 19. Lafont argued that the notion of diglossia could be extended beyond its initial definition and applied to the (conflictual) relationship between two languages present on the same territory, French and Occitan, for example. 20. « Il faut toujours tenir compte du fait que la diglossie se structure en reproduction dans la conscience même des défenseurs de la langue dominée. Ainsi, le parleur limousin, devant un limousin normalisé, va juger étrangers les termes qui complètent son vocabulaire limousin “vers le haut” […] Il va généralement entériner l’infériorité des registres d’usage en les valorisant idéologiquement. Toutes les langues dominées sont des langues “du coeur”, ou “des tripes”; elles sont l’occasion d’une charge populiste contre l’intellectualité. Tel est le detour où s’assure la domination. La normalisation des langues est un combat à l’intérieur de la conscience diglossique. » Robert Lafont, “La privation d’avenir ou le crime contre les cultures”, Langue dominante, langues dominées, Paris, Edilig, 1982, p. 28 (my translation). 21. “Es tracta d’una sensació d’instabilitat ‘nacional’, que no és fàcil de guarir. El provincià és ‘provincià’: ex-cèntric. Vaga pels afores de l’Estat i pels afores de la mitologia estatal. Ha intentat d’assimilar-s’hi, i ho ha aconseguit en part. Però els fets de cada dia li demonstren que l’altra part d’ell seguix inassimilada: inassimilable. No li val res d’apropriar-se la llengua, la cultura, l’estil que li brinda el centre; ni l’abandó ‘sucursalista’ no li val de res. Mentre viurà a la provincia i formarà en la seva societat, sera un provincià”. Joan Fuster, Nosaltres els Valencians [1962], Barcelona, El Cangur, 2001, p. 247-248. 22. See for example the profusion of material that emerges on both sides of the Atlantic when it becomes clear that the Liberal Party had become committed to Home Rule. Thus, texts such as Charles A. Hanna’s two volume, The Scotch-Irish, 1902, Henry Jones Ford’s, The Scotch-Irish in America, 1915, John Harrison’s, The Scot in Ulster: Sketch of the History of the Scottish Population of Ulster, 1888, and William Reid’s, The Scot in America and The Ulster Scot, 1912, testify to the intensity of interest in the Ulster-Scot enterprise at the time. 23. It is interesting to note that David Trimble organised the conference that was to lead to the setting up of the Ulster Society in September 1985, a few weeks before the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement, and that one of the papers presented at that conference and printed in Ulster – An Ethnic Nation? concerned the issue of language as an essential element of this “nation”; see John Braidwood, “The Ulster Dialect – A Distinctive Speech of a Distinctive People”, Ulster – An Ethnic Nation?, Lurgan, The Ulster Society, 1986, p. 24-40. 24. W.F. Marshall, Ulster Sails West [1943], Belfast, Century Services, 1976, p. 14. 25. Indeed, the sometimes delicate identity balances Ulster-Scots writing has sought to maintain may come under even greater pressure as a result of next year’s referendum in Scotland. 26. The issue does not claim to be exhaustive. For example, it does not feature targeted material on what is clearly one of the primary routes through which many experience Ulster-Scots branded activities: Scottish country and Highland dancing. See for example, the booklet aimed at school children and young people, An Introduction to Scottish Country Dancing: 6 Dances for Beginners, published by the Ulster-Scots Community
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Network in Belfast, or the material on dance that appears regularly in the pages of The Ulster Scot.
AUTHOR
WESLEY HUTCHINSON
Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3
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Ulster-Scots in Literature ans Publishing L'Ulster-Scots dans la littérature et l'édition
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Publishing the “invisible” language – some influences on Ulster-Scots publishing in the modern revival period
Anne Smyth
Introduction
1 This paper will examine the motivations and pressures that have shaped the approach to publishing in Ulster-Scots, which has Part 2 status under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages1, ratified by the United Kingdom Government on the 27th of March 2001. Our period of interest coincides with the life of the Ulster-Scots Language Society (USLS), founded in 1992, the first Ulster-Scots language group. During the intervening twenty years, the USLS has published upwards of 30 books and periodicals.
Structural context
2 Compliance with the Charter is not mandatory for subscribing governments. However, the effects of the other major government instrument that changed the dynamics with regard to minority languages in Northern Ireland have been much more pervasive. Agreed on 10 April 1998, this measure is unique in having both an internal and an international aspect, in creating institutions that operate across the UK/Irish border, and in being popularly known by two different names, one mainly used by the broadly unionist community, “The Belfast Agreement”, and the other mainly used by the broadly republican community, “The Good Friday Agreement2. This constitutional arrangement was loosely framed so as to enable each faction” to promote the deal to its own particular electorate in a way that suited the aspirations of each. The details of its
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operation, however, consequently lacked definition, and its implementation has been marked by much confusion and inventiveness.
3 So far as Northern Ireland’s indigenous minority languages are concerned, the most significant outcome was the creation of the “North-South Language Body”, which comprises two elements, “Foras na Gaeilge” and “Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch”. The structure thus formed is inherently unequal, as the Board membership of the former is twice the size of that of the latter.
4 Two other structural considerations of major importance bear upon the effectiveness of these Boards: firstly, Foras na Gaeilge is a language body, which does not imply that it does not fund cultural projects but rather that the Irish language is its primary concern; meanwhile, the remit of Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch is support for both culture and language, which has in practice worked greatly to the detriment of language. Secondly, the three components that make up Foras na Gaeilge were already established organisations operating throughout the island, supported by the Republic of Ireland government, well before the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. On the implementation of the Agreement, therefore, the staff of Bord na Gaeilge, An Gúm (its publishing arm) and An Coiste Téarmaíochta (Terminology Committee) and their activities were all simply transferred to the new body, jointly funded by the UK and Irish governments.
5 The organisational structure of Foras na Gaeilge now comprises a Directorate of Publishing, Lexicography and Terminology, in which are located the publishing body, An Gúm, the English/Irish Dictionary Project, and the Terminology Committee, all of which have been active and effective in support of Irish. In contrast, there has been no sign that the Boord appreciates the need to create similar institutions, with a similarly high profile, for the Ulster-Scots language.
6 The other important point to note concerns the nature of the personnel on the Boards. With three exceptions out of a Board of 16, members of An Foras use the Irish form of their names, leading to the natural assumption that they are Irish speakers. Conversely, on the current Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch there is not one single Ulster-Scots speaker, although there has occasionally been one on past Boords. The Boord cannot draw upon any internal knowledge of what is needful for the protection and promotion of the language, nor does it engage with the Ulster-Scots speaking community.
7 It follows, therefore, that while Foras na Gaeilge has continued to be effective in promotion of the Irish language, the absence of committed component organisations and personnel has militated against similar progress on the Ulster-Scots side.
8 While the function of the Irish and Ulster-Scots Boards (whose members are political appointees) is to determine policy, paid employees are responsible for administration which in the case of Ulster-Scots is done by the Ulster-Scots Agency. However, one looks in vain for any department or officer within the Agency whose job description includes either publishing or terminology. Furthermore, familiarity with the Ulster- Scots language is not required for recruitment to Agency posts. It is this Agency and its Board that today fund Ulster-Scots publishing, either through project funding or by way of their four core-funded groups, of which the Language Society is one, although the Society is a founder organisation of another core-funded group, the Ulster-Scots Community Network, formerly the Ulster-Scots Heritage Council, originally intended to be an umbrella body for the sector’s culture and language groupings.
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Funding Ulster-Scots publications
9 In Scotland those involved in Scots language activity unfavourably contrast the apparently generous financing of Ulster-Scots publications out of the public purse with their own position. However, a previous Chief Executive of the Ulster-Scots Agency once admitted to the writer that the Agency’s main objective was to promote itself to the public; in so doing it has given a wrong impression of the extent of its largesse.
10 To all intents and purposes, responsibility for publishing Ulster-Scots language material has largely fallen upon the Ulster-Scots Language Society, which for most of its life has operated as a voluntary body with charitable status. All writing, editing and preparation for publication have been undertaken on a voluntary basis, with Language Society members giving freely, and often sacrificially, of their time and talent. Nevertheless, design, page setup and printing services still must be procured. Prior to the creation of the North/South Language Body, the financial support for these elements was provided by the Cultural Traditions Programme, which is no longer active, or by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Thereafter, funding for Ulster-Scots publishing projects was in practice largely left to the Ulster-Scots Agency and Boord.
11 The Cultural Traditions Programme was an initiative of the Cultural Traditions Group (CTG). For its origins we must go back to 1987, when the Westminster Government set up the Central Community Relations Unit. This was an exercise in social engineering, originating with the government’s analysis of the “Northern Ireland Problem”, and the unit’s remit was the ending of religious discrimination and the promotion of better community relations. As matters of culture and heritage progressively occupied more of its attention, the subsidiary CTG gained official status and organised a number of conferences, including those whose titles began with “Varieties of…”. These examined “Irishness” in 1989, “Britishness” in 1990 and “Scottishness” in 19963. When, in 1990, the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council (NICRC) was set up as a publicly- funded body administering grant aid, the CTG became part of this new body with responsibility for organising events and dealing with applications for funding. The CTG sub-group appears to have ceased operating, and its functions to have reverted to the main NICRC. So far as the rationale for their existence is concerned, it has been argued that “this sort of cultural policy inadvertently reinforces the kind of closed cultural isolationism it aims to change4”.
12 Whatever its motivations, funding from the Cultural Traditions Programme enabled the newly-formed Ulster-Scots Language Society to publish the first issue of its in-house journal, Ullans, in Spring 1993. The aim of the Society was summed up in the frontispiece as “to promote the status of Ulster-Scots as a language, and to re-establish its dignity as a language with an important part to play in our cultural heritage5”.
Choosing the material
13 The Society’s statement of its aim immediately hints at competing priorities held in tension. Native speakers frequently remark that as young people in the education system they were made to feel that the language they spoke was a crude slang that would militate against their prospects of employment, and of which they should be
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ashamed. Indeed, similar pressures remain today. The Society’s mission has therefore been to counteract such attitudes and work towards making the use of Ulster-Scots acceptable in all social contexts as a language of which people can be proud. However, the Society also exists for the benefit of native speakers, for whom the “tongue” is rural, spoken rather than written, highly localised so far as variant forms are concerned, and redolent of older ways of life. As a body, the USLS has therefore often found itself advocating an outward-facing approach, involving lobbying, modern terminology, teaching aimed at those for whom it is not a first language, creation of language resources, etc., while also trying to keep the native speakers, largely uninterested in these issues, committed to the Society. In Northern Ireland there is also a strong tendency towards anti-intellectualism, which is mirrored in the main unionist party, the Democratic Unionists. Within the Ulster-Scots Language Society, an anti- academic bias has resulted from the appearance of excessively hostile articles in publications that examine the language issue from a pseudo-sociopolitical viewpoint6.
14 The Language Society’s choice of material for publication reflects these disparate emphases. Ullans has now reached its thirteenth issue. Its editors have always tried to achieve a balance between the didactic and the entertaining. So far as the Society’s publications list in general is concerned, however, the two best-sellers are The Hamely Tongue: A Personal Record of Ulster-Scots in County Antrim7 and Ulster-Scots: A Grammar of the Traditional Written and Spoken Language8. The former is an extended glossary limited to County Antrim, researched by a now-retired school principal over a protracted period beginning in the 1960s. No general historical dictionary of Ulster-Scots is yet available. It is remarkable that out of the booklist of The Ullans Press (the Language Society’s imprint), it is two rather more learned books that have attracted public attention. Conversely, although the two authors are also poets of some distinction, their books of poetry have not achieved similar popularity9.
Quality control
15 Another factor in the choice of material for publication is writing quality. The natural emphasis for the Society is on the publication of texts in which Ulster-Scots grammar and vocabulary are faithfully represented and in which there is a high proportion of material of linguistic interest. Desirable as it is to give public exposure to densely Ulster-Scots text, however, the competing consideration is the need to hold the attention of the reader. The Ulster-Scots sector has seen the production of much doggerel (rather than poetry) and much poor writing generally. Engaging the reader of Ullans with excerpts from the historic writings is not assisted by the often mundane choice of subject matter, by “Weaver Poets” and the writers of the “Kailyard Novels”, for example. Even the Weaver Poet most praised today, James Orr of Ballycarry (1770-1816), chose to write an ode “To the Potatoe10”, full of interesting vocabulary but hardly exciting for the modern reader. No credit, however, can be taken by the current generation of writers, as their fondness for nostalgia can likewise be discouraging to today’s readers.
16 In addition to giving current readers access to sample texts from the historic writers, the Society showcases modern Ulster-Scots writing. Early issues of Ullans were edited with a light touch, following the policy that so long as there was internal consistency in spellings the editors did not wish to be too prescriptive. After all, it was argued, writing
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in Ulster-Scots was an activity that had waxed and waned over the generations, and the present generation was going through a learning process. Ulster-Scots has no official presence within Northern Ireland’s education system, except as part of a numinous concept, “Ulster-Scots Awareness11”, written into various government policies. It is not taught as a language at any level.
17 Provision for adult learners is seldom accessible. One now defunct class located near Newtownards successfully taught people to write in Ulster-Scots. Other classes have usually failed because of poor choice of tutor by host institutions. Another obstacle to the teaching of good Ulster-Scots writing skills is the widespread perception that all Northern Ireland people know Ulster-Scots anyway. Unfortunately, this is a fallacy.
18 In more recent issues of Ullans, the editors have worked with new writers on the material they have submitted, to achieve optimum results and aid their future efforts. In addition, articles and poems that contain denser Ulster-Scots have been, and are now increasingly, glossed.
Historical depth
19 Advocacy for the Ulster-Scots language frequently encounters hostile opposition. One oft-repeated allegation is that Ulster-Scots has been made up by politically-motivated unionist zealots who simply wish to divert funding away from the Irish language12. Unfortunately, people active in the sector have often reinforced this view by the circulation of ersatz Ulster-Scots, folk etymologies and English slang spuriously identified as Ulster-Scots.
20 As a counterbalance, the Ulster-Scots Language Society tries to publish older material that will show the authenticity of the language. Even in the first issue of Ullans, some of the oldest published poetry, dating to 1753, was included13. The term “Ulster Scots” is even older: the first known instance of the term, used to define the people, occurs in a source dated 8 October 164014. In recent years, the Society has also republished classic prose texts by W. G. Lyttle (1844-1896) and Archibald McIlroy (1859-1915) in response to public demand15.
21 Credit for initiating the modern revival of interest in the Weaver Poets, however, must go to a book entitled Rhyming Weavers and other Country Poets of Antrim and Down, the PhD thesis of the late Dr. John Hewitt (1907-1987) adapted for general publication16, which appeared almost twenty years before The Ullans Press began its activity. There are gaps in his roll-call of poets, but Hewitt’s enthusiasm for these humble “bards” is clear from his text. The same publisher produced a new edition of Hewitt’s work in 2004.
Humorous material
22 A number of the more prolific modern writers feature humorous themes, interspersed with nostalgia. Examples from the USLS publications list are found in the poetry of The Twa Chairlies (Charlie Reynolds and Charlie Gillen)17. It is possible that this preference hints at an instinctive defence against ridicule; alternatively, these writers may simply be following a popular theme in the country areas where they live. From empirical observation, there is an interest, particularly in rural parts of Ulster, in public recitations of humorous verse based on observation of the lives of ordinary local
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people. This is a variety of home-grown entertainment that has almost outlived its time, and it is not restricted to Ulster-Scots language areas. In Northern Ireland, most groups that include people over 50 years of age will have at least one person capable of reciting the poetry of W. F. Marshall (from County Tyrone)18 or the Crawford Howard monologues19.
23 There is clearly a market for Ulster-Scots language versions of this homespun humour; however, the USLS is wary of over-emphasising it. There is an inherent contradiction in campaigning to have the language taken more seriously while publishing a lot of material that pokes fun at Ulster-Scots ways. Of course, there is a world of difference between Ulster-Scots people writing for the benefit of fellow Ulster-Scots, and those from outside the Ulster-Scots community using humour as a weapon to demean the language and discourage its use.
24 The pioneer of the academic study of Ulster-Scots, the late Professor Robert J. Gregg (1912-1998)20, was a classic example of the former type. Despite his undisputed prominence in the academic world, he retained a love for the comedic traditional poetry, saws and duologues of his east Antrim home. In contrast, the negative type of humour is found in the drawings of Ian Knox, cartoonist for the Irish News21, which have on three occasions caused outrage in the Ulster-Scots community. Press and broadcasting media derision directed at Ulster-Scots is common.
Children’s publications
25 Scots language publications for children have been of a consistently high standard. The Kist22 was a wonderful educational resource for school pupils in the 5 to 14 age group, covering all indigenous language varieties found in Scotland. Subsequent children’s publications were produced by the Scots Language Resource Centre in Perth, under Sheila Douglas; and latterly Itchy Coo, a dedicated provider of children’s texts in Scots, was responsible for an extensive list including such titles as Precious and the Puggies23, a translation of Alexander McCall Smith’s Precious and the Monkeys.
26 Meanwhile, the Ulster-Scots Language Society has been responsible for only two publications exclusively for children. The first was a translation into Ulster-Scots of a dramatic treatment of the Biblical story of Queen Esther24. This hardback book was very attractively produced, with excellent illustrations by a local artist. However, it made little impact locally and may well have been before its time. Its production was funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, which also funded that of the second children’s book in the series25, focusing on the story of King Fergus, sixth century king of Dalriada, after whom Carrickfergus in County Antrim is said to have been named.
27 In recent years, possibly the best book for younger children was published by the Ulster-Scots Community Network26, and the Society assisted its author with the text.
28 Unfortunately, even a children’s book was not spared a political attack, for a work colleague of the author of Fergus complained to the Arts Council of Northern Ireland that the book was teaching children a discredited account of history. During the subsequent exchange of letters, it was pointed out that the back cover précis states that the story is “based on local traditions and chronicled legends”27 and no claim was ever made that it was intended as a factual historical account. The complaint was not upheld; but it was a stressful period for the author, and for The Ullans Press as
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publisher, and provided a salutary lesson that in the Northern Ireland context the most innocuous desire to teach children a little of a regional minority language through the medium of a story based on local legends can suddenly acquire an unexpected political significance.
Language development
29 Matters of language development have suffered greatly from the difficult history of the Ulster-Scots Academy. A detailed treatment of this subject is beyond the scope of the present article. It is sufficient to note that the creation of a fully-fledged electronic corpus of Ulster-Scots literature is still awaited, in addition to the historical dictionary already mentioned. There has been a degree of progress on both projects, due to the commitment of Ulster-Scots Language Society workers.
30 However, out of all the language development projects, only that relating to Bible translation has reached the publication stage, under the oversight of Wycliffe Bible Translators Philip and Heather Saunders, working in partnership with the Society. The first of the gospels appeared towards the end of 200928, and the publication of a volume containing all four is expected in the current year.
Copyright
31 The Language Society has always been determined to protect the intellectual property rights of authors who generously donate their writings for publication by The Ullans Press. From the first issue of Ullans, copyright has remained with the authors themselves. This policy has caused friction between the USLS and its funding body, the Ulster-Scots Agency.
32 At one point, a number of titles in the “Living Writers” series29 were ready for publication but, before agreeing to fund the work, the Agency wished to secure the right to reproduce the material concerned on its website. Although capable of relatively easy resolution in any other context, this issue dragged on for approximately two years. The main difficulty was said to relate to “governance” (or the civil service interpretation of responsible use of public money). In the end, the Language Society simply amended the Letter of Offer, giving the form of words necessary to bring about the desired objective, and the amended document was accepted without comment by the Agency.
33 In another instance, a Language Society member had transcribed folksy newspaper columns from a local newspaper published in the early 1900s, for the Ulster-Scots Academy Implementation Group, now defunct. Under the system then operating, he was paid for having undertaken the transcription and signed the rights to it over to the Language Society. Subsequently, USLS officers were taken aback to discover that the Agency had funded publication of a selection from the transcription, which was being distributed free to homes in the North Antrim area together with a CD of someone reading the text30. A considerable sum of public money was said to be involved in their production and distribution; however, there was little point in making an issue of the breach of the original agreement with the Language Society. Concern remains that the Ulster-Scots Agency, which, as has been noted, has no specialist knowledge of the
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language, nevertheless thought it worthwhile to prioritise the publication and free distribution of something that is not a prime example of Ulster-Scots writing.
A modern dilemma
34 In addition to the factors specific to the language, publishing in Ulster-Scots shares the difficulties of all other kinds of hard-copy publication. It is widely acknowledged that there is a downturn in the book trade generally, with only a modest proportion of the loss being recouped by the e-book sector. Many historic texts are available online at no cost to the reader.
35 In this unfavourable environment, the sector has struggled to connect its publications with their readership. So far as the USLS is concerned, apart from its online shop, there is no network of outlets for its publications. Independent booksellers have expressed interest in particular titles and these have been supplied to them at book trade rates; and individual authors have from time to time seized the initiative and made arrangements with retailers themselves.
36 Ullans is distributed to USLS members free of charge. The Society intends to make an electronic version available from the next issue onwards, but is conscious that around half its members prefer hard-copy publication.
37 In an attempt to move with the times, the USLS has already made its reprint of The Auld Meetin’-Hoose Green by Archibald McIlroy31 available as a Kindle book. It is anticipated that other publications will follow.
38 The Society is also in negotiation with a distributor with the aim of having some of its publications included with that firm’s own list of available titles. Such an arrangement may not assist with the distribution of titles that are not considered commercially viable but may nonetheless be important to the interests of the language.
39 Other Ulster-Scots organisations have taken the decision to distribute their publications free of charge. Free distribution has been resisted by the Society out of a desire to encourage people to value the literature for its own sake and in recognition of the time, effort and knowledge that has gone into its production. The Language Society has priced its publications and its membership subscriptions very modestly. Furthermore, the free material appears to be aimed at a limited number of outlets, and observation shows that those on the receiving end often view its advent with irritation rather than anticipation. Effective marketing and distribution require thought and effort. The Agency’s current strategy in this area is not only wasteful but may deprive new and curious audiences of the opportunity to learn about and receive the publications.
40 Also, the USLS, drawing upon its own experience, has recently taken the view that writings in Ulster-Scots must be mediated to the reader, particularly in view of the modern dilution of the distinctive vocabulary and grammar of the language. For that reason, publications have latterly comprised sections containing context, linguistic commentary and/or glosses32. This, it is hoped, will open them up to a wider audience.
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And the others?
41 The Ullans Press claims to be the “original and best” publisher of Ulster-Scots writings. However, others have circulated publications in and on Ulster-Scots since the time of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. Perhaps the most visible of these is the newspaper, The Ulster-Scot33, published by the Ulster-Scots Agency. This periodical has been useful as a guide to community happenings and historical figures and events. However, it has proved a less than satisfactory medium for the language.
42 The Ulster-Scots Language Society wholeheartedly supported plans to establish the paper during Lord Laird’s period as chairman of the Boord (2000-2004), but soon discovered that Ulster-Scots language material submitted by the USLS was not being accurately reproduced. Having ascertained that the editor had no knowledge of the language, the Society offered to edit articles with Ulster-Scots language content free of charge. This offer was summarily rejected. Consequently, USLS contributors lost confidence in the paper and submitted fewer and fewer articles. In the intervening years, the fact that the paper is almost exclusively in English has been commented on in the press, online and at the Legislative Assembly. Another result of the paper’s intellectual disengagement from the language has been the inclusion, from sources other than the USLS, of linguistic misinformation, in the form of spurious etymologies and some writings of an embarrassingly low standard. There have been occasional worthwhile Ulster-Scots language articles, but these are the exception.
43 The most valuable contribution to the canon of modern Ulster-Scots literature from sources other than the Language Society was the Denkschrift published as a tribute to the late Professor Robert J. Gregg34. As well as making the fruits of much sound research more generally available, the volume provided a much-needed corrective to the modern misconception that no work of any consequence had previously been done on the orthography of Ulster-Scots. It is a great pity, however, that few language students in particular seem to be aware of its existence.
44 Translation is the final category of writing in which there has been any significant input from other sources. The Ullans Press has usually preferred to feature material directly written in Ulster-Scots, rather than translations of books or booklets originally written in English. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, it is very much more difficult to make translated material read naturally, as the text has initially been “thought” in another language and it is all too easy for the inexperienced translator to be influenced by that other language’s word order and grammar. Secondly, skills and capacity within the Ulster-Scots community are not augmented if the creative process is taking place elsewhere.
45 Consequently, when the USLS was approached by Michael Everson, an American whose interest is in having Lewis Carroll’s book, Alice in Wonderland, translated into as many as possible of the world’s languages, the Society did not view it as a priority to spend time on a translation of this text into Ulster-Scots. However, Mr Everson then moved on to another provider, and subsequently the translation appeared35. The Society has not regretted its decision.
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Lessons for publishers
46 It may seem from this study that the obstacles to publication of Ulster-Scots language material are so varied and so wide-ranging as to be nearly impossible to circumvent. No doubt the predecessors of the current Ulster-Scots writers, the Weaver Poets, were similarly exercised, in this case by the problem of financing volumes of their poetry. These were poor people, many of whom were rebels against the state in the insurrection of 1798, and it was an age when much of the resourcing was done through the patronage of titled landowners. A glance at their “collected works” shows that they surmounted the difficulty by obtaining the support of subscribers, whose names are listed in these volumes and who pledged sums of money towards the costs of publication.
47 Those who look to these Weaver Poets for inspiration do well to be similarly resourceful. Today’s activists have to be especially imaginative in order to continue to put good Ulster-Scots texts into the hands of the current generation. They owe no less to the writers of the past, and to the generations yet to come, whose linguistic heritage should not be denied to them.
48 As well as obstacles, there have been encouragements. For example, over the years Ullans has featured approximately 75 different modern writers in or about Ulster-Scots (including around 10 from outside Northern Ireland), and the work of 19 different historic writers. A comprehensive list of Ulster-Scots publications can be found in the Robert J. Gregg Denkschrift36 and more information on the Society’s work can be obtained through its website [www.ulsterscotslanguage.com].
NOTES
1. Periodic Report on Application of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Language in the United Kingdom, 3rd Monitoring Cycle, Chapter 2, section 33, p.9, recognises that Ulster-Scots is “still largely invisible in public life”. 2. For the text of the Agreement, see http://peacemaker.un.org/node/1697. It will be noted that neither of these names appears in the text itself, and the official title is “The Northern Ireland Peace Agreement”. 3. John Erskine and Gordon Lucy (eds.), Cultural Traditions in Northern Ireland: Varieties of Scottishness: Exploring the Ulster Scottish Connection, Institute of Irish Studies, Queen’s University of Belfast, 1997. 4. Alan Finlayson, “The Problem of ‘Culture’ in Northern Ireland: A Critique of the Cultural Traditions Group”, The Irish Review, no. 20, Winter – Spring 1997, Cork University Press, p. 78. 5. Ullans: The Magazine for Ulster-Scots, nummer 1, Spring 1993, p. 2. 6. For example, the writings of John M Kirk in such articles as, “Two Ullans Texts”, in John M Kirk and Dónall P. Ó Baoill (eds.), Language and Politics: Northern Ireland, the
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Republic of Ireland and Scotland, Belfast Studies in Language, Culture and Politics 1, Belfast, Queen’s University, 2000, p. 33-44; and those of Máiread Nic Craith, including, “Contested Identities and the Quest for Legitimacy”, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 21, 2000, p. 399-413. 7. James Fenton, The Hamely Tongue: A Personal Record of Ulster-Scots in County Antrim, 3rd edition, Belfast, The Ullans Press, 2007. 8. Philip Robinson, Ulster-Scots: A Grammar of the Written and Spoken Language, 2nd edition, Belfast, The Ullans Press, 2007. 9. James Fenton, Thonner an Thon, Belfast, The Ullans Press, 2000, and On Slaimish, Belfast, The Ullans Press, 2009; Philip Robinson, Alang tha Shore, Belfast, The Ullans Press, 2005, and Oul Licht, New Licht, Belfast, The Ullans Press, 2009. 10. James Orr, Poems on Various Subjects, Belfast, Wm. Mullan & Son, 1935. 11. See, for example, “Draft Strategy for Ulster Scots Language, Heritage and Culture” [www.dcalni.org.uk]. 12. See, for example, John Kirk, “Language, Culture and Division”, Fortnight, n° 396, June 2001, p. 18-19. 13. “Scotch poems”, in The Ulster Miscellany, Belfast, 1753, p. 369-386. 14. “The Life and Original Correspondence of Sir George Radcliffe, Knt.”, p. 209-210, cited in James Seaton Reid’s, History of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Edinburgh, Waugh and Innes, 1834, vol. 1, p.271. 15. W. G. Lyttle, Betsy Gray or Hearts of Down: A Tale of Ninety-Eight, Belfast, The Ullans Press, 2008; Archibald McIlroy, The Auld Meetin’-Hoose Green, Belfast, The Ullans Press, 2011. 16. Belfast, Blackstaff Press, 1974. Funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland supported this publication. 17. Charlie Gillen, The Wizard’s Quill, Belfast, The Ullans Press, 2005; Charlie Reynolds, Mae Granfeyther’s Tunge, Belfast, The Ullans Press, 2005. 18. See, for example, W F Marshall, Livin’ in Drumlister, Belfast, Blackstaff Press Ltd., 1983. 19. See, for example, Crawford Howard, Billy Ritchie and Maud Steele (Liz Weir ed.), Stand up and Tell them, Banbridge, Adare Press, 1991. 20. For a bibliography of the writings of R. J. Gregg, and the texts of a selection of his principal works, see Anne Smyth, Michael Montgomery and Philip Robinson (eds.), The Academic Study of Ulster-Scots: Essays for and by Robert J. Gregg, Holywood, National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland, 2006. 21. Most recently, in the edition of 23 November 2011. 22. Compiled by the Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum, Robbie Robertson (ed.), Glasgow, Nelson Blackie, 1996. 23. Alexander McCall Smith, Precious and the Puggies: Precious Ramotswe’s Very First Case, Edinburgh, Black and White Publishing, 2011. 24. Philip Robinson, Esther, Quaen o tha Ulidian Pechts, Belfast, The Ullans Press, 1997. 25. Philip Robinson, Fergus an tha Stane o Destinie, Belfast, The Ullans Press, 1999. 26. Matthew Warwick, Fergie an Freens oan tha fairm, Belfast, Ulster-Scots Community Network, 2011.
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27. Philip Robinson, op. cit., outer back cover. 28. Guid Wittens frae Doctèr Luik: The Gospel according to Luke in Ulster-Scots, Belfast, The Ullans Press, 2009. 29. For example, John M’Gimpsey Johnston, Blethers fae Bellyhie, Belfast, The Ullans Press, 2005. 30. See report in the Ballymoney Times, 10 December 2008, headed “The Bushside Letters are being delivered to homes”. 31. Belfast, The Ullans Press, 2011. 32. For example, Archibald McIlroy, The Auld Meetin’-Hoose Green, Belfast, The Ullans Press, 2011, which included a biography of the author and a linguistic commentary. 33. Issues dating back to 2009 from the present can be viewed at [www.ulsterscotsagency.com/ulster-scots-publications/the-ulster-scot/]. 34. Anne Smyth, Michael Montgomery and Philip Robinson (eds.), The Academic Study of Ulster-Scots, op. cit. 35. Lewis Carroll (Anne Morrison-Smyth trans.), Alice’s Carrànts in Wunnerlan, Evertype, Glencarraig, Co. Mayo, 2011. 36. John G. W. Erskine and Michael Montgomery, “Annotated Bibliography of Ulster- Scots Language and Literature”, in The Academic Study of Ulster-Scots, op. cit., p. 99.
ABSTRACTS
Access to authentic written Ulster-Scots material is essential to its progress as a European Regional Minority Language. This study examines the competing pressures governing its publication, within the unusual political system in Northern Ireland. It has been informed by empirical observation over almost twenty years of practical experience. Implications of the findings concern the need for determination and resourcefulness in combating the obstacles to publication of the necessary works.
Afin d’assurer le progrès de l’Ulster-Scots en tant que langue européenne régionale minoritaire, il est essential de pouvoir avoir accès à des écrits authentiques. Cet article explore les facteurs concurrents qui influencent la publication en Ulster-Scots dans le cadre du système politique hors norme en place en Irlande du Nord. Cette étude est le fruit de l’observation empirique et d’expérience pratique dans ce domaine sur une période de presque vingt ans. Elle conclut à la nécessité de faire preuve de détermination et d’inventivité pour surmonter les obstacles s’opposant à la publication des ouvrages nécessaires.
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INDEX
Keywords: Ulster-Scots, languages in Ireland - Ulster-Scots, collective identity, languages in Ireland - language policy, Northern Ireland, cultural heritage Mots-clés: langues en Irlande - Ulster-Scots, identité collective, Irlande du Nord, langues en Irlande - politiques linguistiques, Ulster-Scots, héritage culturel
AUTHOR
ANNE SMYTH
Chairman of the Ulster-Scots Language Society
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Beyond the rhyming weavers
Ivan Herbison
1 It is almost forty years since John Hewitt published his ground-breaking study and anthology of Ulster-Scots rural poets1. In identifying the literary tradition which he called the Rhyming Weavers, he effectively set the parameters of critical discourse which have continued to inform discussions of their work as well as perceptions of their cultural significance. The publication of 1974 was the culmination of work begun in the 1940s2. Indeed, the term “Rhyming Weaver” appears in the title of a series of articles which he contributed to a linen trade magazine in 19483. In 1951 he was awarded an MA degree for a study of nineteenth-century Ulster poetry, in which he considered not only the Rhyming Weaver tradition, but also that of the Rhyming Pedagogues and of the Colonial poets4. A summary of his research was published as a private paper5.
2 The gap of over twenty years between the submission of his thesis and the publication of his book may be partly explained in terms of biography by his relocation to Coventry. However, it is also indicative of the stony critical ground which he was attempting to work during this period. The 1974 volume was not reprinted until 2004, despite several approaches to the publisher. It was not until 1980 that the work of a rhyming weaver came back into print6. Despite his valiant efforts, Hewitt did not succeed in restoring the Rhyming Weavers to the literary canon7. Even the revisionism of the 1990s perpetuated their exclusion from the new canon of Irish writing. The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing (1991) does not contain a single Ulster-Scots poem, and two subsequent volumes have not attempted to rectify the omission8.
3 It is the argument of this paper that only by taking the Ulster-Scots poets beyond the concept of the Rhyming Weavers can they be restored to a place in literary history. This is not intended as a criticism of Hewitt. Rather, it is an acknowledgement that the issues and attitudes of the 1940s and 1950s, the period during which Hewitt was developing his concept, need to be updated, if the weaver poets are to be understood in contemporary critical contexts. This entails a revisionist approach to Hewitt’s analysis which will historicise the concept of the Rhyming Weavers. That critical process is a larger project, and this present essay is a preliminary contribution which intends to sketch some of the tasks which lie ahead.
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4 Hewitt’s approach to the Rhyming Weavers can be seen in terms of a quest for personal literary identity and a search for a critical agenda for Ulster writers. There is no doubt that he identified with his poetic forbears in a number of ways. Their working-class roots and radical sympathies appealed to his socialist political outlook. However, his own avowed agnosticism sometimes prevents him from fully recognising the importance played by religious belief in their work. There were limits to the extent to which they could act as models. Though he admired their use of Ulster-Scots, he did not seek to employ it as a poetic idiom in his own writings. Nevertheless, he used them to bolster his promotion of regionalism as a literary movement9. He claimed the Rhyming Weavers not merely as his own personal poetic forbears, but as “the literary ancestors he so desperately desired to underpin his theory of regionalism”10. He was anxious to defend the authenticity of the weaver poets against accusations of being mere imitators of Burns11. The theory of regionalism justified the isolation of the weaver poets from influences other than the Scots vernacular tradition. Above all, he presents the history of the Rhyming Weavers as a “grand narrative” of decline and fall, neatly paralleling the collapse of handloom weaving in the face of industrialisation. Hewitt ties together the fates of linen and literature12. For Hewitt the weaver poets have no living literary relatives to continue the vernacular tradition. This conveniently allows him to claim them as adoptive ancestors of regionalism. As portrayed by Hewitt the Rhyming Weavers are distinctively regional, or even sub-regional poets, their sense of place being located in specific districts such as East Antrim, North Down and Mid Antrim, or even tied to particular townlands: Orr of Ballycarry, McKenzie of Dunover, Herbison of Dunclug. While this approach literally grounds the poets in their particular localities, it makes it more difficult to assess their work in the context of larger social, political and cultural concerns.
5 Despite Hewitt’s considerable reputation and his efforts at recuperation, the weaver poets have continued to suffer from marginalisation and critical neglect13. Perhaps it is time to move criticism beyond the parameters of the Rhyming Weavers.
Beyond Decline and Fall
6 One of the consequences of Hewitt’s grand narrative of decline and fall is his desire to confine the Rhyming Weavers firmly to the past. He does not regard it as a living tradition, and thus he ignores or significantly undervalues, poets writing in the twentieth century. He makes various attempts to demarcate the end of the tradition. His 1951 paper concludes with 1850; his thesis has 1870 as its end point; his book brings this forward to 1900.
7 Even though his book includes the work of Thomas Given (1850-1917), published in 1900, one senses a reluctance on Hewitt’s part to admit Given to his canon14. One might have thought that Thomas Given’s vigorous use of the Ulster-Scots vernacular would have commended him to Hewitt, as it had commended him to Revd George R. Buick, the writer of the Preface: He is specially happy when using the Doric of his native district as the vehicle of expression. Here his muse seems most at home, becoming at once more natural and forcible, with spontaneity and freshness, language which is decidedly more idiomatic and picturesque than when he contents himself with dipping into “the well of English undefiled” […]15.
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8 However, Hewitt is reluctant to accept Given into the ranks of his Rhyming Weavers. His comments are either grudging or dismissive. The following remarks are typical: Somewhere the centrality of the bard to his life and community has broken down. […] [T]hough he lived in the same part of the country and their years overlapped, it was only a book by the dead Bard of Dunclug which he saluted. He swapped no rhymes with fellow poets […] Nor does he ever glance at another man’s trade with an informed, amused or affectionate eye. [T]he end of “an auld sang”16.
9 With his concluding remark Hewitt anxiously seeks to draw a line under the Rhyming Weavers. This is in spite of the fact that Thomas Given seems to fit some of the cherished criteria which Hewitt applies to other poets. Like David Herbison, he has a strong social conscience, and is indignant about ill treatment of the poor: Guid keep me frae the tender care O’ those wha dole the poorhouse fare Or clads tae misery its share O’ man’s relief But shud it come, O hear my prayer Let Life be brief. [From “Outdoor Relief and The Guardians” Poems from College and Country, p.186-87.]
10 He shares Herbison’s love of natural detail: The blackbird keeks oot frae the fog at the broo Gies his neb a big dicht on a stane; His eye caught the primrose appearin’ in view An the tiny wee violet o’ Nature’s ain blue; He sung them a sang o’ the auld and the new – A sang we may a’ let alane. [From “A Song for February”Poems from College and Country, p. 149.]
11 He exchanged Poetical Epistles with Bab McKeen, famous for his Ulster-Scots contributions to The Ballymena Observer17. For when the paper is broucht in, The wee yins for my specks will rin, An’ young and auld shut up their din Withoot a hint, Until they ask wi’ eager grin, Has Bab oucht in’t? [From “Poetical Epistles tae Bab M’Keen”, I-V Poems from College and Country, p. 250-57.]
12 Far from maintaining isolation from other poets, he regards David Herbison as a father figure of a generation of young Ulster-Scots poets: It seemed tae be his sole desire Tae keep frae Death auld Ulster’s lyre, An’ sing wi true poetic fire Hir hills and plains; Though some micht hae the same desire, They’re only weans. [“Lines written on receiving a copy of David Herbison’s poems” Poems from College and Country, p. 230.]
13 Why, then is Hewitt so reluctant to admit Thomas Given to the canon? One answers lies in the conflict between Hewitt’s desire to cast the Rhyming Weavers in the radical
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dissenting tradition, with which he personally sympathised, and the political and religious ideas which he encountered in Given’s work. Given’s identification with Orangeism, and his support for the ideology of Imperialism conflict with Hewitt’s preferred political agenda: Still let us pride in takin’ pert Wi those wha thole oppression’s dert Let’s gie the twa-faced their dessert And shut their mooth. What though oor speech be sometimes tert We’ll tell the truth. [From “Poetical Epistle tae Cullybackey Auld Nummer” Poems from College and Country, p. 186.] How he upheld the flag o’ his fathers and yours – Nae surrender wi’ him tho’ the hale worl’ wur Boers Nae wunner we’re proud o’ oor countryman’s fame And thankfu’ tae Heaven for his comin’ hame. [From “Defender of Ladysmith” Poems from College and Country, p.25918.]
14 Like the majority of Ulster-Scots in Mid Antrim, Thomas Given was opposed to Home Rule, and wary of the minority of Presbyterians who advocated it: Ho! Home Rule Presbyterians a’, Doubly-dyed in Adam’s fa’ Withoot the nails to claut or claw Your weasent skin, Ere death enshrouds you wae a scraw, Come in! Come in! [From “The General Assembly and Home Rule” Poems from College and Country, p. 231-32.]
15 Here he jocularly associates political unorthodoxy with religious unorthodoxy. His reference to their being “Doubly-dyed in Adam’s fa” alludes to the Auld Licht theology of double predestination, rejected by the New Licht faction. Thus he invites Home Rule Presbyterians to “Come in” and conform to both orthodoxies19.
16 In drawing the line at 1900, Hewitt also rejects from the canon another Mid Antrim poet, whose work poses an even greater challenge to his construction of the Rhyming Weavers. Adam Lynn is one of the less familiar names in the story of Ulster-Scots poetry. Yet his modestly-entitled Random Rhymes frae Cullybackey, published in 1911, provides eloquent testimony to the survival of the Ulster-Scots literary tradition into the twentieth century. Thus Lynn’s work calls into question Hewitt’s argument for the inevitable decline of the Rhyming Weavers and their poetry. He lived well into his nineties, and died in the mid-1950s. Consequently, he was alive at the time that Hewitt was researching the tradition. It is not known whether Hewitt was aware of this. Adam Lynn was living proof that the grand narrative Hewitt was constructing was not the full story.
17 There are several ironies in the case of Adam Lynn. He wrote in vigorous and fluent Ulster Scots, betraying no signs of linguistic decay. Quite the opposite, for Lynn writes in a denser vernacular register than Herbison. He was also a worker in the textile industry, a machinist if not a handloom weaver, employed by the firms of the Maine Works and Frazer and Haughton. Though the Biographical Notice describes Lynn as being “of a retiring and thoughtful disposition20”, he was very much a part of his community, and took particular pride in his membership of the Flower of the Maine
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Lodge of the British Order of Ancient Free Gardeners, a fraternal order organised on Masonic lines: Come and join the British Order O’ the Gerners, yin and a’; Weel registered it is noo, And backed up by the la’. […] Then, if ye ir attentive, boys, And keep things weel on han’, Ye’ll no hae very lang tae wait Till ye ir a journey-man. By this yer knowledge widens oot; So if ye dae yer pert, Ye’ll get a certificate tae show Yer mester o’ the ert. [“Come and Join us”, Random Rhymes, p. 10-11.]
18 Lynn is an acute observer of his rural society, and is at his best when describing countryside activities such as a hiring fair or lint-pulling (Random Rhymes, p. 13-14) or commenting on “freats”, local superstitions of which both the rational and the religious thoroughly disapprove: Which things hae lang been in oor Isle, An’ seems tae me wul’ yit awhile. Believe it yis or no. Though education is advanced These “auld freats” ir sae well enhanced ‘Tis hard tae bid thim go. Sure whun the cruck an’ links go cra’k Ur a burnt peat fa’s on its ba’k, A stranger soon ye’ll see; But watch the wye ye big it up An’ lissen weel the dreamin’ “pup” That niver telt a lee. [“Freats”, Random Rhymes, p. 58-59.]
19 All of these are characteristics which Hewitt praises in the work of the earlier poets, and a strong argument can therefore be made for continuity of the tradition rather than decline. In matters of religion and politics, however, Lynn does not conform to Hewitt’s model.
20 Lynn grew up in the aftermath of the 1859 Revival, and some of his work has a decidedly evangelical and moral temper. His own religious background reveals an unusually wide variety of ecclesiological influences. He came from Covenanter stock, attended a Presbyterian Sabbath School, and was a member of the Church of Ireland (Random Rhymes, p. III). Thus, in matters of religious controversy, such as the issue of hymn-singing, his response is notably eirenic: I trust that ere long we may see All following the Lamb, And think no sin, outside or in, To sing a hymn or Psalm. [“The Hymn Question”, Random Rhymes, p. 3-4.]
21 The period leading up to the publication of Random Rhymes was a time of political tension, culminating in the Home Rule Crisis of 1912. Though Lynn seldom writes explicitly on political matters, his work sometimes reflects a blending of identities. His treatment of the Boer War reveals a mixture of emotions: pride in Sir George White, the “hero” of Ladysmith; relief at the ending of hostilities; criticism of political leaders on both sides, Kruger, Steen, and Gladstone.
22 (“Paddy at the Front”, Random Rhymes, p. 28-29). Writing before partition, he sees no contradiction between a patriotic identification with Ireland and the Orange tradition: Each yin loves dear thir native lan’, Despite the heat or cauld, Ur whither big, ur whither wee, Ur whither young or auld; Ur whither rich, ur whither poor, In it A’ll wish tae dee, I think nae shame, I’m jist the same, Dear Ireland fur me. [“Ireland for me”, Random Rhymes, p. 146-48.]
23 He even uses the traditional Irish greeting ‘Cead Mile Failte’, to welcome Dunnygarron Orange Lodge to the Twelth of July Demonstration (Random Rhymes, p. 156-57), and is inspired to celebrate the colourful spectacle of the procession: The colours ir o’ ancient date, Fur purple, blue, an’ scarlet mate; The flags an’ banners ir first-rate, An’ sashes tae; A think we hae nae ocht can bate A guid Twalt Day. [“The Twalt o’ July”, Random Rhymes, p. 45-47.]
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24 An examination of the work of Given (1900) and Lynn (1911) thus casts doubt on Hewitt’s narrative of decline and fall, and his desire to treat the Rhyming Weavers as a dead tradition, a museum exhibit – He was, after all, a museum curator. He declared the poetry of Thomas Given to be “the end of an auld sang21”. Adam Lynn, writing over a decade later from the same village, shows that there was life in the “auld sang” yet, and that the Ulster-Scots poetic tradition lived –and lives – beyond the Rhyming Weavers.
No Female Bards?
25 Gender is another area in which Hewitt’s treatment of the Rhyming Weavers needs some correction. He includes only one working-class female bard, Sarah Leech (1809-1830)22. Since Hewitt’s time feminist criticism has engaged in the recuperation and revaluation of women’s writing. The publication of Volumes IV and V to supplement the original Field Day Anthology are a testament to how far this critical project has progressed.
26 Even for its time, Hewitt’s treatment of Sarah Leech is condescending and dismissive: A vehement supporter of the Protestant, Anti-Repeal cause, she addressed the Brunswick Club. She is rather a dull than a downright bad rhymer. She belongs to the host of humble versifiers, so eagerly taken up by fashionable patrons23.
27 These comments are designed to call into question her authenticity as a female working-class voice. She portrays herself as a “Rhyming Spinner24”. However, for Hewitt her greatest crime would seem to be that she was a supporter of the pro- Unionist Brunswick Club.
28 Critics have identified a distinctive tradition of female songs, and this opens up new avenues of investigation and comparison for Leech’s work. Jane Gray makes the following comparison between the male weaver poets and the female spinners: While the rhyming weavers began their versifying careers in similar settings, their female counterparts never bridged the gap between oral and written composition. This is partly because women were much less likely to be literate25.
29 Leech, however, can be seen in the context of a tradition of women labouring-class poets whose work began to appear in the eighteenth century26.
30 There are also a number of female poets associated with the Rhyming Weaver tradition. These include Frances Brown[e] (1816-79), The Bard of Stranorlar, sometimes referred to as “The Blind Poetess of Ulster”; Elizabeth Willoughby Treacy (1821-96), Mrs Ralph Varian (Cork), who used the pseudonym “Finola” and Mrs Ida White, wife of the owner of Ballymena Observer, who published under the name “Ida”. All were part of a poetic circle linked with David Herbison. Hewitt is highly dismissive of “Finola” and “Ida”, calling them “remarkable if scarcely relevant ladies27”. He had considerable admiration for Mrs White’s politics if not her poetry: As a republican, a freethinker, and, later an exile in Paris, she followed a rather unusual career for a Ballymena woman, for which a spell of imprisonment in Holloway, a public attack on the Czar of Russia, and some verses addressed to John Burns the dockers’ leader, set the key28.
31 This feminist icon was the same Ida White who sewed cushions for the Bard of Dunclug!
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32 There is little doubt that the number of female poets can be substantially expanded. Crawford Gribben draws attention to his relative Margaret Crawford (1870-1950), who lived at College Farm Carnlough and Thornhill Farm, Antrim29.
33 Hewitt’s Rhyming Weavers are overwhelmingly masculine. Many more female voices remain to be recuperated from a variety of sources as yet insufficiently explored – periodicals, newspapers, and unpublished papers – to build a more complete understanding of Ulster Scots poetry.
Beyond Antrim and Down
34 While not explicitly confining himself to Ulster-Scots areas, Hewitt’s focus falls primarily on Antrim and Down, taking little account of the Mid Ulster district. Even within that county, North Antrim is under-represented. He mentions James McKinley of Dunseverick30 and Hugh McWilliams of Loughguile 31 but neither receives the attention of James Orr (1770-1816) or Hugh Porter (born 1781). As has already been observed, Sarah Leech of Raphoe receives a somewhat superficial treatment.
35 A consequence of drawing tightly defined boundaries to “contain” the poets is to exclude some literary figures who, while not occupying a central place in the Ulster- Scots cultural heartland, nevertheless were influenced by and interact with the tradition of Ulster vernacular poetry. Such a figure is W. F Marshall, “The Bard of Tyrone” (1888-1959). Marshall was deeply interested in dialect. As well as contributing to the Scottish National Dictionary, he compiled an Ulster dialect dictionary which remains unpublished. It was once thought to have been destroyed32. Marshall used dialect most effectively and authentically in his own verse: The dialect in many of the ballads is from my own county of Tyrone. I do not conceive that any apology is necessary for the inclusion of such ballads. In past days this dialect was something which the schoolmaster “lenged” out of us with a cane. Nowadays the cane is laid aside33.
36 One of his most celebrated poems, “Me an’ me Da” (also known as “I’m livin’ in Drumlister”)34 has many links to the Rhyming Weaver tradition, particularly in its detailed observation, wry humour, and sympathetic treatment of the hardships of old age. Marshall’s work as a whole deserves reassessment.
37 Many poets of the weaver tradition emigrated from their native land. Hewitt does not consider this poetic diaspora. James Orr spent some time as a political exile in America and is said to have contributed to American periodicals. James McHenry of Larne (1785-1845), John Smyth of Ballymena (“Magowan”) (1783-1854), and Henry McD. Flecher of Moneyrea (1827-1902) also emigrated to America and continued their literary careers35. In the case of Flecher, his last volume of poems, Odin’s Last Hour and other Poems, appeared in 1900. The task of assembling and analyzing the product of the Ulster Scots diaspora has barely begun. The interactions between home and abroad remain to be researched. The recent edition of Robert Dinsmoor’s work provides a telling foretaste of other materials yet to be discovered36.
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Beyond Critical Boundaries
38 The concept of the Rhyming Weavers has contributed to the ghettoization of Ulster- Scots literature. It has been characterised as a literary form bounded by, or even defined by its locality. It has been either ignored by or excluded from critical discourse on literature and national identity. It has faced ejection from the literary histories of both Ireland and Scotland. However, there are now signs to suggest that the critical isolation of Ulster-Scots literature, and of the weaver poets in particular, may be nearing an end.
39 There have been a few harbingers of a more sympathetic critical climate. Norman Vance includes David Herbison and Francis Davis in his social history of Irish literature37. Samuel Thomson (1766-1816) is represented in Andrew Carpenter’s Verse in English from Eighteenth-Century Ireland (1998) and in Volume Two of Eighteenth Century English Labouring-Class Poets (2003)38.
40 James Orr appears in The Penguin Book of Irish Poetry (2010) 39. More significant is the publication of Frank Ferguson’s Ulster-Scots Anthology40. The appearance of Frank Ferguson’s chapter in the Oxford History of the Irish Book marks further progress into the critical main stream41.
41 One of the most promising critical developments has been Jennifer Orr’s reassessment of Samuel Thomson in relation both to labouring-class poetry and in terms of his relationship to Romanticism. For Hewitt, Thomson was a somewhat anomalous figure, by profession a school master, and hence, in Hewitt’s classification, a “Rhyming Pedagogue”; yet his close association with James Orr drew him into ranks of the Rhyming Weavers. Jennifer Orr demonstrates that Hewitt failed to recognize the political dimension to Thomson’s work42. She has continued to reconstruct Thomson as the leading figure in the dissemination of Romantic ideas43. He emerges as a figure very different from Hewitt’s construction of The Bard of Carngranny. In linking Thomson to mainstream literary movements, Orr has opened up new ways of understanding the weaver poets, which take full account of their literary and cultural affiliations, thus permitting an escape from the critical straightjacket of the Rhyming Weavers.
Legacy
42 In exploring ways of taking the critical perception of the weaver poets beyond the parameters first established by John Hewitt, I am conscious of the immense debt which students of the Ulster Scots vernacular tradition owe to him. He rescued the Ulster poets from an almost impenetrable obscurity, and thus enabled others to build on his achievement. It is hardly surprising that sixty years on a degree of revisionism is both necessary and desirable. Needless to say, Hewitt’s book remains essential reading, even if we might question some of his preconceptions and conclusions. In going beyond the concept of the Rhyming Weavers, we must never underestimate the scholarship and critical acumen which lies behind The Rhyming Weavers.
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NOTES
1. Rhyming Weavers and Other Country Poets of Antrim and Down, Belfast, Blackstaff Press, 1974; reprinted with Foreword by Tom Paulin, 2004. 2. See, for example, “The Bitter Gourd: Some problems of the Ulster Writer”, Lagan, 3, 1945, p. 93-105, reprinted in Tom Clyde (ed.), Ancestral Voices: The Selected Prose of John Hewitt, Belfast, Blackstaff Press, 1987. 3. “The Rhyming Weavers, Parts I, II, III”, in Fibres, Fabrics and Cordage, 15, nos. 7-9, 1948. 4. “Ulster Poets, 1800-1870”, unpublished MA thesis, Queen’s University Belfast, 1951. 5. Ulster Poets 1800-1850, paper read to the Belfast Literary Society, 3 January 1950, privately printed 1951. 6. Ivan Herbison, ed., Webs of Fancy: Poems of David Herbison, The Bard of Dunclug (Oxford and Ballymena: Dunclug Press, 1980). 7. See Ivan Herbison, “‘The Rest is Silence’: Some remarks on the Disappearance of Ulster-Scots Poetry”, in J. Erskine and G. Lucy (eds.), Cultural Traditions in Northern Ireland. Varieties of Scottishness: Exploring the Ulster Scottish Connection, Belfast, Institute of Irish Studies, QUB, 1997, p. 129-145. 8. Seamus Deane (gen. ed.), The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing, 3 vols, Derry, Field Day Publications, 1991; Angela Bourke (ed.), The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing, Vols IV and V: Women’s Writing and Tradition, Cork, Cork University Press, 2005. 9. See, for example, “Regionalism: The Last Chance”, Northman, 15.3, Summer 1947, p. 7-9, reprinted in Clyde (ed.), Ancestral Voices, op. cit., p. 122-125. 10. Aoileann Ní Éigeartaigh, “‘No Rootless Colonist’: John Hewitt’s Regionalist Approach to Identity”, in James P Byrne, Padraig Kirwan & Michael O’Sullivan (eds.), Affecting Irishness: Negotiating Cultural Identity Within and Beyond the Nation, Reimagining Ireland 2, Frankfurt am Main and London: Peter Lang, 2009, p. 133. 11. John Hewitt, Ulster Poets, 1800-1850, op. cit., p.17. 12. For a brief account of this theme, see Ivan Herbison, Presbyterianism, Politics and Poetry in Nineteenth-century Ulster: Aspects of an Ulster-Scots Literary Tradition, Belfast, Institute of Irish Studies, QUB, 2000, p. 3-6. 13. See, for example, James P Byrne, Padraig Kirwan & Michael O’Sullivan (eds.), Affecting Irishness, op. cit., p. 74. 14. Poems from College and Country by Three Brothers [Patrick Given, Samuel Fee Given, Thomas Given], Belfast, W&G Baird, 1900. 15. George R. Buick, Poems from College and Country, op.cit;, p. 139-40. On George R. Buick, see Eull Dunlop’s Introduction to Buick’s Ahoghill, Ballymena, Mid Antrim Historical Group, 1987. 16. John Hewitt, Rhyming Weavers, op. cit., p. 122. 17. See Stephen Herron, “Bab McKeen: The McKeenstown (Ballymena) Scotch Chronicler”, in Michael Montgomery and Anne Smyth (eds.), A Blad o Ulstèr-Scotch frae Ullans, Belfast, Ullans Press, 2003, p. 165-158.
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18. See also “General Sir George White at Ladysmith”, Poems from College and Country, op. cit. p. 192; “Thoughts on the Death of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield”, ibid., p. 215. 19. Double predestination is the Calvinist doctrine that God, as an act of His sovereign will, from before the creation has predestinated some to eternal salvation (the elect) and has foreordained others to eternal damnation (the reprobate). See John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book III: 21. The Auld Licht faction maintained that the doctrinal standards of Presbyerianism, established in the seventeenth century, could not be changed or reinterpreted. The New Licht faction argued that they could be reinterpreted in the light of reason and advances in knowledge. 20. Adam Lynn, Random Rhymes frae Cullybackey, Belfast, W. & G. Baird, 1911, Biographical Preface, p. IV. 21. John Hewitt, Rhyming Weavers, op. cit., p. 122. 22. See Celine McGlynn and Pauline Holland (eds.), Sarah Leech: The Ulster-Scots Poetess of Raphoe, Co. Donegal, Belfast, Ulster-Scots Agency, 2006; reprinted 2010. This edition republishes Poems on Various Subjects, Dublin, J. Charles, 1828. 23. John Hewitt, Rhyming Weavers, op. cit., p. 63-64. 24. Poems on Various Subjects, p. 55. 25. Jane Gray, Spinning the Threads of Uneven Development: Gender an Industrialisation in Ireland during the Long Eighteenth Century, Lanham, Lexington Books, 2005, p.17. 26. See Susanne Kord, Women Peasant Poets in Eighteenth-Century England, Scotland, and Germany: Milkmaids on Parnassus, Rochester, NY, Camden House, 2003. 27. John Hewitt, Rhyming Weavers, op. cit p. 118. 28. John Hewitt, Rhyming Weavers, op. cit., p. 117-18. 29. Crawford Gribben, “Another undiscovered Ulster-Scots poet”, Ullans, Nummer 11, 2010, 125. 30. Poetic Sketches descriptive of the Giant’s Causeway (1819). 31. Poems and Songs (1831). 32. See J. A. Todd, Foreword to Livin’ in Drumlister: The Collected Ballads and Verses of W. F. Marshall, The Bard of Tyrone, Belfast: Blackstaff Press, 1983, p. xii. 33. Ballads and Verses from Tyrone, Introduction (1929). Cited in Gordon Lucy, “W F Marshall: The Bard of Tyrone”, Ullans, Nummer 11, 2010, p. 65-74. 34. Livin’ in Drumlister, op. cit., p. 32-33. 35. On McHenry and Fletcher see D.J. O’Donoghue, The Poets of Ireland: A Biographical and Bibliobiographical Dictionary of Irish Writers of English Verse, Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, 1912; on John Smyth see David Herbison, “John Smith, ‘Magowan’”, Ulster Magazine, 2, No. 23, November 1861, 441-44. 36. Robert Dinsmoor’s Scotch-Irish Poems, introduced by Frank Ferguson and Alister McReynolds, Belfast, Ulster Historical Foundation, 2012. 37. Norman Vance, Irish Literature: A Social History: Tradition, Identity and Difference, Oxford, Blackwell, 1990.
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38. Andrew Carpenter, Verse in English from Eighteenth-Century Ireland, Cork, Cork University Press, 1998; John Goodridge (gen. ed.), Eighteenth-Century English Labouring- Class Poets, 3 vols, London, Pickering and Chatto, 2003. 39. Patrick Crotty (ed.), The Penguin Book of Irish Verse, London, Penguin Classics, 2010. 40. Frank Ferguson (ed.), Ulster-Scots Writing: An Anthology, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2008. 41. James H. Murphy (ed.), Oxford History of the Irish Book, Volume IV: The Irish Book in English, 1800-1891, Oxford, OUP, 2011, Chapter 35: “Ulster-Scots Literature” by Frank Ferguson, p. 420-31. 42. Jennifer Orr, “Constructing the Ulster Labouring-Class Poet: The Case of Samuel Thomson”, in Kirstie Blair and Mina Gorji (eds.), Class and Canon: Constructing Labouring- class Poetry and Poetics, 1780-1900, London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, Chapter 3, p. 34-54 (p. 36). 43. See Jennifer Orr (ed.), The Correspondence of Samuel Thomson, (1766-1816), Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2012.
ABSTRACTS
This paper examines the origin, development and construction of John Hewitt’s concept of the Rhyming Weavers. It argues that there is a need to reassess his concept in the light of contemporary critical concerns, and to develop critical perceptions of the work of the weaver poets beyond the parameters first established by Hewitt. An examination of the work of Thomas Given (1900) and Adam Lynn (1911) casts doubt on Hewitt’s treatment of the Rhyming Weavers as a past or vanished tradition, and argues that Hewitt’s views on politics and religion led him to neglect or undervalue poets such as Given and Lynn. It is also argued that the concept of Rhyming Weavers needs to be extended to encompass more female poets, poets of the Ulster Scots diaspora, and poets beyond Counties Antrim and Down, such as W. F. Marshall.
Cet article examine l’origine, le développement et la construction du concept des « Rhyming Weavers » (poètes tisserands), élaboré par John Hewitt. Il affirme qu’il est temps de revisiter son concept à la lumière des préoccupations de la critique contemporaine, et de pousser les perceptions critiques de l’œuvre des Rhyming Weavers au-delà des paramètres établis à l’origine par Hewitt. Une exploration de l’œuvre de Thomas Given (1900) et de Adam Lynn (1911) remet en question la façon dont Hewitt conçoit les Rhyming Weavers comme appartenant à une tradition révolue ou disparue, et suggère que les idées politiques et religieuses de Hewitt l’ont amené à ignorer ou sous-estimer des poètes comme Given et Lynn. L’article affirme également que la catégorie des Rhyming Weavers devrait être étendue afin d’inclure davantage de poètes femmes, ainsi que des poètes de la diaspora Ulster Scots, et des poètes venant de comtés au-delà d’Antrim et de Down, comme par exemple W. F. Marshall.
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INDEX
Keywords: Rhyming Weavers, Ulster-Scots, Hewitt John, poetry, cultural heritage, Northern Ireland Mots-clés: Rhyming Weavers, Hewitt John, poésie, héritage culturel, Ulster-Scots, Irlande du Nord
AUTHOR
IVAN HERBISON
Queen’s University Belfast, Member of the Ministerial Advisory Group on the Ulster-Scots Academy
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Poetic justice: ensuring a place for Ulster-Scots literature within the school curriculum in the north of Ireland
Carol Baraniuk
1 One of the finest entries in the Ulster-Scots literary canon is “The Irish Cottier’s Death and Burial”. This work, executed in the demanding Spenserian stanza and employing fairly dense Ulster Scots, emanates from the pen of James Orr (1770-1816), a County Antrim handloom weaver and Presbyterian United Irishman. Not published until after his death, it portrays in moving and affectionate detail a whole community involved in the intimate rituals and interactions that progressively accompany the deathbed, wake and interment of one of the poorest of their number. It is without question a master work, which eschews the sentimentality of Robert Burns’s “The Cotter’s Saturday Night”, a poem with which it implicitly dialogues, and which had itself been inspired by Robert Fergusson’s “The Farmer’s Ingle”, a celebration of virtuous thrift and hard work among the rural labouring classes in eighteenth-century Scotland.
2 Orr’s poem foregrounds proudly the worth, dignity, resolution and independence of his dying Cottier, but encoded within the narrative of his passing are Orr’s fears for the vibrant society he portrays so powerfully, and which he believes is under threat from poverty and neglect during the post-1801 Union era when this northern Irish, Ulster- Scots community, of which the forlorn Cottier is a symbol, lacks the advocacy of powerful friends within the metropolitan establishment. In the poem’s closing stanzas the setting shifts to the burial ground and Orr’s verse rises to an awful, tragic sublime, as the narrator depicts the disintegration to mere bone and skull of beloved deceased kinsfolk, thus confronting his readers with the great abyss of mortality, and pre- echoing the bleakness of modernist perspectives on the human condition1: An’ while the sexton earth’d his poor remains, The circling crowd contemplatively stood, An’ mark’d the empty sculls, an’ jointless banes,
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That, cast at random, lay like cloven wood: Some stept outbye, an’ read the gravestanes rude, That only tald the inmates’ years an’ names; An ’ithers, kneeling, stream’d a saut, saut flood, On the dear dust that held their kinsfolks’ frames.
3 The setting may be linked to a particular locality, but the themes are universal, and the work is exceptionally finely crafted. It is a piece which any nation might be proud to own within its national literature, and yet outside a few specialised academic circles in the north of Ireland and Scotland, it is hardly known. The following essay has been composed to challenge the inertia of educationalists and policy makers which has permitted the perpetuation of such ignorance, marginalised the works of some of Ireland’s finest writers and denied the rising generation access to the fullness of its cultural heritage.
4 Since the sea corridor separating the east coast of the province of Ulster from the west of Scotland is a mere twelve miles wide at its narrowest point it is small wonder that a dynamic relationship, co-operative or combative by turns, has existed between these two regions since prehistoric times. Following a period of raids and colonisation in the late fifth century, for example, the Gaelic kingdom of Dalriada covered territory that extended from the Glens of Antrim across the North Channel to include Kintyre, Argyle and some of the western islands – an arrangement that eventually enabled the establishment of Columcille’s Christian monastic settlement on Iona2. Later, during the plantations era of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Scots-speaking Lowlanders from Scotland’s Central Belt began arriving in Ulster, taking the opportunities offered by both private and government-sponsored schemes to acquire land and thereby greater prosperity. If such settlers may be deemed economic migrants, their numbers were swollen within a few generations by asylum-seeking Presbyterian Covenanters who were fleeing persecution visited on them in Scotland by the Stuart monarch Charles II as he attempted to assert the supremacy of the Crown over the Kirk – the Scottish national church3.
5 The communities established by such Scots migrants to Ulster developed a significantly different character from those of their neighbours, whether these were native Irish or English-descended. Their language, cultural practices and for the most part their religion – Presbyterianism – derived from their parent communities in the Scottish Lowlands. Though regarded by the Irish as colonists, for at least two centuries they maintained an ethos that to the governing authorities appeared robustly anti- establishment and indeed some two thirds of their number supported the United Irish cause in the short-lived and bloody 1798 Rebellion. The writers of the Irish Ordnance Survey Memoirs during the 1830s and 40s commented on this history, and at some length on the perceived “otherness” of the Ulster-Scots districts they visited, describing the people’s speech as “disagreeably Scottish” or “broad and coarse”. Their manners too were deemed “dry and uncommunicative”, while their traditional music was thought to be lacking in originality: “They have not any national music: their songs are merely the common ballads of the country and their airs are Scottish”. The enthusiasm for theology and disputation of scripture central to Presbyterian life was also viewed with patent disapproval: “They have much taste for reading […] works on theology and divinity such as might in every respect be deemed beyond their comprehension and as unsuited to their taste”4.
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6 Undoubtedly such comments reveal a class-based bias against members of the lower orders who were literate, confident and deemed to be lacking in deference. They also betray an Anglo-centric preference for standard register speech. The development of a state-backed education system in the later nineteenth century served this homogenising trend well, as is evident from a report made in the 1880s which commended the “well-managed” schools responsible for the near eradication of “the Scotch accent and the dialect words”5. But if Scots speech was considered only fit for the farmyard and “managed” often through a system of corporal punishment in the classroom, it proved more resilient within the home and continued to be employed in everyday discourse even while regarded as a low status vernacular by officialdom. In addition, its speakers had access to sophisticated literary works in Scots by writers from earlier periods such as Alexander Montgomerie, Sir David Lindsay and John Barbour, and in the era of the vernacular revival to the poetry of Allan Ramsay, Robert Fergusson and Robert Burns6.
7 By the 1940s, the Scots-speaking population was concentrated in four main heartlands within the historic province of Ulster: the Laggan district of east Donegal, north-west Derry, north-east Down including the Ards Peninsula, and much of county Antrim. At this period the likely disappearance of the Scotch accent and the dialect words began to be viewed as a matter of concern, at least by some academics and cultural activists who began undertaking and documenting detailed research into local speech. The papers published in Ulster Dialects: An Introductory Symposium7 recorded the findings of a generation of highly respected scholars – Brendan Adams, John Braidwood and Robert Gregg – who researched extensively the nature of Scots and English employed in Ulster, and the relationship between the different speech types8. Braidwood noted the dominance of Scots within the Province: “It seems to be a fact that the Ulster English dialects have suffered more encroachment from Scots than the reverse”9. Robert Gregg, originally from Larne, County Antrim and eventually Head of the Linguistics Department at the University of British Columbia, mapped the areas of Ulster where Scots language was employed at greatest density, while Brendan Adams, Dialect Archivist of the Ulster Folk Museum, discussed the close relationship between Ulster Scots and the Scots language spoken in parts of Scotland, commenting: “The north- eastern or Ulster Scots dialect […] an offshoot of the Central Scots dialect as spoken in Galloway, Ayrshire and Renfrewshire […] still preserves the marks of its Scottish ancestry in most of the areas in which it is spoken10.”
8 The term “dialect” is used here to refer to regional variations of the Scots language within Ulster and Scotland, not to imply that Scots itself is a dialect of English. John Corbett, until recently a linguist within the Scottish Language Department of the University of Glasgow offers the following useful assessment of the relationship between Scots and English: “Scots has always been a hybrid language – a mixture of Old English, Old Norse and French, with lesser borrowings from other languages, for example Gaelic. Scots and English are not two monolithic and distinct systems, but a range of varieties which sometimes diverge but have much in common11.”
9 The robust nature of Ulster Scots is clearly evident from its generation of a vibrant literary tradition which, though it looks to Scotland for its models and genres, evinces its own strong, distinctive character and addresses local, national and global issues on its own terms. During the same period in which linguistic scholars were observing and recording the continuing influence of Scots language in the north of Ireland, John
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Hewitt, poet, critic and regionalist cultural commentator was engaged in recovering the indigenous Ulster-Scots poetic tradition, many of whose practitioners inhabited the areas where Scots was spoken and who when expressing themselves in verse frequently, though not exclusively, employed the vernacular Braid Scotch with which they and their neighbours communicated in daily life. Hewitt’s research, originally undertaken in pursuit of his MA thesis Ulster Poets, (1949) uncovered forgotten collections of “little books” of poetry in the stacks of the Linen Hall Library and the Belfast Public Library. Many had been published in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries by labouring-class writers associated with the linen industry; their efforts to appear in print had in many cases been supported and funded through the subscriptions of their neighbours. Hewitt’s tireless promotion of these works among scholars and in popular culture by means of letters, journal articles and radio talks, reminded the Ulster public that not only did the north of Ireland possess a significant Scots language inheritance, it also owned a literary heritage originally deriving from the rich and distinguished Scottish literary tradition.
10 Hewitt, himself a fine poet whose work in the later twentieth century thoughtfully addressed the northern Irish “troubles12”, was deeply conscious of the “buried men/ in Ulster clay” who had made the north of Ireland their home and over generations shaped its character13. His thesis described “a period of surprising poetic activity on many levels, including peasants and craftsmen14”. Many of his writers were resident in the Ulster-Scots heartlands that the linguist Robert Gregg would later map and document, and their work demonstrated in a variety of ways – in linguistic registers, or through religious and other cultural references – their Scottish heritage, even as they identified with their Irish homeland. In the words of Samuel Thomson (1766-1816), one of the most talented Ulster poets of the Romantic period, they were “Irish without” and “Scotch within15”.
11 Hewitt explored early editions of Ulster-Scots vernacular writers such as James Orr, the Bard of Ballycarry and David Herbison of Dunclug (both weavers), Francis Boyle of Gransha (a blacksmith) and many more. Self-avowedly left-wing in his own politics, Hewitt welcomed enthusiastically poetry often written by individuals from the labouring-classes which recorded concerns and practices pertinent to community life in rural Ulster. Take for example David Herbison’s “Auld Wife” who laments the decline of the cottage linen industry and with it the independence it afforded to the laboring classes, many of whom are now forced to emigrate in search of employment. As she speaks what began as apparently an old woman’s simple nostalgia develops into a powerful lament for the state of the nation16: For ah! I’m sure I’ll never see Such joys as charm’d my youthfu’ e’e – The days are past when folks like me Could earn their bread, My auld wheel now sits silently Aboon the bed. And well may Erin weep and wail The day the wheels began to fail, Our tradesmen now can scarce get kail Betimes to eat, In shipfuls they are doomed to sail In quest of meat.
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12 Hewitt’s research was eventually published in 1974 as Rhyming Weavers and Other Country Poets of Antrim and Down and was re-issued in 2004. Until the appearance of the larger and more broadly based Ulster-Scots Writing: An Anthology in 2008 17, it remained the best introduction to the Ulster-Scots poetic tradition. The Anthology project has permitted the breadth, longevity and variety of the Ulster-Scots literary tradition to begin to be appreciated. It incorporates drama and nineteenth-century prose fiction, much with a strong vernacular element while also offering a selection of theological writing and powerful sermons. It includes a variety of texts by contemporary writers and in addition showcases pieces by writers such as Seamus Heaney who would not profess an Ulster-Scots identity, but whose engagement with Scottish and Ulster-Scots literature and language traditions further authenticates their place within the cultural heritage of the north of Ireland.
13 So, since Ulster-Scots poetry has a long history, and is rooted in linguistic habits and cultural practices demonstrably belonging to Ireland’s northern province why has it received so little attention within education? When we consider its reception more generally, it becomes clear that a critical tradition developed within and beyond Ireland that has failed to do justice to Ulster-Scots writers. Towards the end of the nineteenth century insufficiently informed judgements dismissed Ulster vernacular verse as an interesting but derivative, curiosity. D. J. O’Donoghue (1866-1917) provides an example that reveals either his ignorance of a vernacular Scots tradition with generic characteristics, or at least his failure to observe with what originality and sophistication Scots language and stanza forms have been employed by the best Ulster poets. In a discussion of “the dialect poets”, including James Orr and Hugh Porter he commends, if patronisingly: “Some of these are excellent and simply because they are so homely and natural.” Then comes a damning generalisation, all the more reprehensible because it is indiscriminately applied: “It must be admitted, though, that the dialect poets too often slavishly imitated Burns”18. The “Burns imitator” tag appears to have been retained in popular imagination for the following dismissal of Ulster-Scots literature, breath-taking in its assurance, appeared in a Belfast-based newspaper during the 1990s: “there is […] virtually no literature originating in Ulster apart from the weaver poets, mainly James Orr of Ballycarry and he was a Burns imitator19”. Even the distinguished Scots scholar and critic, Liam McIlvanney, while allowing that the best Ulster-Scots poets were striking and original writers, could add: “From the perspective of Burns scholars, however, the most conspicuous feature of the Ulster poets is their unrestrained bardolatry20.” In a more recent essay, however, McIlvanney offered a nuanced and thoughtful estimate of the work of James Orr, and of the significance of the Ulster-Scots poetic tradition, paying tribute to its ability to “complicate and illuminate our understanding of archipelagic identities in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries21”.
14 While some Ulster poets, impressed by the success of Robert Burns’s publications, may indeed have sought to emulate him, readers also need to bear in mind the dialoging tendency of much long eighteenth-century verse, in which a discourse develops between poets, who in turn address similar subjects, allowing readers to become spectators, arbiters and contributors. Such literary discussion threads can continue and mature over several generations, by means of genres such as the verse epistle which, as William Dowling has argued, is frequently employed during the eighteenth century to
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“bring about the reconstitution of community in a world threatened by fragmentation and alienation”22.
15 One such sequence may be observed developing from Allan Ramsay’s early eighteenth- century work “The Poet’s Wish”, executed in the Scots “cherrie and the slae” stanza23. In this text Ramsay explores the routes by which happiness may be achieved however inauspicious the circumstances, concluding with the advice24: Mair speer na, and fear na, But set thy Mind to rest, Aspire ay still high’r ay, And always hope the best.
16 Towards the end of the century, Robert Burns utilises the same verse form in his “Epistle to Davie” where he discusses the love and friendship which offer him happiness despite the social inequalities that trouble him25. In the early nineteenth century, the Ulster poet and former United Irishman James Orr wrote an “Epistle to S. Thomson of Carngranny” which takes up those same themes but adds immediacy and realism to the discussion by referencing Orr’s own shocking experiences in the 1798 Rebellion and demonstrating how he, as a poet, can celebrate and assert ownership of his own land despite the defeat of the United Irishmen26. Orr may have been writing within the same linguistic and epistolary tradition as Burns and Ramsay but far from settling for bland imitation of the Scots bards, crucially Orr extends, develops and adapts their theme of the pursuit of happiness and contentment to serve his own purpose, which is to address Irish issues. In his conclusion, within the context of the recent passing into law of the Irish Act of Union, Orr makes a defiant declaration of the social, literary and cultural independence of Ireland’s labouring-class poets: Tho’ vain folk disdain folk, We’se sing the burns an’ bow’rs O Airlan’, our fair lan’ – Deel tak her faes an’ ours!
17 That Orr was no more an imitator of Burns than Burns was of Ramsay and Fergusson before him was uncompromisingly asserted by John Hewitt. Furthermore, when one searches beyond the, of necessity, limited confines of the brief anthology Hewitt appended to his Rhyming Weavers one discovers a wealth of fine, thought-provoking and at times inspired verse – the works of a Scots-descended, northern school of Irish writers, male and female, who engaged dynamically with local, national and global issues, and with major literary movements in both vernacular and standard registers. These include Thomas Beggs (1798-1847) whose career and published output significantly developed the persona of the wandering romantic poet for his Ulster audience as he incorporated legend, myths and sublime North Coast seascapes into topographical works such as Rathlin27, or eerie, melancholy lyrics like “The Win’ that Whistled in the Wa’”28. Also worthy of serious attention are Sarah Leech (1809-1830), commended by Frank Ferguson for her “satirical proto-feminist engagement with the authority of male writers”29; and Samuel Ferguson, described by W.B. Yeats, no less, as “the greatest Irish poet” and “the one Homeric poet of our time”30.
18 One further example must suffice to illustrate the surprising richness of the Ulster- Scots literary tradition. The poet is Florence Wilson (1874-1946) of Bangor, Co Down who remains, like Leech, an important and rare female voice. Wilson, best known for her stirring monologue “The Man from God Knows Where” about the executed United Irish leader Thomas Russell (1767-1803), was born Florence Addy, daughter of Robert
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Addy, the manager of a Lisburn linen mill. She married Frederick Wilson in Shore Street Presbyterian Church, Donaghadee in 189831. In the period of the Easter Rising and of World War I Wilson produced a small volume of poetry titled The Coming of the Earls, dedicated to her son Niall, then fighting in the trenches on the Western Front. Many of her poems employ the Ulster-Scots vernacular with which she was familiar, having lived throughout her life in Antrim or Down. The following extract is typical in its appreciation, expressed in a self-evidently local voice, of the whin bushes so characteristic of the Ulster countryside: Whins The whin is out afore the short day’s turnin’; Och but the whin is brave! It sets a ring o’ fairy candles turnin’ Roun’ dour Winter’s grave The whin is out when nothin’ else is showin’ Along the dreepin’ ditch But, God above, he better loves its growin’ Than the red roses o’ the rich32.
19 Wilson’s collection references Irish history, folk beliefs and Home Front experiences, making it an intriguing entry in the Irish literary canon of both the Home Rule and the Great War eras. The following stanzas exemplify Wilson’s power as a lyric poet: All Souls' Eve I have decked my fireside with the haws glinting red, Left the half-door open, set the table spread With brown bread of my baking, and cups of gold and blue; We two will sit together as once we used to do 'I have said three prayers for you since dayli’ gone; That the moon be your lantern, and the stars glimmer on The dark ways you wander, and no cold mists there Draw their clinging fingers through your yellow hair. I will hear your footsteps seven miles away, Feet the mould has fettered in a house of clay; I would walk on your road, but you'll travel mine, To see the red haws gleaming and the candle shine. I have made the place gay with brown leaves and red, Here the turf is flaring; here the board is spread. . God who took you from me, show you to my sight! Lest I turn away from you, you who walk tonight33.
20 One notes the simplicity and apparent guilelessness with which the speaker evokes the cottage setting and its homely details, the Ulster Scots “dayli’gone” for “twilight”, and the disturbing effect of the slow-paced revelation that a dark ritual proscribed by religious orthodoxies is being attempted. The speaker’s concluding cry, commingling desperation, grief and anger will resonate with any reader who has lost a loved one, and must have proved potent for readers in the Lost Generation era of 1918, and during the early twentieth-century Irish struggles for independence. This is patently not a work that should be reserved for the appreciation of academics and archivists only.
21 In addition to a poetic tradition, Ulster has also produced significant prose works which again demonstrate original, individual character, though their models originate within the Scottish literary tradition. These include the nineteenth century novels of, for example, Archibald M’Ilroy34, which have much in common with the Scots “kailyard school” of J. M. Barrie, S. R. Crockett and Ian MacLaren, often maligned (perhaps unjustly) for their narrow, sentimental, sanitised portrayal of Scotland. Ulster kailyard
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fiction represents life in rural Ulster and in Presbyterian-majority communities but demonstrates the capacity to address conflict, poverty and even tragedy with a degree of realism, albeit within the confines of a village universe.
22 Finally, it is important to stress that the Ulster-Scots literary tradition experienced a further flowering during the 1980s and 90s in the poetry, prose and language recovery work of Philip Robinson and James Fenton. Robinson published a descriptive grammar of Ulster Scots35, while James Fenton, a gifted Ulster-Scots poet36, produced The Hamely Tongue – another key text – his personal record of Ulster Scots as spoken in his native Co. Antrim37. Robinson is a founding member of the Ulster-Scots Language Society and has written original poetry and a trilogy of contemporary kailyard-style novels in Ulster-Scots, beginning with Wake the Tribe O’ Dan38. His collection of poems, Alang tha Shore, employs Ulster-Scots language and traditional Scots stanza forms, while incorporating local, national and global political themes and making telling contemporary references39. In this respect he has followed in the tradition of the globally-aware Rhyming Weavers. The following extract from his poem, “Alba and Albania”, is about the recent Balkan conflict and provides a suitable example of his work. Here he draws a parallel with the Ulster “troubles” presenting the warring factions of Bosnia in terms that correspond to Anglican, Dissenter and Catholic in the north of Ireland, and starkly drawing attention to the grief and bitterness which result from violent confrontation: Ticht wee Serbs, tha peep-o-day clan. Mooslim dissenters, black-moothed an thran Papish Croatians bigged thair ain laun, Thirteen an Echtie-Nine. Weemin girnin owre deid guidman Wrangs aye in min’40.
23 From the discussion above, it should be clear that there exists a rich field of Ulster- Scots literature, exhibiting both sophistication and gravitas, for post-primary pupils in Ulster to engage with intellectually and upon which to hone their critical skills. That this is not happening appears all the more surprising, given political developments which appear to have created an Ulster-Scots friendly climate. The Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement of 199841, and the St Andrews Agreement of 2006 committed the Northern Ireland executive to a strategy for developing the Ulster-Scots language, including its attendant culture – which surely includes the literary tradition42. In addition, the European Charter for lesser used languages signed by the British Government in 2001 accords protected (Part 2) status to Ulster Scots43. The Ulster-Scots Agency, a cross-border body with a language, history and culture brief, was established as a result of the Good Friday Agreement and in 2011 the Ministerial Advisory Group for an Ulster-Scots Academy (MAGUS) was inaugurated under the auspices of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL). A major aspect of the latter’s purpose is to develop strategies for and to fund projects in Ulster-Scots under specified work streams, including Language and Literature, and Education and Research. MAGUS members include academics, published experts, representatives of Ulster-Scots “stakeholder” organisations, and members of the Ulster-Scots community. Strategic aims involve “building knowledge and understanding of the Ulster-Scots tradition in Ireland, Scotland and beyond; promoting coherence within the Ulster-Scots sector; securing the broadest possible support for the sector and its work across the community44”. The current DCAL Minister, Sinn Fein’s Carál Ní Chuilín, has maintained
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a supportive interest in the MAGUS, and has met with the group and its sub-groups as they seek ways forward in delivering its remit. She has demonstrated keen awareness of the historo-cultural links between the island of Ireland and its Scottish neighbour, which are recognised as significant for both nationalist/republican and unionist/ loyalist communities in Ulster.
24 MAGUS funding has enabled several important academic research projects which are of relevance to post-primary education. Frank Ferguson, currently Director of the University of Ulster’s Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies, has overseen schemes which have significantly taken forward the recovery of much Ulster-Scots literature, facilitating scholarly and popular appreciation of its quality through digitisation of key texts, many of which may now be accessed through the Project websites45. The digitisation projects have demonstrated the liveliness of the Ulster-Scots literary tradition well into the twentieth century. Other Project work has included the production of an edited reader of Ulster-Scots poetry, and of an Ulster-Scots literary encyclopaedia, both forthcoming. The latter two volumes are likely to be of great interest to scholars, but are also designed to develop awareness and understanding of this north of Ireland literary tradition, and of its Scottish ancestry, among post- primary school pupils and their teachers. Already, one of the most successful aspects of the Project has been the establishment of an impact programme of school-based workshops which has to date introduced Ulster-Scots poetry to some 1000 young people. Students and teachers alike have responded with great enthusiasm when presented with examples of the texts for close reading46.
25 Currently, however, indigenous Ulster-Scots literature though demonstrably a rich, genuine field for study, is excluded from the official curriculum in schools in the north of Ireland. The Ulster-Scots Poetry Project team has gained access to school-based audiences through offering to teach the principles of poetry appreciation required by the GCSE and A level English Literature examination specifications, and by creatively employing Ulster-Scots literary texts to illustrate examples of poets crafting their work. The following quotation from Samuel Ferguson’s “The Fairy Thorn”, to take but one example, was chosen to demonstrate how the poet had incorporated a high concentration of literary devices such as sibilance, assonance, repetition, alliteration, and rhyme in order to evoke an eerie, mysterious and hypnotic atmosphere47: But solemn is the silence of the silvery haze That drinks away their voices in echoless repose, And dreamily the evening has still’d the haunted braes, And dreamier the gloaming grows.
26 Given that young people often find the poetry sections of their examination intimidating, particularly when previously unseen poetry must be discussed and analysed, the Project team’s approach has proved very successful. Return invitations have been extended by almost every school. This is of course a highly satisfactory outcome for all concerned, but nevertheless it is surprising, even astonishing, that the Ulster-Scots poets are not explicitly acknowledged within the Northern Ireland curriculum. What other national literature dare not speak its name but has to gain entry to the classroom under cover of the faintly sinister-sounding “unseen poem”?
27 There are many reasons for this unsatisfactory state of affairs which could be debated at length. For example, the Ulster-Scots language has become implicated in Ulster’s “culture wars”; as Frank Ferguson explains in the introduction to his anthology Ulster-
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Scots Writing: “it tends to be perceived as the preserve of one tradition […]. Ulster-Scots is viewed as part of the Unionist, Planter and Protestant set of cultural belongings, in opposition to Nationalist, Republican, Catholic and Gaelic cultural inheritance48.” In popular parlance it has been referred to as “a DIY language for Orangemen”. Certainly, the awarding of European Charter protected status to Ulster Scots in 2001 generated considerable controversy among some linguists but also more widely49. The move has been suspected as a cynical political ploy, adopted as a means of sweetening for some loyalists the perceived “greening” of Northern Ireland in the wake of the Belfast Agreement. If that was indeed the case, it has spectacularly failed among one politically-unionist grouping – the well-heeled, professional and commercial Protestant middle class, many of whom adhere to the view of Ulster-Scots as “bad English”, and deplore the employment of public funds in its support. In such a climate the excellent, politically pluralist, indigenous literary tradition can become a casualty in wrangling among people who may never have read a line of Orr, Leech, Ferguson or Fenton.
28 A further factor inhibiting the community’s willingness to embrace Ulster-Scots literature is the “cultural cringe” factor associated with the culture of music, dance and popular comic verse that sometimes attends the language tradition. Across the community it is often derided as backward-looking, farmyard-oriented and irrelevant to the “cool” generation of the early twenty-first century. Yet in response one might ask, are Heaney’s poems about his rural experience similarly marginalised? Are Yeats’s literary forays into Irish legend and myth thus summarily dismissed? The answer is of course “no” to both questions, because in the classroom, where such works are accorded the respect they deserve, talented teachers have consistently demonstrated their continuing relevance.
29 Education which offers a proper knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the breadth and subtlety of much Ulster-Scots literature is of course the way forward, therefore it is all the more crucial to ensure that the curriculum followed by young people in the north of Ireland permits their engagement with it. The present writer does not purport to argue for Ulster-Scots medium education, or for teaching children to speak in Ulster-Scots – though there are arguments for both which others may wish to make and which are entitled to a hearing and to rational discussion. The intention here, however, is to call attention to the education system’s failure to acknowledge and foreground the striking and original texts within the Ulster-Scots literary tradition. These, as demonstrated above, far from following a merely local, even parochial trajectory, explore universal human questions and issues with subtlety, intricacy and demonstrably fine crafting. Kathryn White, a member of the Ulster-Scots Poetry Project research team and a lecturer at the University of Ulster, has a background in Irish Literature of the Modernist period and a published monograph on Samuel Beckett50. She is in no doubt that these works are worthy of sustained attention from scholars and from the public. She comments: Ulster-Scots Literature is aesthetically rich and provides an important insight into the cultural and literary history of the North of Ireland. Marginalised, discounted and ridiculed, Ulster-Scots Poets have often been overlooked in discussions regarding scholarly poetry, and we have done a great disservice to generations of students who have passed through our education system with no knowledge of their own literary heritage. These poets, through their use of the vernacular, celebrate a shared culture with Scotland while also identifying themselves as Irish. If we are to comprehensively understand the development of writing in Ireland it is imperative that Ulster-Scots Literature is examined and discussed51.
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30 All schools in Northern Ireland follow a curriculum devised and determined by the Belfast-based Council for the Curriculum Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) which reports to the Department of Education. In post-primary education the curriculum develops in three key stages according to age, beginning with KS3 (for 11-14 year old pupils)52. At this level schools have a degree of freedom with regard to determining subject content but are required to teach and assess certain key skills: communication, use of information technology, using Mathematics and several “thinking and personal capability skills”, such as “improving learning and performance”, or “working with others”. The next level, KS4 (14-16), includes GCSE and Entry Level qualifications which pupils may take in a fairly wide range of traditional and more contemporary subjects, such as Drama, Journalism or Media Studies53. The final stage, KS5 includes A Levels but also other vocational and Key Skills qualifications. Normally three or four A Levels are taken, often as a prelude to study at university.
31 The curriculum at all levels is underpinned by key themes, for example “Personal Understanding”, explained by CCEA as follows: “This theme provides opportunities for pupils to explore their sense of identity and to examine some of the factors influencing their identity. Pupils should also develop a deeper sense of self and an awareness of and respect for the diversity that exists around them54”. In fact the discourse of a diversity and inclusion agenda may be readily extrapolated from many of the pages accessible on the Northern Ireland curriculum website. On that basis alone one might legitimately question the exclusion of the Ulster-Scots literary tradition. However, witness the following instruction to teachers regarding the choice of appropriate texts for GCSE English Literature. The specifications overtly state that students are to be encouraged to: “understand that texts from English, Welsh or Irish literary heritage have been influential and significant over time, and [to] explore their meaning today.” They are also expected to “explore how texts from different cultures and traditions may reflect or influence values, assumptions and sense of identity”55.
32 In practice what this means, for example, is that while the poetry selections include significant English, Irish and Welsh writers such as Hardy, Heaney, Yeats, John Clare, RS Thomas et al, no Ulster-Scots poet features. Nor does Robert Burns, who is a major British, not simply a Scottish poet, and who furthermore is regarded and revered as a “true poet of the people” by adherents of all traditions throughout Ireland56. Modern, major Scottish poets with international reputations do not feature either, with Edwin Muir’s poem “The Castle” the single exception. Finally, with regard to fiction, “heritage” prose texts are defined as from England, Ireland or Wales. Thus, the Scottish novelist R.L. Stevenson’s, Kidnapped or Treasure Island, for example, would be regarded as a text from a different culture. This is a wholly ludicrous state of affairs, with Ulster literature excluded and the local community’s Scottish heritage, a well-documented part of the history of the north of Ireland since pre-historic times, implicitly denied. That being the case, one must conclude that the Literature curriculum is insufficiently nuanced to serve the needs of northern Irish young people studying literature in a post-Belfast Agreement, pluralist north of Ireland. There are, however, ways forward which might remedy the current less than satisfactory situation.
33 At Key Stage 3, Ulster-Scots literature might be introduced to 11-14 year olds by means of activities which would teach the requisite skills, detailed above. An example of such a teaching resource, based on James Orr’s vernacular poem “The Wanderer” may be accessed via the Ulster-Scots Poetry Project website57. The suggested activities are
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referenced to the Northern Ireland Curriculum learning areas and to the skills and capabilities framework. This resource has already been successfully trialled in Ulster- Scots Poetry Project school workshops.
34 A further measure would involve minor adjustments to GCSE and A Level subject specifications but would allow their extension to incorporate Ulster-Scots literature. The set GCSE poetry anthologies, for example, currently replete with works by Heaney, Hardy, Yeats, Blake, Betjeman et al, might also feature individual works by, say, Orr, Wilson or Fenton. Indeed in the light of the emphasis within the GCSE literature curriculum on “heritage” texts, accommodation of the Ulster-Scots literary inheritance, far from being merely desirable, should surely carry the force of an imperative. Thirdly, at A Level, an optional Ulster-Scots poetry module might be introduced into the literature specification. This would enable those young people and their teachers who wish to do so, to examine a broad range of high quality Ulster-Scots texts within their literary, historical, biographical and cultural contexts, just as, for example, Geoffrey Chaucer or Alexander Pope are currently taught. There are, clearly, several such doorways of opportunity within the Northern Ireland curriculum as it currently stands, particularly since the British Education Secretary, Michael Gove, recently freed the examination specifications in Northern Ireland and Wales from centralised control58.
35 In a further welcome development, the University of Ulster has recently received funding from the MAGUS for a major Education project that has the potential to put Ulster-Scots literature directly into the classroom. The Education Project team are to develop curriculum materials for post-primary learners, concentrating on Key Stages 3, 4, and 5 by March 2015. The team is committed to designing resources that will clearly conform to the pedagogical approaches which are integral to the current (revised 2007) Northern Ireland Curriculum. To ensure quality and excellence all materials will adhere to the standards laid down by CCEA. In design, the materials will be flexible, accessible and attractive to teachers and to learners, while in order to ensure efficient delivery in the classroom, provision will be made for the resourcing and empowering of post- primary teachers through training programmes and workshops. As the Project team are well aware, relevance to current curriculum and examination specifications will be key to making any new resources attractive to teachers. Project research will in addition greatly extend the range of actual Ulster-Scots literary texts available since a further 100, including prose works, are to be digitised. This is undoubtedly an exciting initiative which will harness the expertise in Ulster-Scots literary research and in teacher education that is already present within the University of Ulster. Through partnership approaches, the Project team will also draw on the skills and scholarship of literary, history, education and digitisation academics at Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Glasgow.
36 Two factors will be vital in ensuring Project success. First, materials produced must be endorsed by the Department of Education. Secondly, CCEA’s authentication of the resources must be secured. Links to the Project materials from the CCEA website, and explicit assurances from the Curriculum authority regarding their appropriateness for the delivery of requisite skills and competencies will be vital. Education Project directors at the University of Ulster must take steps to engage with curriculum managers within CCEA at a very early stage; discussions should include clear practical strategies and mechanisms for the trialling, roll-out and uptake of the new resources.
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Conversely, it is incumbent upon both the Department of Education and CCEA to facilitate and promote access to the materials. At the very least they must be readily visible and available, and the heritage they represent must be explicitly respected.
37 In addition to ensuring the inclusion of Ulster-Scots literature within current specifications, a further outcome might be the development of a GCSE and ultimately an A level in Ulster-Scots Studies. These would permit detailed engagement with all aspects of the Ulster-Scots tradition in literature, language, history and culture, but such a project would likely require a period of ten years to complete, so action to accommodate Ulster-Scots literature within the curriculum as it currently stands should not be further delayed.
38 In recent months, the government of the Republic of Ireland has unveiled its new passport, the text of which integrates quotations from the poetry of James Orr alongside specially commissioned accompanying artwork59. South of the Border then, Orr, a Presbyterian Ulster-Scots poet, has been publicly acknowledged as a significant literary figure for the whole island. The message for Department of Education and Curriculum authority chiefs in the north could hardly be clearer.
NOTES
1. James Orr, “The Irish cottier’s death and burial”, The posthumous works of James Orr, Belfast, Francis Finlay, 1817, p. 70-77. 2. Jonathan Bardon, A History of Ulster, Belfast, Blackstaff Press, 2001, p. 17-24. 3. Ian McBride, Scripture Politics: Ulster Presbyterians and Irish Radicalism in the Late Eighteenth Century, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 66 & p. 69. 4. Angélique Day, P. McWilliams and N. Dobson (eds.), Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland: Volume Twenty-six, Parishes of Co. Antrim X 1830-1, 1833-5, 1839-40, Belfast, The Institute of Irish Studies, Queen’s University, 1994, p. 106, p. 107 & p. 103. 5. Quoted in John Hewitt, Rhyming Weavers and Other Country Poets of Antrim and Down, Belfast, Blackstaff Press, 1974, p. 17. 6. J.R.R. Adams, The Printed Word and the Common Man: Popular Culture in Ulster 1700-1900 , Belfast, Institute of Irish Studies, Queen’s University, 1987, p. 175-181. 7. Brendan Adams (ed.), Ulster Dialects: An Introductory Symposium, Cultra, Ulster Folk Museum, 1964. 8. Carol Baraniuk, “Disagreeably Scottish?”, The Drouth, 19, Spring 2006, p. 13-17. This essay includes a more detailed summary of the work of the mid-twentieth-century linguistic researchers. 9. John Braidwood, “Ulster and Elizabethan English”, in Brendan Adams (ed.), Ulster Dialects: An Introductory Symposium, op. cit., p. 47. 10. Brendan Adams, Introduction to Ulster Dialects, op. cit., pages not numbered.
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11. John Corbett, Language and Scottish literature, Edinburgh, University Press, 1997, p. 5-6. 12. John Hewitt and John Montague, The Planter and the Gael, Belfast, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, 1970. 13. John Hewitt, “Once Alien Here”, Selected Poems, Belfast, Blackstaff Press, 2007, p.8. 14. John Hewitt, Rhyming Weavers, op. cit., p.2. 15. Samuel Thomson, “To Captain M’Dougall, Castle Upton”, Simple Poems on a Few Subjects, Belfast, Smyth and Lyons, 1806, p. 37-39. 16. David Herbison, “The auld wife’s lament for her teapot”, John Hewitt (ed.), Rhyming Weavers, op. cit., p. 170-72. 17. Frank Ferguson (ed.), Ulster-Scots Writing: An Anthology, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2008. 18. D. J. O’Donoghue, “Ulster poets and poetry”, Ulster Journal of Archaeology (second series), 1, 1895, 1, p. 20-22. 19. Brian MacLoughlainn, “The guid guide to finding that elusive Ulster-Scots”, Irish News, 26 September, 1996. 20. Liam McIlvanney, Burns the Radical: Poetry and Politics in Late Eighteenth-century Scotland, East Linton, Tuckwell Press, 2002, p. 226. 21. Liam McIlvanney, “Across the narrow sea: the language, literature and politics of Ulster-Scots”, in Liam McIlvanney and Ray Ryan (eds.), Ireland and Scotland: Culture and Society, 1700-2000, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2005, p. 203-226 & p. 214-5. 22. William Dowling, The Epistolary Moment: The Poetics of the Eighteenth-century Verse Epistle, Princeton University Press, 1991, p. 11. 23. A fourteen line stanza which incorporates a complex rhyme scheme and employs sophisticated variations in its metrical pattern. 24. Martin Burns and John Oliver (eds.), The Works of Allan Ramsay, 6 vols., Edinburgh, The Scottish Text Society, I, 1951, p. 243-44. 25. James Kinsley (ed.), Burns Poems and Songs, Oxford University Press, 1971, p. 49-53. 26. James Orr, Poems on Various Subjects, Belfast, Smyth and Lyons, 1804, p. 101-04. 27. Thomas Beggs, Rathlin: A Descriptive Poem, Written after a Visit to that Island, Belfast, Hugh Clark, 1840. 28. Thomas Beggs, The Second Part of the Minstrel’s Offering: Original Poems and Songs, Belfast, Hugh Clark, 1836, p. 20-22. 29. Ulster-Scots Writing: An Anthology, op. cit., p. 207. 30. W.B. Yeats, “The poetry of Sir Samuel Ferguson 1” and, “The poetry of Sir Samuel Ferguson 2”, in J.P. Frayne (ed.), W.B Yeats: Uncollected Prose 1, New York, Columbia University Press, 1970, p. 81-7, p. 87 & p. 88-104, p. 89-90. 31. This and all websites referenced accessed 16 November, 2013. 32. Florence Wilson, The Coming of the Earls, Dublin, Candle Press, 1918, p.19. 33. Ibid, p.18. 34. Archibald M’Ilroy, The Auld Meetin’hoose Green, Belfast, 1898. 35. Philip Robinson, Ulster-Scots: A Grammar of the Traditional Written and Spoken Language, Belfast, Ullans Press, 2007.
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36. James Fenton, Thonner an Thon: An Ulster-Scots Collection, Belfast,Ullans Press, 2000 and On Slaimish, Belfast, Ullans Press, 2009. 37. James Fenton, The Hamely Tongue, Belfast, Ulster-Scots Academic Press, 1995. 38. Philip Robinson, Belfast, Ullans Press, 2000. 39. Philip Robinson, Alang tha Shore, Belfast, Ullans Press, 2005. 40. Ibid., p. 12-15. 41.
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ABSTRACTS
Since John Hewitt’s mid-twentieth century research stimulated interest in the “rhyming weavers”, awareness has been growing among scholars of the richness of the Ulster-Scots literary tradition. This essay considers historic and linguistic connections between the north of Ireland and Scotland, and discusses the nature of the relationship, often misrepresented, between Ulster vernacular poetry and the works of Robert Burns. The essay demonstrates the excellence of much Ulster-Scots verse and challenges the educational establishment’s failure actively to encourage young people to engage with this aspect of the north of Ireland’s cultural heritage. The case is argued for several opportunities which would permit the current unsatisfactory situation to be addressed directly by students and teachers in the post-primary classroom.
Depuis que la recherche de John Hewitt au milieu du XXe siècle a stimulé un intérêt pour les « rhyming weavers », les milieux universitaires ont été plus sensibles à la richesse de la tradition littéraire Ulster-Scots. Cet article explore les connections historiques et linguistiques entre le nord de l’Irlande et l’Ecosse, et examine la nature des rapports, souvent presentés de manière déformée, entre la poésie vernaculaire d’Ulster et l’oeuvre de Burns. L’article démontre l’excellence d’une grande partie de la poésie Ulster-Scots et s’interroge sur le fait que les décideurs du monde éducatif aient choisi de ne pas encourager les jeunes à prendre en compte cet aspect de l’héritage culturel du nord de l’Irlande. L’article avance plusieurs pistes qui permettraient aux étudiants et aux enseignants du secondaire de rectifier cette situation peu satisfaisante.
INDEX
Mots-clés: éducation, héritage culturel, Hewitt John, identité collective, poésie, Irlande du Nord, Rhyming Weavers, Ulster-Scots, relations Irlande/Ecosse, Burns Robert Keywords: education, collective identity, cultural heritage, Hewitt John, poetry, Northern Ireland, Rhyming Weavers, Ulster-Scots, Burns Robert, Ireland/Scotland relations
AUTHOR
CAROL BARANIUK
University of Ulster
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Ulster-Scots Psalmody: A Consideration
Philip Robinson
1 In the various editions of the Scottish Psalter, the biblical psalms are arranged “in metre” (rhyming English verse) for the purpose of congregational singing in public worship. “Exclusive psalmody” (the singing in Christian worship of only metrical psalms) was the universal Presbyterian and Calvinist practice in the English and French-speaking world from the 16th century down to the mid 19 th century, and remains so for some notably in Ireland. Today, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland remains the largest Protestant denomination in Ulster, but it no longer embraces exclusive psalmody. In the late 19th century, there was considerable controversy over the introduction of hymn singing in worship services. This new controversy came against a backdrop of recently-healed divisions in the Presbyterian Synod of Ulster between the Old Lights and the New Lights. The Old Lights were conservative Calvinists who believed that ministers and elders should subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith. The New Lights were more liberal and were unhappy with the Westminster Confession and did not require ministers to subscribe to it. Intellectually and politically, the New Lights were associated with the Scottish Enlightenment and local radical dissent in the 1798 rebellion. They dominated the Synod of Ulster during the eighteenth century.
2 Many Synod of Ulster church members found a more congenial atmosphere in the rapidly multiplying congregations of the secession movement, introduced from Scotland in the 1740s. By 1818, these congregations had formed a rival Secession Synod, while the smaller numbers of Reformed Presbyterians or Covenanters (also introduced in the 18th century from Scotland) had also formed their own synod in 18111. When the Secession Synod joined with the Synod of Ulster in a new union of Irish Presbyterians in 1841 (the birth of the present Presbyterian Church of Ireland), some Seceder ministers only joined after obtaining assurances that only the metrical psalms would be used in worship. Although hymns were not sung, some Synod of Ulster congregations had been using paraphrases (of other biblical texts) along with Psalms in their worship prior to 1840.
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3 Against this background, the introduction of instrumental music into Irish Presbyterianism caused much furore in the late 19th century. The harmonium or organ was particularly derided as an abomination – the kist o whussles (“chest of whistles”) – by those who believed that the psalms should be sung unaccompanied, that is, without the playing of any man-made instrument. The age-old tradition of having a precentor as an official of the congregation to “raise the singing” by singing the first line of the psalm at the start (and taking singing classes in local houses to practice the psalm tunes in 4-part harmony) was only threatened by the advent of church organists in the early 20th century. But the introduction of hymns caused even greater dismay among those who believed that the singing of scripture was far superior to any “man-made” composition and that the use of hymns opened the door to doctrinal error.
4 Henry Cooke, the mid 19th-century Irish Presbyterian leader and Moderator of the Synod of Ulster who as the champion of orthodoxy and evangelism forged the 1841 Union of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, entered the fray as the “grand old man” of Irish Presbyterianism in 1860 on the side of exclusive psalmody and an attempt to prohibit the introduction of church organs. He was invited to write an introduction to a Belfast reprinting of an 1858 Philadelphia volume on the subject. Here he described his own journey through the process of first accepting and then rejecting the introduction of hymns into Presbyterian worship: My earliest recollection of family and public psalmody is that of the exclusive use of the English version of the Biblical Psalms, authorized by the Reformed Church of Scotland. In our Presbyterian Churches, so far as my knowledge extends, others were unknown. When I entered the ministry, in 1807, the Scottish selection of Paraphrases and Hymns had come into partial use; and influenced by the feeling in their favour, I was gradually led to adopt them. The principle of their use once adopted, the way to others was opened to an unlimited extent; for if these paraphrases and hymns be good for public worship, it follows that others may be as good, or better. Accordingly, at one time of my ministry, I dedicated both time and pains to selecting, from all accessible sources, an additional volume, with an essay, embodying a defence of its use in private or in public worship […] [T]wo things confirmed my decision in favour of the exclusive use of inspired psalmody in public worship. First, the Biblical Psalms being inspired by the Holy Ghost, in using them, there can be no error. Secondly, though in uninspired sacred poetry I had discovered many beauties […] I never had discovered any compilations which I could pronounce free from serious doctrinal errors. This I perceived to be especially the case with not a few of the Paraphrases and Hymns, authorized by the Church of Scotland. If a doctrinal error be, at all times, dangerous, how much more when […] in the devotions of the sanctuary! (H. Cooke. Belfast, 18612)
5 But hymns were the latest thing in worship and Presbyterian congregations were susceptible to this new trend. In 1895, the General Assembly set up a Committee to select suitable hymns for a Presbyterian hymnbook. The same debate was taking place in the Scottish church at that time and so a joint Church Hymnary was produced in 1898 (with psalms and paraphrases included in a separate section)3. The edition of the metrical psalms included in the 1898 Church Hymnary was identical to the 1880 revised edition of the Scottish Psalter produced by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. Its title tells much of its story: The Psalter in Metre: a revised version prepared and published by authority of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, with tunes selected and arranged by a committee representing The Church of Scotland, The United Free Church of Scotland, The Presbyterian Church in Ireland (London, 1880). The preface to the 1880 Psalter (still in use today) explains:
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As it is now more than two hundred years since the admirable Scottish Version was prepared, several of its words and phrases, and not a few of its grammatical forms, have become antiquated; while through the progress of Hebrew scholarship […] some of its renderings have been shown to be inaccurate. In the present Revised Version an attempt has been made to remove these portions where there are erroneous renderings, errors of syntax, faulty rhymes, obsolete words, or want of correspondence between the rhythm of sense and the rhythm of sound. And while the Old Version, out of regard for the place which it has in the memory and affection of the people, has been very tenderly dealt with, it is hoped that most of its graver blemishes have been removed […] Twenty-seven alternative psalm- versions have been added, and these give a little more variety than is to be found in the Scottish Version.
6 By 1917, the majority of Irish Presbyterians were using hymns as well as psalms in their worship services, and by 1940 there were only a handful of congregations still resisting them. A Revised Church Hymnary was produced in 1927 with over 700 hymns and the Third Edition Hymnary was produced in 1973. The most recent Irish Presbyterian hymnbook appeared in 2005 with psalms, paraphrases, traditional hymns and contemporary worship songs all included4. The reality today is that the “mixed” practice of psalms, traditional hymns and contemporary praise in “all-age services” has been rapidly shifting towards the exclusive use of contemporary worship songs. Organists, organs and choirs have been replaced by (rather than supplemented with) Musical Directors, praise bands and micro-phoned singers in many “successful” Presbyterian Churches, so that a well-attended church with drums, guitars and microphones in the front is an increasingly common sight.
7 But in Ulster today the 40 or so congregations of the 250-year-old Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland (a separate denomination also known as the “Covenanters”) continue to reject instrumental music and hymn-singing. They alone in Ireland maintain the tradition of exclusive, unaccompanied psalmody. The Covenanters have in the past been associated with resistance to innovation of “new” tunes or to change in the revered words of the 17th century Scottish Psalter, and yet in 2004 a remarkable new translation in modern English of the metrical psalms was produced, with many alternative metrical versions of individual psalms to facilitate their unaccompanied singing to popular “hymn tunes” of other denominations5.
8 For a variety of reasons, this 2004 version of the Psalter provides a perfect exemplar for any translation exercise of the metrical psalms into Ulster-Scots. Its preface outlined the strategy adopted in 1991 by the Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland “to commission the Psalmody Committee to proceed with a modern version of the Psalter” – with the following brief: 1. The words must be an accurate translation of the original. 2. The meaning must be readily understood. Thus archaic language must be replaced and contorted syntax eliminated. Awkward and contracted words should be avoided. 3. While we should strive for rhyme we should not be limited by an absolute necessity for it. 4. New tunes with new metres should be incorporated. 5. Some well-loved Scottish Metrical versions should be retained side by side with the revisions. 6. This strategy should be applied to versions currently available rather than starting from scratch with only the Hebrew text. (It was later agreed that the main resources for revision groups should be Hebrew interlinear text, the New American Standard Version and the New International Version, together with the past and current Psalters of the R. P. Church of
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Ireland and the R. P. Church of North America, and the revised versions of the Free Church of Scotland and the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia. The co-operation of the last three bodies in giving permission to use ideas and portions is gratefully acknowledged.) 7. As new versions become available these should be sent round the congregations for use, comment and helpful suggestions6.
9 This radical revision of the archaic language of the words, largely unchanged since the 1650 Scottish Psalter, and the extensive changes in wording in numerous versions to allow for “new tunes with new metres”, was both practical and sensitive. “Unused” tunes were omitted only after consultation with each congregation’s precentor, and an even broader consultation process was engaged in before “new” tunes were added. Thirty-one “well-loved Scottish Metrical versions” (true to the wording of the 1650 Scottish Psalter) were retained side by side with the revisions as alternative versions.
Origin of the 1650 Scottish Psalter and its tunes
10 When thousands of Lowland Scots settled in east Ulster in the early 1600s they brought with them their own Scottish Calvinist ministers, and all the “Reformed” religious attitudes and practices common at home – including an early version of the Scottish Psalter as the only form of sung worship. The origin of that Scottish Psalter lies of course in its Hebrew parent – the 3000 year-old hymn book of Judaism which contained 150 Psalms arranged in five books with headings to indicate tunes and special occasions for use. When Erasmus of Rotterdam produced his Greek translation of the New Testament in the early 16th century, he wrote in the introduction to the third (1522) edition: Would that [those words were] translated into all languages, so that not only
11 Scotch and
12 Irish , but
13 Turks and
14 Saracens might be able to read and know them […] it is both indecorous and ridiculous that laymen and women should, like parrots, repeat their Psalms and pater-nosters in Latin which they do not comprehend […] Like St. Jerome I think it a great triumph and glory to the cross if it is celebrated by the tongues of all men; if the farmer at the plow sings some of the mystic Psalms, and the weaver sitting at the shuttle often refreshes himself with something from the Gospel7.
15 In Erasmus’ day services were in Latin, and music had become the ornate preserve of the clergy. The ordinary worshipper could only listen, not take part. One effect of the Protestant Reformation was to give the people voice again in sung worship. In Germany Martin Luther wrote hymns and, using many popular folk tunes, set them singing. In Geneva under John Calvin the psalms were set in metre with simple and apt music. In the Genevan Psalter of 1551, the tunes for Psalms 100, 124 and 134 are those familiar
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settings still used today and known by the names “Old 100th”, “Old 124th”, and “Old 134th”.
16 Religious persecution forced many Scots, French and English abroad, and as early as 1558 there was a congregation of English-speaking refugees in Geneva. Most of the Genevan exiles were, like Calvin himself, French-speaking, and the metrical psalms of the first Genevan Psalter of 1551 became the hall-mark of these Huguenots (with Psalm 68 becoming known as their battle-hymn). The Anglo-Genevan Psalter was prepared for the use of Knox’s English-speaking congregation in 1561, and this was the beginning of the Metrical Version in English. Along with Scotland’s John Knox was William Whittingham from England who married the sister of John Calvin and in 1559 took over from Knox as minister of the English congregation of exiles in Geneva. To Whittingham we owe the 1560 Geneva Bible – the first English version to be translated directly from the original languages. It was also the first Bible to be printed in Scotland, around 1579. A 1603 edition of the Geneva Bible remained more popular in parts of Ulster than the 1611 King James Authorised Version until the end of the 17th century 8. But while at Geneva, Whittingham also turned some of the psalms into metrical versions, the familiar words of Psalm 23 and Psalm 124 being his translation. By 1564 Knox was back home in Scotland and the first Scottish Metrical Version published, although it was not until 1575 that all 150 psalms were included in the Scottish Psalter9.
17 The 1650 Scottish Psalter was produced as The Psalms of David in Meeter: newly Translated and diligently compared with the Original Text and Former Translations; more plain, smooth and agreeable to the text than any heretofore; allowed by the Authority of the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland, (Edinburgh, 1650). Apart from the Bible, no other publication was, for 300 years, to hold such a central and significant position in Ulster-Scots popular culture. Throughout the 17th century, a succession of editions of the Scottish Psalter (most notably 1650), extended the range of tunes provided, and wherever these were of a different metre, additional “versions” of some psalms were provided. When the 1880 edition appeared for the Irish Presbyterian Church, there were 27 such alternative metrical versions of individual psalms given, and a total of almost 200 psalm tunes. This allowed for the inclusion of many “new” tunes, and for the adaption of popular hymn tunes from other traditions. As a general rule, the majority of these “new” tunes of the 19th century were not in Common Metre (8686); hence the requirement of alternative metrical versions of the words. It should be stressed that the “older” metrical settings were still being used alongside the new, as were the older tunes.
18 Throughout Ulster-Scots popular literature in the 19th century, there is frequent reference made to the “Twal Tunes10” – the 12 traditional and most popular tunes in the countryside. Most of these had their origins in different editions of the Scottish Psalter in the 17th century: Abbey (Scottish Psalter, 1615), Aberfeldy (Scottish Psalter, Aberdeen, 1633), Bon Accord (Scottish Psalter, Aberdeen, 1625), Caithness (Scottish Psalter, 1635), Culross (Scottish Psalter, 1634), Dunfermline (Scottish Psalter, 1615), French (Scottish Psalter, 1615), London New (Scottish Psalter, 1635), Martyrs (Scottish Psalter, 1615), Melrose (Scottish Psalter, 1615), Wigton (Scottish Psalter, 1635) and York (Scottish Psalter,1615). In addition, the Genevan Psalter of 1551 was the source of the tunes with more elaborate metres such as “Old 100th”, “Old 124th”, “Old 134th”, and the Anglo-Genevan Psalter of 1556 was the source of “Old 29th”.
19 Surviving 18th and early 19th century hand-copied manuscript psalm tune-books from Antrim and Down feature these tunes11, with one of 1744 giving not only the 12 tunes,
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but also the secular words to be used in the “singing classes” held by the precentor in local homes to practise the tunes and 4-part harmonies before the introduction of church “choirs” (the actual psalm words from the psalter being reserved for worship). Some of these verses were simple doggerel, but easily memorised because of the use of humour, Ulster-Scots words, or local place-names12. Some too were more serious. For example, the verses used to practise the tunes “French” and “Martyrs” were: The first of all begins with French; The second measure low; The third extendeth very high; The fourth doth downward go. This is the tune the Martyrs sang, When they were going to die, When they were to the scaffold brought The truth to testify.
20 But local flavour and humour were just as common: The reason that this tune’s called York I never yet could know; They might as well have called it Cork, Carnmoney or Raphoe.
21 A later version of the “York” practise verse was in Ulster-Scots: The name o this tune is ca’d York For why A dinnae know They micht as weel hae ca’d it Cork Carmarthan or Raphoe.
22 These “nonsense” rhymes show how important the stress-pattern or iambic metre was in the translation of the psalms into metrical form, even where they were all composed of Common Metre stanzas. It is interesting that so many of the practice verses were in the vernacular, while the English words of the Psalter remained sacrosanct in their 17th century translation.
23 Many other practice-verses in “light” Ulster-Scots have been recorded, such as: Newton is a purty place, It sits doon by the sea; Scrabo is an ugly hill, Three times yin is three. Oh Bangor’s notes are unco heich, An’ try the lassies sair; They pech an grane an skirl an skreich, Till they can sing nae mair. Keep silence, all ye sons of men, And hear with reverence due; The maister has gan oot tae smoke But he’ll be back the noo. There was a Presbyterian cat Went huntin for its prey An in God’s hoose it kilt a moose, Upon the Sabbath Day The folk they a’ wus horrified Tae hear o sic a thing The sexton birl’t it roon his heid An oot its brains did ding13.
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24 These “Presbyterian cat” verses were also sung in Scotland (in a slightly different version) to the psalm tune “Desert”14.
The Ulster-Scots cultural context
Poetry
25 The use of a light “comic” register of Ulster-Scots in these practise verses highlights a serious cultural issue for the use of the language in a respectful and dignified religious context – such as in Bible translation or in worship. Ulster-Scots writers have – like the rest of their community – tended to reserve use of the “hamely tongue” for community life, the home and humour. English, even the 17th century English of the King James Bible, is firmly embedded in the Ulster-Scots psyche as the language of religion. When Ulster-Scots is used for serious subjects, especially religion, it can be regarded as disrespectful and the intention behind its use satirical.
26 One early “serious” translation of a short passage of the psalms into Ulster-Scots was written by the county Antrim poet James Orr, the “Bard of Ballycarry”, shortly after the 1798 Rising, a rebellion in which he played a leading role. It appeared at the top of his classic poem “Donegore Hill”, written in dense Ulster-Scots, where Orr’s Ballycarry Company of United Irishmen scattered, along with the rest of the “Army of Ulster”, after their defeat at the nearby Battle of Antrim. The short, one verse translation (Psalm 78, verse 9) requires explanation, for it appeared as an incidental preliminary to the poem as follows: Ephie’s base bairntime, trail-pike brood, Were arm’d as weel as tribes that stood; Yet on the battle ilka cauf Turn’d his backside, an scampered aff15.
27 Orr’s poem was, on the surface, poking fun at himself and his neighbours for “turning out” with the rebels. But that was as it had to be in the aftermath of the rising. Orr knew that he had two means of disguising his real feelings so that they could only be understood by sympathetic, fellow Ulster-Scots. The first device was the dense Ulster- Scots language he used which would not be easily penetrated by outsiders. The second was the coded use of the psalms - which many Presbyterians then knew off by heart. Verse 9 of Psalm 78 is used to identify the “throuither squath’ry” of his comrades-in-arms who “took leg, that day”, with the Israelite children of Ephraim. The Scottish Metrical version has the same verse: 9. The sons of Ephraim nor bows Nor other arms did lack; Yet, when the day of battle came, Faint-hearted they turned back.
28 But to make sense of this we need to know the following two verses as they appear in the Scottish Psalter: 10. They brake God’s covenant, and refused In his commands to go; 11. His works and wonders they forgot, Which he to them did show.
29 There were two families of “Orrs” associated with the rebellion in county Antrim, James Orr the poet, and William Orr the martyr. James Orr was not related to the most
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celebrated martyr of the ’98 rebellion, his namesake William Orr, who was hanged at Carrickfergus in 1797. James Orr witnessed the hanging while standing alongside William Orr’s brother, Samuel. He wrote a poem about this event which affected him deeply, but as the very slogan “Remember Orr” (referring to William Orr) was banned, he does not name the victim in his poem, “The Execution”. One verse records, “The Choral psalm with sad delight; consoled the breasts his speech had riv’n”. William Orr had taken no spiritual chances at the gallows, for he was accompanied by two Presbyterian clergymen, one Old Light and one New Light. Both these ministers later emerged as leaders of the rebellion themselves (Stavely, a Covenanter from Kellswater, and Hill, a radical New Light from Ballynure near Ballycarry). Both read and sang the psalms to William Orr as they accompanied him from the jail to the gallows16.
Prose
30 By the end of the 19th century the “kail-yard novel” rather than vernacular poetry had become the popular genre for Ulster-Scots writers. As this coincided with an acrimonious debate among Presbyterians about the introduction of hymns and instrumental music, this controversy became a major theme for humour in Ulster-Scots literature.
31 Archibald M’Ilroy of Ballyclare in county Antrim, in his auto-biographical novels, When Lint was in the Bell (1897) and its sequel The Auld Meetin’-Hoose Green (1899), introduces the subject through Humphrey Barr, the precentor who was paid £5 a year for “raising the tunes” from the precentor’s box under the pulpit in the Presbyterian Meeting House. These “Twal Tunes” were sacrosanct, so there was the inevitable opposition when any “new” tunes for the psalms were introduced: “A wheen o lilts no fit for the hoose o’ God17”. Another target for M’Ilroy’s sympathetic touch was the discordant singing. The remedy was to pension off the precentor and form a choir under the schoolmaster. The result was that Humphrey Barr took himself off to the Covenanters and the choir became a constant source of bickering. M’Ilroy states: “some of us were almost inclined to follow Humphrey to the Covenanters. Others would have joined the Methodists, only for the hymns and harmonium18”.
32 In his sequel, M’Ilroy says that the formation of a choir was the beginning of the end. Already a tuning-fork had been introduced: instruments would surely follow. Humphrey Barr, the old precentor who had been removed from his precentor’s box and who kept his Bible, psalm-book and tune book in a fireside recess in the wall at home declared: “Ye’ll niver fin onythin’ at’ll come hame tae the herts o’ God’s people like Daavid’s Psalms set tae the guid auld tunes19.”
33 W. G. Lyttle of North Down wrote prolifically in full Ulster-Scots at the same period as M’Ilroy (whose novels were typical Scots “kail-yard” in that only the dialogue was Ulster-Scots and the connecting narrative in English). His Life in Ballycuddy (circa 1900) deals with the same theme (the removal of the precentor and the introduction of hymns, choirs and instrumental music) almost to the exclusion of any other topic in the consecutive chapters: “Kirk Music”, “The Ballycuddy Precentor”, “The General Assembly of 1879”, “The Ballycuddy Elders”, “The General Assembly of 1880” and “The Newtownbreda Harmoneyum”. Lyttle’s style poked fun at the psalmody tradition, and his own strong opinions in favour of change are transparent when Robin Gordon, his
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main narrator, regales the Moderator and the General Assembly during the debate on outlawing instrumental music in 187920.
34 A visitor to Ballycuddy Meeting-House asks Robin, “wha rises the tunes?” The question was asked because of the chaotic and raucus singing of the psalms. The answer was “ Sammy Tamson”, who was later to resign as precentor because, “my soart o’ singin’s oot o’ fashin noo”. Truth was, his singing wasn’t up to the mark anyway: “He wud be the better o’ a whunbush drawed a wheen times up an’ doon his throat.” When Sammy did go, a presentation was made, “then his reverence said a wheen words an’ axt if Sammy wud let us hear his voice afore we parted, singin’ the ‘Auld Hundred’. Sammy had his handkerchy oot wipin’ his een, but he wus a’ richt by the time his reverence had gied oot the samm, an’ he rowled oot the notes, an’ made them trimmle ower ocht21”.
35 When Robin and his like-minded elders got their way and a harmonium was bought, F0 F0 the minister stopped visiting: “Oor minister hasnae darkened the daur iver since 5B … 5D He gangs in fur samms an’ vokil singin’, but he wud nether hae hymns, parryfrases, nor instreyments o’ ony kin22.”
Singing classes
36 In county Down in the early 18th century, singing classes were held in local houses or farm barns, where the owners would supply tea and other refreshments. After the psalm-tune practice, the gathering became one for amusement with songs, recitations, and kissing games23. The precentor seems to have been involved in leading these classes, and his office was certainly well-paid by the congregation. McIlroy’s Humphrey Barr was paid £5-0-0 per annum, and in Islandmagee First Presbyterian Meeting House the precentor was paid £6-0-0 per annum in 1859 (the only other paid official was the Sexton who received £4-5-0)24. By the 1870s there were two men, James Flack and Robert Campbell, sharing the precentor’s duties in First Islandmagee – and the salary of £10.0.0. Their duties included, [conducting] a weekly music class and leading the choir on Sabbaths. Mr. Flack, being at the same time precentor to Second Islandmagee, assisted to train the choir, and Mr. Campbell conducted the Psalmody on Sundays. The latter resigned his office in 1895, and was succeeded by Mr. John Dick, who is still in office [1927], and who has had the gratification of seeing the installation of a fine organ, and the introduction of the Church Hymnary during his precentorship25.
37 James Flack was the local schoolmaster. His successor as precentor in Second Islandmagee was Hugh Dick, “[…] well-known in local musical circles as an enthusiastic exponent of the Tonic Sol-Fa system […] His classes in the eighties were attended by large numbers of young people”26. A further generation back, in the 1830s, we get more information of these county Antrim singing classes from the Ordnance Survey Memoirs. For the Parish of Islandmagee they record: A school for learning sacred music is held in the meeting house in the townland of Kilcoanmore and is attended by the adult male and female members of both F0 F0 congregations of Presbyterians to the number of 109 5B … 5D each of whom pay 1s per quarter for 26 lessons. It was established in 1839, its principal object being the introduction of the more modern psalm tunes instead of the “auld twelve” introduced by their Scottish forefathers, and which are still by many congregations in remote and retired districts, but particularly by the Covenanters, retained to the utter exclusion of all others27.
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38 Similar singing classes where “sacred music” was taught were also noted in the Memoirs in the Antrim parishes of Mallusk, Templecorran, Kilbride (“held once a week in the farmhouses”), Ballylinney, Ballynure (“a singing school for sacred music was established by the Presbyterians of Ballynure, and held in the house of John Logan, publican, in the village […] A regular master is employed, whose salary for teaching is 1s per quarter from each of the males”), Killead, Templepatrick (“not always held in the same place”) and Carrickfergus. In the north Londonderry parish of Aghanloo, the singing classes were regarded as part and parcel of the local traditional culture: The local customs are those most prevalent among all Scottish inhabitants of the country […] dancing is a favourite amusement […] they seem to be very fond of fiddle playing. Singing schools are held in rotation among the Presbyterian farmers’ houses and after music, both sacred and profane, a dance generally concludes28.
39 In these parishes, the 1830s Ordnance Survey Memoirs also link this rural psalm- singing tradition to communities that were Ulster-Scots speaking. In Mallusk Parish: “Their dialect, accent, idioms and customs are strictly Scottish […] They are rather rough and blunt”; in Templecorran: “Their accent, idioms and phraseology are strictly and disagreeably Scottish, partaking only of the broad and coarse accent and dialect of the Southern counties of Scotland”; in Islandmagee: “All their sports [pastimes] are of a Scottish character. The inhabitants, being all of Scotch descent, retain the manners and habits of their ancestors”; in Drumtullagh: “[…] peopled by the descendants of the Scottish […] The Scottish language is spoken in great purity”; and in Ballintoy: “They are all descendants of the Scottish settlers of the 16th century, as may be inferred from their very broad Scotch dialect and accent29.”
40 In some Ulster-Scots areas where the more formal singing “schools” were not found, their need was recorded, as at Drummaul: At the Presbyterian meeting house the entire congregation join in singing. The tunes to which their psalms are set are only 12 in number, and are those used by the Covenanters of old […] but at the same time there is a want of harmony or melody in the music at the meeting houses in this parish30.
41 Although it can be assumed that the origins of the precentor and the informal singing classes with entertainment afterwards go back to the 17th century (and before in Scotland), there are few historical references to confirm it. Rev. Robert Blair mentions the precentor in his Bangor church in 1632. He had come over as a Scots Presbyterian minister to Bangor Abbey in 1623 declaring he would not “submit to the use of the English liturgy nor Episcopalian government”. That there was conflict with the bishop is not surprising, and in 1632, after a period of enforced absence, he returned to resume his preaching but, “for form’s sake I did not go up into the pulpit, but stood beside the precentor31”. At the same time in county Down, James Hamilton, another Presbyterian minister from Scotland came to Ballywalter in 1626 where he served as minister until 1636. In 1649, after his return to Scotland, James Hamilton was appointed by the General Assembly as one of six men to “overtake the review and examination of the new paraphrase of the Psalms32”. Another of the six was George Hutcheson who had been sent to Ulster by the General Assembly there in 164433.
42 Much later, in Carrickfergus in 1830 the precentor was called the “Precentor or Singing Clerk”. He was to be paid £20 a year and meet the following requirements: That he must be competent to teach all the parts in sacred music. He must attend each Sabbath morning to practice the tunes to be sung that day in the congregation. He must conduct the psalmody of the congregation for public
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worship. He must teach gratis a class of twenty children […] so that they may be able to accompany and assist him in the public psalmody34.
43 The process of change that began in the 19th century involved the introduction of formal singing schools, “new” psalm tunes, hymns, instrumental music and church choirs. It was also the beginning of the end for exclusive psalmody and the office of precentor.
Translating the metrical psalms (for singing) into Ulster-Scots
44 C. S. Lewis (himself an Ulsterman), wrote of praise and the biblical psalms: The Scotch catechism says that man’s chief end is to “glorify God and enjoy Him forever”. And we shall know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify […] the Psalms are poems, are poems intended to be sung: not doctrinal treatises, nor even sermons35.
45 Although Ulster-Scots now has the status of a “European Regional Minority Language”, the downside of centuries of stigmatisation and exclusion from formal education has left its legacy. The revered use of English as in the Authorised Version of the Bible and the Scottish Psalter is firmly imbedded in the Ulster-Scots psyche. Because Ulster-Scots is a highly stigmatised language which survives mostly as a spoken tongue among “insiders”, there is widespread internal prejudice against its use in a formal register, and in formal situations. This reserve applies even more strongly to its use in the special formality of church. Ulster-Scots, in “comic” register, is often regarded as disrespectful, and inappropriate. Fortunately, these contextual issues of “religious” language and register have been addressed in the Ulster-Scots Bible translation programme36. The publication of the gospel according to Luke in Ulster-Scots (with parallel text from the 1611 Authorised Version)37, has been so well received in the community that the ground is well prepared for an Ulster-Scots Psalter. Although today the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland is perceived as ultra-conservative in its custodianship of the exclusive psalmody tradition within the Ulster-Scots community, in fact its own 2004 “modern English” translation of the Psalter reflects an openness to modern translations of sacred texts into the “heart-language” of the community, providing they are accurate and respectful.
46 A translation of the complete New Testament from the original Greek into Scots by W. L. Lorimer was published in 198338, and in 1861 the non-metrical psalms were translated “Frae Hebrew intil Scottis” by P Hately Waddell39. Ulster-Scots speakers have considerable difficulty with the Scottish-Scots of both these works. The over-riding considerations must be, however, accuracy of meaning and “sing-able” metrical setting to appropriate tunes. The translation must be a poetic work in itself, but can only be deemed successful as and when it is used and accepted in worship.
47 Only about twelve Psalms translated into Ulster-Scots have been published in metrical form for singing to the equivalent tunes in the Scottish Psalter40, and only a few of these have actually been sung by congregations in Ulster-Scots church services41. Unlike the Bible translation process which involves translation teams “testing” alternative renderings as part of the process, translating the metrical Psalms is an individual process with retrospective “testing”. At the time of writing, the present author has completed the initial draft translation of all 150 Psalms, along with a further
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30 or so “alternative versions” set to different tunes and metres, representing the full “canon” of the Scottish Psalter in Ulster-Scots. Before publication, however, much work is still required. The “sing-ability” of each Psalm to the given traditional tune(s) will be tested using a specially-recruited Psalmody choir, and the text edited to ensure conformity to the recently agreed spelling standards42. Antiquated spellings, for example “quh-“ for “wh-“, originally included to signal a dignified and historic register for the translation, have been found to be difficult to read “naturally” by native speakers, and so words like “quha” (who) will be changed throughout to “wha”, etc. Another proposed change will be to use the pronouns “thee”, “thy” and “thine”, but only when referring to God. This suggestion has been made to retain “respectful” language when referring to the Deity, given the history of marginalisation of the language as “comic” and disrespectful. Of course, traditional Ulster-Scots poets of the 18th century such as James Orr and Samuel Thomson regularly used “thee” and “thy” in their Ulster- Scots poetry to signal respect – even mock respect as in Orr’s “To the potatoe”: Thou feeds our beasts o’ ilka kin’, The gen’rous steed, and grov’lin’ swine:43
48 It is hoped that a full music edition of the Ulster-Scots Psalter will be published by the Ulster-Scots Language Society in 2014. As the New Testament translation of the Four Gospels is also nearing completion, it is intended that these too will be published in the same year, marking what should be a significant advance for Ulster-Scots literacy and the language’s use in a public context.
NOTES
1. R Finlay Holmes, Henry Cooke, Belfast, Christian Journals Ltd, 1981, p. 7. 2. The True Psalmody: or, the Bible Psalms the Church's Only Manual of Praise; with Prefaces by Henry Cooke, John Edgar, and Thomas Houston, Belfast, 1861. 3. Laurence Kirkpatrick, Presbyterians in Ireland: An Illustrated History, Dublin, Booklink, 2006, p. 66-67. 4. Ibid., p. 81 5. Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland, The Psalms for Singing: A 21st Century Edition, Cambridge, Cameron Press, 2004. 6. Ibid., iii. The Preface (p. iii-iv) also states: “A Music Sub-Committee petitioned all precentors before deleting unused tunes and adding new ones”. 7. Preserved Smith, Erasmus, A Study of his Life, Ideals and Place in History, New York, Frederick Ungar Publishing Company, 1923, p. 84. 8. George Hill (ed.), The Montgomery Manuscripts (1603-1706), Belfast, Archer & Sons, 1869, 124. This was also the case in Scotland until the 1650s – see Graham Tulloch, A History of the Scots Bible, Aberdeen, University Press, 1989, p. 18. 9. Unpublished Mss. Notes compiled by Rev. A J Gailey on Scottish psalmody in Presbyterian worship, c. 1950, Ulster Folk Museum Archive No. S-2-13.
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10. For example: Archibald McIlroy, “The Precentor”, in When Lint was in the Bell, Belfast, M’Caw, Stevenson and Orr, Limited, The Linenhall Press, 1903, p. 46. 11. Mss. books of Psalm tunes, Ulster Folk Museum Archive No. X9-1-14a-c; X9-1-5a-c. 12. John Stevenson, Two Centuries of Life in Down 1600-1800, Belfast, McCaw, Stevenson & Orr Ltd, Dublin Hodges, Figgis & Co., Ltd, 1920, p. 194-199. 13. Ullans, the Magazine for Ulster-Scots, Nummer 2, 1994, p. 20; John Stevenson, Two Centuries of Life in Down 1600-1800, op. cit., p. 194-199. NB: italics are used here in these verses to highlight Ulster-Scots usage. 14. See William Robb, “Practice verses for Psalm Tunes”, in Ullans, the Magazine for Ulster-Scots, Nummer 3, 1995, p. 59-61. 15. See Philip Robinson (ed.), The Country Rhymes of James Orr, the Bard of Ballycarry, 1770-1816, Bangor, Pretani Press, 1992, p. 115-119; Philip Robinson, Oul Licht, New Licht, Belfast, The Ullans Press, 2009, p. 45-48. 16. William Stavely also read Psalms 74, 76 and 119 at the execution of the young Covenanter Dan English at Connor in 1798. 17. Archibald M’Ilroy, When Lint was in the Bell, Belfast, M’Caw, Stevenson and Orr, Limited, The Linenhall Press, 1897, p. 46. 18. Ibid., p. 49. 19. Archibald M’Ilroy, The Auld Meetin-hoose Green, Toronto, Fleming H. Revell Company, 1899, p. 31. 20. Wesley Guard Lyttle, Robin’s Readings, Part 3: Life in Ballycuddy, Co. Down, Belfast, R. Carswell and Son, Limited, circa 1900. 21. Ibid., p. 12. 22. Ibid., 22. 23. John Stevenson, Two Centuries of Life in Down 1600-1800, op. cit., p. 200. 24. Dixon Donaldson, Historical, Traditional, and Descriptive Account of Islandmagee, Belfast, 1927 (reprint by Islandmagee Community Development Association, 2002), p. 114. 25. Ibid, p.116. 26. Ibid, p.124. 27. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (eds.), The Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland: Parishes of County Antrim: Volume 10, Parish of Islandmagee, Belfast, Institute of Irish Studies, QUB, 1995, p. 33. 28. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (eds.), The Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland: Parishes of County Londonderry: Volume 11, Parishes of Aghanloo, Dunboe and Magilligan, Belfast, Institute of Irish Studies, QUB, 1991, p.10. 29. See Philip Robinson, “The mapping of Ulster-Scots”, in Anne Smyth, Michael Montgomery and Philip Robinson, (eds.), The Academic Study of Ulster-Scots: Essays for and by Robert J Gregg, Cultra, Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, 2006, p. 3-9. 30. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (eds.), The Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland: Parishes of County Antrim: Parishes of Ballyscullion, Connor, Cranfield, Drumaul, Volume 19, Belfast, Institute of Irish Studies, QUB, 1993, p. 61. 31. Thomas Hamilton, History of the Irish Presbyterian Church, Edinburgh, 1887, p. 39-44.
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32. Thomas Young, The Metrical Psalms and Paraphrases; A Short Sketch of their History with Biographical Notes of their Authors, London, A & C Black, 1909, p. 94. 33. Patrick Adair, A True Narrative of the Rise and Progress of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, 1623-1670, Belfast, Marcus Ward AND Company, 1866, p. 101. 34. David J. McCartney, Nor Principalities nor Powers: a History (1621-1991) of 1st Presbyterian Church, Carrickfergus, Carrickfergus, 1991, p. 198. 35. C. S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms, Glasgow, Collins, 1961, p. 10 & 82. 36. Philip Robinson, “Religious language as a register for Ulster-Scots: A consideration of the case for an Ulster-Scots Bible”, in Anne Smyth, Michael Montgomery and Philip Robinson (eds.), The Academic Study of Ulster-Scots: Essays for and by Robert J Gregg, Cultra, Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, NMGNI, 2006, p. 87-92. 37. Philip and Heather Saunders (eds.), Guid Wittins frae Doctèr Luik, Belfast, Ullans Press, 2009. 38. W. L. Lorimer, (trans.) The New Testament in Scots, Edinburgh, 1983. 39. P. Hately Waddell, The Psalms: Frae Hebrew intil Scottis, 1871; reprinted Aberdeen, 1987. 40. Philip Robinson, Oul Licht, New Licht, op. cit., p. 49-82; Philip Robinson, Alang tha Shore, Belfast, The Ullans Press, 2005, p. 50-56. 41. Non-denominational Ulster-Scots services organised by the Ulster-Scots Language Society in Belfast such as in Fitzroy Presbyterian Church (2005), and Townsend Street Presbyterian Church (2006) included singing of Psalms and Bible readings from published Ulster-Scots versions. 42. Ivan Herbison, Philip Robinson and Anne Smyth (eds.), Spelling and Pronunciation Guide: The Ulster-Scots Academy Implementation Group Proposals, Belfast, The Ullans Press, 2012. 43. Philip Robinson (ed.), The Country Rhymes of James Orr, the Bard of Ballycarry, 1770-1816, op. cit., p. 2.
ABSTRACTS
The Scottish Metrical Psalter of 1650 commands an iconic cultural significance within the Ulster- Scots tradition, and it has been treasured with intense religious affection for hundreds of years. This is particularly true for the rural Presbyterian heartlands of Antrim and Down that had been settled by Lowland Scots in the early 1600s (and which today remain the “core” Ulster-Scots speaking regions). Paradoxically, the 1650 Scottish Psalter used traditionally by this community is in English (as is the equally-treasured 1611 King James Version of the Bible). The provision of a translation of the metrical psalms into Ulster-Scots is considered in three contexts: the historical, religious and cultural significance of the Scottish Psalter to the Ulster-Scots speaking community; the modern Ulster-Scots language development programme which seeks to promote its everyday use in extended contexts; and the parallel (and parent) Ulster-Scots Bible translation project.
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Le Psautier métrique écossais de 1650 occupe une place iconique au sein de la tradition Ulster- Scots ; il est l’objet d’une intense affection religieuse depuis des siècles. Ceci est particulièrement marqué dans les fiefs presbytériens ruraux d’Antrim et de Down qui, colonisés par les Ecossais des Lowlands au début du XVIe siècle, demeurent les régions-clé pour la langue Ulster-Scots. Paradoxalement, le Psautier écossais de 1650 qu’utilise traditionnellement cette communauté est en anglais – tout comme l’autre pièce maîtresse, la traduction de la Bible commanditée par le roi Jacques Ier et publiée en 1611. L’article explore la traduction des psaumes métriques en Ulster- Scots dans trois contextes: la signification historique, religieuse et culturelle d’un Psautier écossais pour les locuteurs Ulster-Scots ; le programme contemporain du développement de la langue destiné à promouvoir l’utilisation quotidienne de l’Ulster-Scots dans des contextes plus larges ; ainsi que le projet parallèle (et originel) d’une traduction de la Bible en Ulster-Scots.
INDEX
Keywords: Bible, cultural heritage, languages in Ireland - Ulster-Scots, society and religion, Ulster-Scots Mots-clés: héritage culturel, Bible, langues en Irlande - Ulster-Scots, Ulster-Scots, société et religion
AUTHOR
PHILIP ROBINSON
Head of Collections (retired), National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland, (Ulster Folk and Transport Museum)
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Ulster-Scots in the Community L'Ulster-Scots au sein de la communauté
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Broadcasting Ulster-Scots: Ulster- Scots media provision in the modern revival period
Laura Spence
Introduction
1 As a media organisation which aims to reflect and report on aspects of contemporary local society, BBC Northern Ireland Television (BBC One NI and BBC Two NI) and BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle are at the heart of Northern Ireland, reflecting the diversity of community and cultural life.
2 In very general terms, the public in Northern Ireland started to become aware of the term “Ulster-Scots” around the time of the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement of 19981 when a Cross Border Language Body was established between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Two years later, in March 2000, Ulster-Scots was granted Part 2 status under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, signed by the United Kingdom Government: this obliged the Northern Ireland Government to promote the Ulster-Scots language along with its associated culture and history; and that commitment was reinforced in the St Andrews Agreement of 2006.
3 The real beginning of Ulster-Scots awareness in Northern Ireland, however, predated 1998. The Ulster-Scots Language Society2 had been formed in 1992 and was actively publishing and promoting Ulster-Scots language and literature. Its best-selling publications The Hamely Tongue3 and Ulster-Scots Grammar4 were highly acclaimed, and its annual in-house journal Ullans was receiving a considerable number of contributions. The Ulster-Scots Heritage Council5, established in 1995, was providing support to cultural and historic projects.
4 This growing interest in Ulster-Scots required BBCNI to produce resources in and about Ulster-Scots, an intention reinforced by the BBC’s Charter commitment6 to minority languages.
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Pre-Agreement Ulster-Scots Programming
5 Before 1998, there was already some Ulster-Scots content in BBCNI programming. For example, in April 1975, the poet John Hewitt wrote and presented a programme for BBC Radio Ulster called The Rhyming Weavers of Ulster7. In the introduction to his script, he said: Life 150 years ago in Counties Antrim and Down revolved around the manufacture of linen. This was mainly the case in the north-eastern counties where the population was mostly descended from the Scots planters of the early 17th century. Many weavers and farmers wrote poems and songs about their daily lives, amongst many other things, which are documented in a stream of little books written in the 1800s by the Rhyming Weavers.
6 Nowadays, there is a great revival of interest in the Rhyming Weavers and, in fact, the work of John Hewitt is the subject of a travelling exhibition and website8 created by the University of Ulster.
7 Hewitt’s pioneering programme was one of a number of broadcasts produced by the BBC Schools Education Department from the 1950s onwards. During this period, a well- known local historian and broadcaster, Sam Hanna Bell, was ranging the glens and hills of County Antrim and further afield, tape-recording the voices of hill farmers and stone-masons, fishermen and artisans, and recording an essentially Ulster-Scots lifestyle and accent – before they were generally recognised as such.
8 It must be noted that radio recordings during this period were made on quarter-inch tape which was prohibitively expensive; and while a few rare programmes have been identified in the BBC archives, many valuable recordings were taped over once the programme had aired. An important piece of work remains to be done in thoroughly exploring the extant tapes to rediscover, catalogue and make available any early Ulster-Scots material.
9 In Spring 1995, ten essays were commissioned by BBC Radio Ulster featuring participants discussing what it meant to be Protestant in Northern Ireland. This series, entitled Of Planter Stock9, considered issues such as music, humour, sport, faith and the Scotch-Irish in America, and contributors including historians and community workers talked about their sense of identity.
10 The following year, in Spring 1996, a six-part radio series called Pioneers and Presidents10 looked at the Scotch-Irish over the Atlantic, considering the impact of “this bold and hardy race” on politics, faith, music and culture, etc.
11 In subsequent years, some of the contributors to these two radio series went on to become actively involved in the Ulster-Scots revival movement.
Post-Agreement Ulster-Scots Programming
12 In Spring 1999, shortly after the Belfast Agreement, BBC Radio Ulster transmitted its first consciously “Ulster-Scots” broadcast. A six-part radio series simply called The Ulster-Scots11 provided an introduction to the history, culture, language and literature of the Ulster-Scots. The programmes looked at historical events such as: the Plantation of the 1600s and the 1798 Rebellion; the history and influence of the Scotch-Irish in the
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revolution and development of the government of the United States; the impact of the Ulster-Scots in the 19th century and the writings of the Weaver Poets; the nature and beliefs of Ulster-Scots speakers, observers and researchers; and the future of the Ulster-Scots language and culture in the light of what was then described as “a recent government announcement”.
13 Meanwhile, an independent Irish production company called Igloo Productions was filming a fly-on-the-wall documentary about two bachelor brothers living on a remote farm in the Glens of Antrim. Us Boys12 focused a camera on Ernie and Stewart Morrow, both in their eighties, and living without electricity or modern comforts as they farmed twenty cattle, a hundred sheep and countless fowl. This programme was broadcast on RTE in 1999 to high acclaim, and has recently been re-broadcast in 2012 as part of the BBCNI series Santer13.
14 It is very telling that the editors of Us Boys were obliged to use sub-titling (often inaccurately) to translate the broad vernacular speech used by the Morrow brothers whose dialogue was so rich in terms of Ulster-Scots vocabulary that almost every conversation required translation for the audience. While the “bygone days” lifestyle and dense tongue of the Morrows are increasingly rare, there are still some people, usually older and most often living in rural locations, who do still speak a naturally broad Ulster-Scots, and it is vital that these people are identified and recorded before it is too late. While much important work has been done in this respect by the Ulster- Scots Language Society, there is a real impetus for additional fieldwork.
An Ulster-Scots Night – January 2000
15 With legislation in place and a growing interest in Ulster-Scots language and culture, BBC Two NI decided to mark Burns Night in January 2000 with an “Ulster-Scots Night” 14. This was a particularly appropriate date since Robert Burns is venerated in Ulster with 25th January firmly fixed in the local cultural calendar. The television schedule consisted of five strands, the first of which, A Braw Brew of Words, was recorded at a County Antrim Burns Night and featured music, poems, stories and poetry with an Ulster-Scots and Scottish flavour.
16 In a specific nod to Ulster-Scots musical culture, the second element of the evening, A Bunch of Thyme, featured a concert in Belfast’s Waterfront Hall with various musicians performing Scots and Ulster-Scots music. Kins o Men for aa That was an informative documentary presented by well-known poet, Tom Paulin, who looked at the historic and current position of Ulster-Scots, providing some context for the evening through a series of interviews with enthusiasts and academics. The fourth strand, Braid Scots, was an independently-produced programme from 1996 which considered the history and use of Ulster-Scots language and literature. The evening concluded with At's tha Wye A Taak, a series of vox-pops in which people discussed what Ulster-Scots meant to them personally.
17 This evening of Ulster-Scots programming, a first for BBCNI, attempted to balance elements of language, culture and history. It featured children, scholars and native speakers and, although the narrative was in English, many of the contributors spoke in Ulster-Scots.
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Ulster-Scots Online
18 During the 1990s, BBCNI had established an “Online” Department and begun to produce local-interest websites for the Northern Ireland audience.
19 Launched in 2000, A State Apart15 chronicled the thirty years of conflict in Northern Ireland between 1968 and 1998 and explored the constituent elements of the Good Friday Agreement including the establishment of the North/South Language Body. The President of the Ulster-Scots Language Society, Professor Michael Montgomery of the University of South Carolina, contributed an article entitled “The Position of Ulster Scots”16 which gave a detailed account of the origins and history of Ulster-Scots and its relationship to both Scots and English.
20 In late 2002, The Plantation of Ulster17 was launched. This website looked in detail at the impact of King James I’s colonisation of parts of Ulster, following the 1607 Flight of the Earls. The site contained academic essays and audio contributions and considered the events and consequences of the Plantation, as well as looking in detail at such aspects as architecture, native Irish reaction, the economic background of the settlers, social conditions, settlement patterns, bardic poetry, cartography, women, religion and the long-term consequences of the Plantation.
21 These sites provided some useful contextual material for students of Ulster-Scots history – and foreshadowed the creation of a bespoke Ulster-Scots website some years later.
An Ulster-Scots Radio Series
22 By 2002, it was considered appropriate to create a specialist Ulster-Scots radio programme and so in Spring, the first series of A Kist o Wurds18 was broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster. The series aimed to celebrate and reflect the history, culture and oral and written expressions of Ulster-Scots, and was intended for both a general audience and those who were already interested in Ulster-Scots. It was planned that the half-hour programmes would have a magazine format and a focus on historic, cultural and linguistic elements of Ulster-Scots.
23 Immediately, the producers of A Kist o Wurds were faced with a number of issues, particularly in relation to language and cultural matters. The Ulster-Scots language was and remains an emotive issue for listeners. In its strongest form, referred to as “braid Scotch”, the number of Ulster-Scots speakers is in steady decline accelerated by changes in rural life, economy and technology. Some people speak a more diluted form of Ulster-Scots, sometimes referred to as the “light form”. On the dialect-language continuum, this form is more dialectal as it is essentially English in structure but uses significant numbers of Ulster-Scots words. Unlike the braid Scotch it is reasonably easily understood by standard English speakers. The Ulster-Scots “language versus dialect” issue was debated ad nauseam for a number of years: a quick search on Google brings up numerous articles and arguments. It is worth reading “A Test for Ulster- Scots”19 by Dr Philip Robinson for a short but comprehensive guide to some linguistic markers.
24 In considering the content and presentation of broadcasts, the producers of A Kist o Wurds had to decide which version of the language to use. Broadcasting in braid Scotch
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would help preserve and revive the language and this option was preferred by academics and revivalists. However, from a broadcasting point of view, the light form would be more accessible to younger people and to a wider audience and therefore would result in higher listening figures. The solution seemed to be a programme presented by authentic native speakers, delivering a fairly accessible form of Ulster- Scots – but with topical consideration and debate on issues of language and vocabulary. The most important thing was to get the audience to tune in and engage with the debate, rather than being deterred through hearing too dense a version of the language.
25 This debate then gave rise to the related issue of the “authenticity” of presenters and contributors. It has always proven difficult to persuade natural speakers of braid Scotch to speak in relatively formal situations, especially when they are being recorded. Off-air, their conversation is naturally vernacular, yet once the BBC tape- recorder is turned on, they instinctively switch to standard English. When recruiting presenters for A Kist o Wurds, the BBC production team quickly realised that anyone who had “learned” to speak Ulster-Scots was unlikely to come across as genuine and would be treated rather sceptically by the audience. However, the search for authentic native speakers who were prepared to broadcast in the vernacular, resulted in a very small pool of potential presenters. Over the years, a number of presenters have now been found from across the Ulster-Scots heartland counties of Down, Antrim, Londonderry and Donegal, and this team is occasionally supplemented with guest or specialist presenters.
26 In terms of “cultural” broadcasting, a significant issue for the Kist o Wurds production team was and remains the difficulty of extracting Ulster-Scots culture from the remainder of local cultural traditions. While pipe bands and Scottish country or highland dancing are frequently cited as examples of Ulster-Scots culture, are they Scottish or Ulster-Scottish? The fact that there are strong continuing links between the planter population of Ulster and Scotland means that an overlap is inevitable and, by and large, the audience seems to accept this.
27 The past decade has seen the creation of various new Ulster-Scots cultural societies, organisations and events: for example, there are Ulster-Scots summer schemes, festivals, bus tours and competitions as well as fresh interest in such aspects of Ulster- Scots culture as cookery, architecture, sport, genealogy and music. This again raises a potential debate over authentic Ulster-Scottishness, but there is no doubt that such developments have increased awareness of Ulster-Scots culture among the public. From a media production point of view, these initiatives provide colourful material for radio and television features as well as potentially introducing new audiences to Ulster- Scots broadcasting. For example, if a local school puts on an Ulster-Scots play and this is recorded as a package for A Kist o Wurds, the children and their families will tune in and maybe listen to the other articles on the programme, thereby potentially fostering an interest in some other aspect of Ulster-Scots.
28 Striking the correct balance between language, history and culture is an important consideration for broadcasters. Undoubtedly modern Ulster-Scots culture is vibrant, accessible and attractive to audiences – but without the history, language and literature it becomes decontextualized and less authentic. The challenge facing producers is to integrate all facets of Ulster-Scots into a distinctive and mutually- supportive package.
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29 In 2014, A Kist o Wurds remains BBCNI’s flagship Ulster-Scots programme. Now in its eleventh year with over 350 episodes, it has been produced externally for BBCNI by an independent company for the past few years, and features items from across Ulster and beyond. A Kist o Wurds has reported on all the key Ulster-Scots events, publications and resources over the past decade and, as such, forms a valuable commentary on the revival movement.
Ulster-Scots in the Noughties
30 In January 2004, once again to mark Burns Night, BBC Two NI presented An Evening of Ulster-Scots20. The programme included Burns and Beyond, a musical tribute to Robert Burns; The Herrin’s Heid, an Ulster-Scots poetry recital by local school-children; Twa Lads o Pairts which focused on the Ulster-Scots interests of two local enthusiasts, Charlie Gillen and Mark Thompson; On Slaimish, in which James Fenton discussed his poetry; The Ulster-Scots Italian Job, a documentary about an Ulster-Scots visit to Italy's biggest street carnival in Viareggio; and Great Chieftain o the Puddin Race, the traditional address to the haggis. As before, the evening’s programming attempted to blend language, literature, history and culture: it also pointed to the future potential of promoting Ulster-Scots locally and internationally.
31 The BBCNI Education Department at this time produced two schools series called Musical Traditions21. The programmes aimed to give children a greater awareness of their cultural musical heritage by celebrating the distinctive musical traditions found in the north of Ireland. Placing the focus of each programme on techniques, regional styles and cultural background, the series included the South Donegal fiddle, the Lambeg Drum, the Flute, the Pipe Band and the Metrical Psalms. To accompany the broadcasts, comprehensive teaching notes and pupil worksheets were made available online to enable group discussion around cultural musical identity.
32 The Ulster-Scots language was to the fore in a BBC project in 2005 when the BBC undertook the biggest survey of regional English ever undertaken in the UK. This “Voices Project” aimed to present a snapshot of the many ways we speak in the early 21st century – and at its heart was a ground-breaking recording of 1,000 voices across the UK from farmers in the Glens of Antrim to black Londoners in Peckham, from Treorchy to Taunton, mapping the geography of the UK in accents and dialects. In Ulster, participants came from four traditional Ulster-Scots speaking areas22 and the researchers considered similarities and differences in phrases and vocabulary. For example, they asked Ulster-Scots native speakers to discuss words they would use for moods, places, food and drink – and this then led on to round-table discussions on subjects ranging from agriculture to the weather. These Ulster-Scots voices are available online on the Voices website23 in perpetuity and will no doubt form a useful point of reference for similar future projects.
33 By January 2006, A Kist o Wurds had acquired a loyal listenership and its regular presenters and contributors were well-known to the audience. For Burns Night on BBC Two NI, James Fenton, author of The Hamely Tongue, and radio broadcaster, Liam Logan, presented an innovative television programme called Iver Hantin Echas24 investigating Ulster-Scots language, literature and culture. Fenton read a selection of his Ulster-Scots poems and journeyed round some of the places which had inspired them, while on- screen, the words and phrases were highlighted to show the audience written Ulster-
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Scots. On a visit to a north Antrim primary school, Fenton and Logan went to meet children studying the poetry and using the vocabulary. This programme appealed to a very wide audience in terms of age and geographic interest.
34 2006 also marked a significant anniversary in the Ulster-Scots history calendar, commemorating the 400th anniversary of the 1606 settlement of the Ards Peninsula in County Down, by two Scottish lairds, James Hamilton and Hugh Montgomery. BBCNI broadcast a documentary programme called Dawn of the Ulster-Scots25 looking at the impact of this influx of Scottish settlers in Ulster and its lasting legacy. This 1606 event was one of the earliest Ulster-Scots milestones: subsequently BBCNI has marked a few other anniversaries with Ulster-Scots connections such as the Flight of the Earls, the Plantation of Ulster, the launch and subsequent loss of RMS Titanic, and the signing of the Ulster Covenant to name a few. Further anniversaries are forthcoming and will present useful opportunities for reflection on the Ulster-Scots contribution to significant events in local history.
35 In 2007, an independently-produced TV series was commissioned and broadcast by BBCNI. A Dander with Drennan26 featured Ulster-Scots musician and storyteller Willie Drennan, journeying on foot around Ulster and beyond, exploring churches, graveyards, battle sites and other places of Ulster-Scots historical significance. As he travelled, he met up with Ulster-Scots enthusiasts of all ages and from all walks of life, and elements of language, literature, history and culture were carefully balanced. Although a second series was broadcast in 2008, no further programmes were commissioned. Nonetheless this primetime programme yet again brought Ulster-Scots issues into the public arena and gave rise to considerable debate.
Appointment of Ulster-Scots Producer and Launch of BBC Ulster-Scots Website
36 In May 2009, BBCNI appointed a full-time Ulster-Scots Producer to increase the range and impact of Ulster-Scots related output through dedicated online and outreach work and the production of a bespoke website.
37 The BBC NI Ulster-Scots website27 was developed throughout 2010 and was formally launched in May 2011. An ambitious project in scale, it was designed to meet the requirements of the audience and offer learning materials for adults and children, audio and video clips, a one-stop-shop for Ulster-Scots resources, news of events and organizations, and a forum where the Ulster-Scots community could interact and promote their own work. Following the launch, the site was showcased in venues across Ulster, in partnership with the University of Ulster. A second phase allowed users to create a personalized area of the site where they could bookmark and tag useful clips or assets, as well as commenting on the “Word of the Day” vocabulary feature.
Ulster-Scots Resources for Children
38 In recent years, a significant curriculum change in Northern Ireland has been the new Primary Languages Programme28. The government accepted a recommendation from the Council for Curriculum Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) that language learning should begin in primary schools and not be left until age 11 by which time
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language learning capability has actually begun to decline. With this in mind, BBCNI created a number of Ulster-Scots language learning resources specifically for children.
39 The Tellytales29 series is a collection of animated myths, legends and fairytales from round the world, told in Ulster-Scots. The programmes, scripts and performance notes are available online for school or family / individual use and the vocabulary from the series is incorporated into the ‘Word of the Day’ feature on the BBC website to allow for additional language work.
40 A second interactive website looks at the life and mission of Patrick, patron saint of Ireland. Launched on 17th March 2010, St Patrick’s Journey30 is a unique learning resource offered in three languages - English, Irish and Ulster-Scots. The site encompasses flash animations and games and is narrated by a native Ulster-Scots speaker: it was shortlisted in 2011 for a Celtic Film & TV Media Award. As with Tellytales the focus of this project was very much on language and allowing children to hear Ulster-Scots spoken while simultaneously the written words appeared on screen.
41 Throughout 2011 BBCNI produced a range of additional educational audio resources for children from nursery age to Key Stage 3 (age 14) covering various aspects of Ulster- Scots culture including language, literature, cookery, music, the Scotch-Irish in America, the Plantation, and famous Ulster-Scots. Five sample lessons for KS3 Curriculum work31 were based on poems written in the local vernacular by County Antrim bards from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.
42 Although these resources are freely available online, they would be of greater use to local schools and teachers if they were signposted as part of a wider curriculum initiative to support the teaching of Ulster-Scots. This paper is not the forum for such a discussion – but hopefully this is something which will be addressed under the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure Strategy for Ulster-Scots, mentioned later in this paper.
Broadcasting Ulster-Scots History
43 For some time, Ulster-Scots had faced accusations of being a politically-motivated invention rather than an authentic chapter of local history. In 2012, BBCNI commissioned local historian, Dr Jonathan Bardon32, to write the history of Ulster-Scots in sixty short episodes. A Narrow Sea33 explored the colourful and complex story of Scotland’s connections with Ulster from the Ice Age to the present day, outlining the main events and personalities in an unbiased and informed way. The series was broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster and was also made available as a podcast: in fact, A Narrow Sea was the most downloaded podcast for Radio Ulster over the period with 127,452 requests over three months: this staggering statistic shows the huge appetite there is for both well-told history and Ulster-Scots material.
44 Some periods in Ulster’s history such as the 17th century Plantation, the arrival of Presbyterianism, the 1798 Rebellion, the industrialisation of Belfast, and the Great Irish Famine of the mid 19th century, have had a lasting impact on both landscape and people. These themes were explored in two history series broadcast in 2011 and 2012. Hidden History34 was written and presented by historian, Dr Éamon Phoenix of Stranmillis University College in Belfast who brought the history to life through focusing on events, personalities, architecture and landscape. Although the
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programmes had a focus on Ulster-Scots history, Dr Phoenix placed key events within a shared context showing how history impacted on all people throughout Ulster. This was and is an important consideration for broadcasters as it is important to stress that Ulster-Scots bridges communities and classes in Northern Ireland.
Ulster-Scots Drama
45 The Northern Ireland audience enjoy drama on both TV and radio. In 2010, therefore, BBC Radio Ulster broadcast six radio “mini-plays” 35 based on Robin’s Readings36, a series of humorous stories written by W.G. Lyttle in the 19th century. The stories were full of authentic vernacular speech, and County Down native Ulster-Scots speakers voiced all the parts. The intention was that the ageless humour and colour of Paddy McQuillan’s adventures would draw in new listeners who would find the Ulster-Scots language both authentic and accessible.
46 Also in 2010, a group of County Antrim enthusiasts performed two short Ulster-Scots pieces. A Wumman fur Oor Wullie37 was a modern, humorous account of a bachelor’s attempts to find love via the Lonely Hearts Column; while Liza Lowry’s Retirement38 was an adaptation of a chapter from The Auld Meetin’ Hoose Green39 by County Antrim writer, Archibald McIlroy (1859-1915).
47 The Ulster-Scots Agency in Belfast, throughout the period 2010-2012, commissioned six new dramas which were written by a local playwright and actor, Dan Gordon. His “Pat and Plain” series40 looked at such themes as the Belfast shipyard, World War 2, the linen industry and the story of RMS Titanic, and were written using some colloquial speech. BBCNI recorded three of the plays for radio41, following the productions from rehearsal to performance and also broadcast a separate documentary about the impact of these plays in terms of increasing local cultural awareness amongst children.
48 Drama can be a very engaging medium, and a good one-off drama or series of plays, delivered in authentic Ulster-Scots vernacular language, exploring relevant issues of culture and heritage, could represent a very significant tool for making Ulster-Scots more accessible and “mainstream”. Although fraught with the potential for getting it wrong, a good dramatic production, written and executed skilfully, could be a powerful resource for broadcasters.
Other Ulster-Scots Resources from BBCNI
49 On New Year’s Eve 2008, BBC Radio Ulster broadcast A Hogmanay Special42, a scripted documentary looking at traditional New Year’s Eve celebrations, customs and beliefs in Scotland and some parts of Ulster. The historic, cultural and linguistic links between Scotland and Ulster deserve further exploration and there is vast potential for future east-west partnerships looking at our shared heritage and examining where and why differences or similarities are found.
50 With the focus once more on Ulster-Scots language and literature, BBC Radio Ulster developed two series entitled Weaving Words43 in 2011-2012. Ten programmes, scripted by specialist academics, considered the life and work of a number of vernacular poets of the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries, many of them weavers, and set their writing in the context of contemporary events. Dr Jennifer Orr, Christopher Tower
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Lecturer in English Poetry, Christ Church, Oxford and Fellow in English An Chomhairle um Thaighde in Eirinn at Trinity College Dublin, wrote to BBCNI in 2012, saying: I regularly use resources from BBC Ulster-Scots in my teaching and research; and can testify that my colleagues at the University of Glasgow use the Weaving Words resources on the Ulster poets for both undergraduate and master’s teaching in Scottish Literature. A second example from BBC Scotland – the works of Robert Burns – has been similarly successful. This is an up-and-coming area of scholarship and teaching which the BBC’s resources have made possible. I trust that the BBC will uphold their strategic plan for Ulster-Scots which promised to “create and maintain a website”, particularly given the highly valuable resources that you have built up over the last four years. I number among these A Narrow Sea, Weaving Words, St Patrick’s Journey, and the various dramatic pieces that have been produced. These are, among the other Ulster-Scots productions, the resources which have true academic and cultural value and are important to preserve44.
The Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund45
51 In 2011, the Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund (USBF) was set up to ensure that the heritage, culture and language of Ulster-Scots were expressed through moving image and to foster the Ulster-Scots independent production sector in Northern Ireland. Overseen by Northern Ireland Screen, the Fund provides financial support for the production of high quality film, television or other moving image projects relating to the Ulster-Scots heritage, culture and language in Northern Ireland. The Fund runs until 2015.
52 BBCNI has so far broadcast a number of independent TV commissions funded by the USBF, including Santer46, An Independent People47, Dan Cruickshank’s Written In Stone48, An Ode to Burns and Ulster49, Eddie Reader’s Rabbie Burns Trip50, 12 Miles: The Narrow Sea51, and The Ulster Covenant52.
Governmental Plans for Ulster-Scots
53 The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL), in 2011, created a “Ministerial Advisory Group on the Ulster Scots Academy” (MAGUS)53 to promote research, knowledge and understanding of Ulster-Scots language, history and cultural traditions.
54 The following year, 2012, MAGUS prepared a consultative document54 containing proposals for a strategy for Ulster-Scots language, heritage and culture. Section 11 concerned media and the ambition to increase the volume of Ulster-Scots language, heritage and culture programming on television; and develop a dedicated Ulster-Scots language, heritage and culture radio station. At time of writing, the strategy is still being completed.
The Future
55 Although much important groundwork has been done by BBCNI and others in the area of Ulster-Scots broadcasting in the modern revival period, particularly in terms of radio and online provision, the USBF and DCAL’s future plans will undoubtedly allow for more programmes and media resources in coming years.
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56 The issues identified in this paper, regarding the extent, form and balance of Ulster- Scots content, will no doubt continue to exercise production teams as they weigh up the needs of revivalists and enthusiasts, and attempt to present attractive resources across a variety of emerging media platforms. There are new players coming into the field as Ulster-Scots “apps” are being developed for smart-phones; tourist trails and experiences signpost visitors to places of interest; and cultural organisations offer a variety of talks, resources and opportunities for engagement with Ulster-Scots. It is up to producers to distil the essence of the modern-day Ulster-Scots phenomenon and present it in a way which will engage new and younger audiences and ensure that Ulster-Scots remains a familiar designation and presence within broadcasting.
NOTES
1.
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20.
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52.
ABSTRACTS
In recent years BBC Northern Ireland (BBCNI) has responded to a growing interest in Ulster-Scots language and culture by producing a range of Ulster-Scots television and radio programmes and online media. This paper broadly summarises BBCNI output to date and also considers some of the issues faced by producers when creating Ulster-Scots resources.
Depuis quelques années BBC Northern Ireland (BBCNI) a réagi à l’intérêt grandissant pour la langue et la culture Ulster-Scots en produisant un éventail d’émissions pour la télévision, la radio et l’internet avec une thématique Ulster-Scots. Cet article propose une vue générale de la production de la BBCNI jusqu’à nos jours et évalue les problèmes qui se posent lors de la création de ressources Ulster-Scots.
INDEX
Keywords: radio, Ulster-Scots, cultural heritage, languages in Ireland - Ulster-Scots, Northern Ireland, television Mots-clés: radio, Ulster-Scots, télévision, héritage culturel, Irlande du Nord, langues en Irlande - Ulster-Scots
AUTHOR
LAURA SPENCE
Radio and Online Producer, BBC Northern Ireland
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Fiddles, Flutes, Drums and Fifes
Willie Drennan
1 The term “Ulster-Scots” became popular in the 1990s as an appropriate way of defining a distinct culture in Ulster. It has been adopted by thousands of people who acknowledge their historic family connection with Scotland and the influence that that has had on people’s cultural identity in the northern part of Ireland. The primary focus is on the influence of 17th century Scottish settlers in Ulster and how the language, religion, music, mind-set and social story have developed since then.
2 While this is indeed legitimate and appropriate, it does however fail to address the fact that, since ancient times, people have been moving back and forth across the narrow stretch of water that separates eastern Ulster and western Scotland. There is an exceptionally rich shared history predating the Reformation and the Ulster Plantation which deserves more expression through music and other performing arts. For the purpose of Ulster-Scots music as performed in Ulster today, however, the focus remains firmly fixed on the influence of those Scots who settled in Ulster since the early 17th century.
3 Identifying the sources of any body of ethnic music is by no means simple as influences from other movements of people have also to be considered. There can be no doubt that the “native Irish” and the English have also contributed to the development of what we now regard as Ulster-Scots culture and music and we most certainly have to acknowledge the role of the music that went out to North America and came back.
4 There are several elements to what fits under the umbrella of “Ulster-Scots” music today. These would include: folk songs, dance music, marching bands, Lambegs and fifes, gospel singing and choral singing.
Folk Songs
5 The culture, history and world view of any community is normally portrayed in the songs that tell the story of the people, past and present. It can be challenging in Northern Ireland to distinguish between Ulster-Scots, Irish and British folk songs due to the extent of over-lap, sharing and re-adapting. Crossovers of this sort are
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completely natural and healthy. The problem only arises when someone deems it necessary to pigeon-hole.
6 It is possible to identify traditional folk songs that are distinctly Ulster-Scots when the lyrics are in the Ulster-Scots language and/or relate to definitively Ulster-Scots places or people. Examples of such songs could be the ballads of the 19th century Weaver Poets of Antrim and Down or more recent classics such as the early 20th century “Muttonburn Stream1”.
7 If there are Scottish folk songs that could be argued to be as much Ulster-Scots as Scottish then it would have to be the works of Rabbie Burns. As much as Burns was born, bred and buried in Lowland Scotland, his present-day Ulster-Scots fans will point out that an (admittedly pirated) edition of Burns’ 1786 Poems was published in Belfast in 1787 and generations of people in the north of Ireland have embraced his work ever since2. The same Ulster-Scots will also point out that the narrow stretch of sea that separates eastern Ulster from western Scotland has historically been the central territory of the people rather than a boundary or border.
8 The other significance for Ulster was that Burns collected and recorded many tunes and traditional songs for the Scots Musical Museum3. As a result, much of his collection was preserved by singers and musicians in Ulster as well as in Scotland.
9 Songs of Ulster that were written in Ulster and sung in Standard English or in Ulster dialect are often embraced by the whole community and quite rightly acknowledged as being both Irish and Ulster-Scots. If there is one song in this genre that should be noted above all others it is the extremely popular Belfast street song, “I’ll Tell My Ma When I Go Home.” While being distinctly Scottish in structure and style, it characterises the mentality, humour and spirit of all things Belfast. In typical Ulster fashion however, “Oul Johnny Murray”, one of the characters in the song, becomes “Oul Johnny Murphy” in certain areas…
10 Another genre of note is the extensive collection of “Orange” ballads in Ulster. While these songs are often embraced by Ulster Scots and rejected by people who feel themselves to be Irish, they are of course as Irish as can be. That is to say that they are at least “Irish-English” in the same way that many Irish songs sung in English have much crossover with English song and music. It always comes back to the same point: song, story and music have travelled with the people as they travelled and no so-called “ethnic group” can lay claim to total ownership. In this way, the boundary lines between Ulster-Scots, Irish and English folk songs are blurred to say the least.
Dance Music
11 Traditional folk tunes of any culture, when not designed for ballad singing, are normally designed for dancing. Where the Ulster-Scots tradition perhaps differs from the Irish tradition in this respect is that traditionally the fiddle tunes were mostly used for social dancing. It is true that Irish performance dance, as popularised by Riverdance, was practised to some extent in Ulster-Scots areas by the early 20th century, but by far the most common use of fiddle music was for social dancing known as Ulster Country Dance or Old Time Square Dance. According to historic records, for example the 19th century Ordnance Survey Memoirs, this activity was the most common form of socialising in Ulster Scots heartlands4.
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12 Ulster Country Dance, Irish Set Dance, English Country Dance, Scottish Country Dance, American Square Dance and Contra Dance are of course inter-related. The origins of social dancing on the island of Ireland were closely linked to the social dances of Great Britain which moved around largely as a result of the movement of soldiers and sailors. Popular nineteenth-century dances such as The Quadrille or The Lancers are probably the basis of much of the structured social dances in Ireland today. What is different, however, is that Irish Set Dancing went through a twentieth-century revival and rebranding that gives it its Irish distinctiveness today. On the other hand, Ulster Country Dancing has all but died out as a common practice5. A group of dedicated Old Time Square dancers in Greyabbey, County Down is perhaps the last group to focus on preserving the tradition in its pure form. Derek Montgomery of the Ulster-Scots Folk Orchestra has also striven to re-introduce the tradition but this has been resisted by the Ulster-Scots Agency as they tend to promote only Scottish Highland and Scottish Country Dance.
13 The tunes played by Ulster-Scots fiddlers for the county dances were hornpipes, jigs, reels and polkas in the common format as played in any other part of the British Isles. The only difference that can be detected between Ulster-Scots and Irish fiddle music is in the repertoire and the style performed; even then it is all down to the focus of the individual fiddler. While other instruments may have been used occasionally, the fiddle seems to have been the dominant instrument played for this dance form. Although regional differences could have been more easily detected before the popularisation and homogenisation of Irish music in the 1970’s, such regional variation is now more or less a thing of the past.
14 The Scottish influence on Ulster fiddle music has always been prominent and in some ways was reintroduced in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century by the large number of Ulster seasonal workers, known as the tattie howkers (potato diggers), who harvested crops in Ayrshire and Galloway. This included young people from the Gaeltacht region of west Donegal who brought home many Scottish tunes and songs6.
15 The other distinct influence on Ulster-Scots fiddle music comes from the interconnection with the Ulster marching band tradition.
Marching Bands
16 If there is one aspect of music-making in Ulster that makes it distinct, it is the Ulster phenomenon of marching bands. There is probably no other region in the world that has such a high percentage of its population that are involved in, or have been involved in, the marching band tradition7. The majority of these band musicians would see themselves as being Ulster Scots, or at least view Ulster-Scots as being part of their identity. While the majority of these bands are independent of the Orange Order and other Loyal Orders, this is primarily an Ulster Protestant and Loyalist tradition and there is a close and on-going collaboration between the bands and the lodges which hire them out to provide music on their “parades8”. Flute bands are dominant but there are also accordion bands, and a few brass bands, not to mention pipe bands which of course have their own significance in Ulster-Scots identity and will be dealt with separately.
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Lambegs and Fifes
17 While the marching bands have this special presence and connection with Ulster-Scots music, the one element that makes this genre truly unique is the massive Lambeg drum and its fife accompaniment. Although, as we have already noted above, Orange and Ulster-Scots are essentially two separate identities, it is essential to include fifing and drumming in any examination of Ulster Scots music.
18 The Lambeg is a massive oak-shelled, rope-tensioned, goat-skinned, double-sided drum weighing approximately 40 pounds and measuring around 37 inches in diameter. It is named after the village of Lambeg in County Antrim where it was first demonstrated publicly in the early nineteenth century. There are different theories as to who produced the first Lambeg drum, as we know it today, but it is fair to say that it was developed to perfection between 1820 and 1840, and that the Hewitt family and the Walsh family from the South Antrim and North Armagh area were very much responsible for its creation.
19 The Lambeg is played in two distinct ways, first within the context of the parading tradition and second as a competition instrument.
20 It is primarily recognised as being part of the marching tradition and is still performed in many Orange parades9. However, it does not feature in the exceptionally long Belfast Orange Parade on July 12th as the Lambegs slow everything down too much. It is indeed impossible to walk in normal march time while playing a Lambeg as it is just too large and cumbersome. The fifing tunes and the drum rhythms are slowed down to reflect this and this also enables the drummer to bring in complex triplets which simply get lost when played too fast. Indeed, the fife is really the only instrument suited to accompany the Lambeg. Played in a high octave, the pitch of the fife is such that the tunes can be heard by both drummers and audiences.
21 The second context in which the Lambeg drum is to be found is the drumming competition, known as “drumming matches”. These are knock-out contests that are primarily about the drum. The Lambegs are individually paraded in front of judges who stand close to the thundering drums and give scores based on tone, pitch and volume and the essential synchronization of sound from both ends of the drum. It is agreed by all concerned however that it takes a good drummer to get the perfection of sound required to win.
22 Originally, these contests were all about the musicianship and physical stamina of the drummer. They were held sometimes in association with cock-fighting and were notorious in the nineteenth century for terminating in mass drunken brawls. Today they are much more civilized and well-organised, but informal and impromptu macho- style stand-offs still take place among the younger drummers.
23 These drumming matches, which are organised on a weekly basis from spring through to mid-autumn, remain a unique and memorable experience for visitors not familiar with this tradition.
Bagpipes, pipe-bands and Scottish Dancing
24 There is no doubt that the tartan, kilted Scottish pipe-bands are well established as a key part of Ulster-Scots traditional music, but it is worthwhile to understand that this
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has largely come about from twentieth-century military connections and not as a direct result of the migration of mostly Lowland Scots in the 17th century. It was indeed in the twentieth century that bagpipe playing and pipe-bands became extremely popular in Ulster, as a direct result of the British Army. It is generally accepted that it was when Ulster soldiers came into contact with Scottish regiments, especially during the Second World War, that the pipe-band “craze” developed in Ulster. By the 1950s, Scottish pipe- bands were forming all over Ulster and by the end of the twentieth century it was reckoned – at least in Ulster – that there were more bagpipers per capita in Ulster than there were in Scotland. Whatever the truth of that claim, in recent times Ulster pipe- bands have been consistently well-placed alongside the best of Scottish bands in the championship competitions.
25 On the back of the increased popularity of bagpipes and the associated paraphernalia, Scottish County Dancing, and indeed anything to do with tartan and kilts also gained popularity. This led to the development of Scottish Highland Dance in parts of Ulster at the end of the last century. In some areas this now competes with the more established Irish dancing, as a glance in any edition of The Ulster-Scot will confirm.
Gospel and choral singing
26 When considering the Ulster-Scots musical tradition it is impossible to ignore the influence of religion, an aspect that will be looked more closely later in relation to contemporary Ulster-Scots identity. Traditionally, Protestant Non-conformism, and in particular Scottish Presbyterianism, has had a strong influence on Ulster-Scots music as we know it. This at least partially explains the great popularity of choral singing in Ulster – if for no other reason than the extensive faith-related repertoires of many choirs, even outside the context of the church. If there is one style of choral singing in Ireland that can be identified as being distinctly Ulster-Scots, it is to be found in the Reformed Presbyterian Church, also referred to as the Covenanters. The Covenanters have retained the old traditional acapella style of singing Metrical Psalms. They use distinct four part harmonies that young people in the church instinctively pick up at a very early age. Apart from the spiritual and religious significance, this is undoubtedly a rich, captivating and unique genre of music shared with the members of the Free Church of Scotland.
27 From a more informal perspective, gospel singing in a “folk” style is also something commonly embraced by Ulster-Scots, as is evidenced in the popularity of groups like the Low Country Boys or The Thompson Brothers, who regularly perform to packed audiences10.
The North American connection
28 Any account of the roots of Ulster-Scots music would not be complete without addressing the connection of the music that travelled to north America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries from the British Isles, before developing, evolving and eventually coming back home.
29 In the eighteenth century the mass movement of Ulster-Scots/Scotch-Irish to North America strongly influenced cultural expression in the New World. The Ulster Scots,
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who had a long history of challenging oppression from the government establishments in both Ulster and Scotland, clearly took their independent spirit and fierce tenacity with them11. These collective traits come out in the passion of Appalachian folk music, dance and Mountain Gospel singing. The old time, Hillbilly, Appalachian fiddle music, with its distinct bagpipe-like drones and double stops, has an indisputable historic Ulster connection12. Given the intensity of these (two-way) transatlantic transfers, it is no coincidence that there should recently have been a revival of interest in American Sacred Harp/Shape Note singing in Belfast13. This four-part harmony choral singing acknowledges strong Ulster roots14.
30 One last area that to date lacks proper academic exploration is the correlation between Oldtime Canadian fiddle music, Oldtime Appalachian and their roots in the British Isles. Again the fife and drum tradition is particularly strong in Canada and dates back to a period when Ulster Scots were a significant, and perhaps dominant ethnic group in the melting pot of North America. In fact, while they found themselves on opposite sides in the American Revolution, many Canadian Loyalists and American Revolutionaries were from the same Ulster stock: with the same mind-set and spirit that would influence the music of the New World15.
The Ulster Scots Culture and Music of today.
31 While the purpose of this essay is to explore Ulster-Scots music, this cannot be presented thoroughly without addressing the wider cultural and political context in Northern Ireland today. Prior to the start of “the troubles”, cultural identity was in many ways a shared thing - with no imminent threat to the status quo, people who would nowadays regard themselves as Ulster Scots simply saw themselves as being Irish and British – the strong Scottish links were simply taken for granted as part of a wider whole. This all changed when Irish identity, particularly in Northern Ireland, was politicised, homogenised and commercialised, but with the Ulster Scots/Ulster British aspects being purposefully ignored, indeed hidden.
32 In the musical context, this created the situation where young Protestants and Loyalists saw Irish traditional music as being something that didn’t belong to them. Deprived of any guidance from church or political leaders or educators, they began to regard fiddles, tin whistles, bodhrans, etc. as belonging to what they called “Fenian” music. Of course nothing could have been further from the truth, but with sectarian atrocities escalating, on both sides a whole generation of musicians in many parts of Northern Ireland forsook their fiddles and tin whistles for Orange marching flutes and drums. While this did wonders for the preservation of a rich marching band musical tradition, it contributed strongly to the cementing of perceived cultural identity differences.
33 As a traditional musician who had learned “by ear,” by simply listening to the old folk in my area of North Antrim and in that way learning to play along, I developed an insular notion of what traditional “Irish” music was. There were no formal training lessons; the senior musicians would simply slow the tune down in the middle of informal musical gatherings so that others could pick up the melodies. It wasn’t until I emigrated to Canada and started to play along with traditional musicians who had learned the Irish tunes and style that I realised I was operating in a different zone altogether. People there often said I sounded like a Scottish musician, not Irish, and that the way I played certain tunes was “wrong”: wrong because they had taken their
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version straight out of the Irish and Scottish Fiddle books such as O’Neill’s Music of Ireland16, and so their version had to be correct. When I would explain, “but that’s the way Joe Mills, Wullie Lorimer and Bertie Templeton played it,” they never seemed impressed and continued to play their “correct way”. I became disillusioned that my style of playing and repertoire of tunes was not incorporated into the now universally adored and “sexy” Irish music genre. I was encouraged to conform in order to fit in, but that’s not something I’m any good at.
34 It was around 1991 that I was first approached by Rob and Linda Fisher who wanted to form a Canadian Ulster Scots society. They were interested in exploring the cultural heritage of an exiled community that could trace their lineage back to early eighteenth-century Ulster. Along with other Canadians of Ulster stock, we formed the Ulster Scottish Society of Canada, totally oblivious to the fact that a revival of Ulster Scots identity was emerging in Ulster at the same time. It all made sense to me that a revival of a distinct Ulster-Scots identity was not only necessary but should be very positive in the context of the divisions of Northern Ireland.
35 When I returned to Northern Ireland in 1997, the Ulster-Scots movement was taking off and I soon found myself in employment as a sort of an unofficial emissary of Ulster- Scots culture and music. It was frowned upon by many among the great and the good of society who saw it as being a source of further division at a time when Ulster really needed something to heal the divisions. On the contrary, I believed that going down this road was healing and positive. I felt certain that encouraging young Protestants to play music from their tradition would add to their confidence and sense of identity: their lack of understanding of who they actually were obviously exasperated the tensions between the two communities.
36 Part of my work, upon returning to Northern Ireland, was to give music and storytelling workshops to groups of children from both Catholic and state schools. When, on occasion, in the Catholic schools, I would ask the children if any of them played a musical instrument, there would be an automatic show of hands and an eagerness to play a tune, sing a song or do an Irish jig. However, the Protestant children in the state schools (de facto largely Protestant) often seemed to be hesitant to put their hands up. In the state primary schools at that time they seldom seemed to learn anything traditional, although many of them would have had a connection with a marching band. This connection was outside of the school system and it was obvious the Protestant children were discouraged from talking about this in school, and certainly not in front of Catholics.
37 This was all wrong in every way. It increased the Protestant children’s identity insecurity and suggested to them that there was something wrong with the music they had learned from their parents or the local community. Insecurity is an obvious source of fears and resentment and can produce violence in reaction. This was why the development of teaching and promotion of Ulster-Scots music through music and other art forms seemed so important to me in the aftermath of “the Troubles”.
38 It seemed obvious that there was a great need to encourage and facilitate young Ulster Scots to develop performance skills that would allow Ulster-Scots culture to be shared on a world stage. It was vital to develop performance levels to offer opportunities for Ulster-Scots music to be performed beyond church halls and Orange halls. To this end, myself and master musician, John Trotter, formed the Ulster-Scots Folk Orchestra and developed a Youth Programme.
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39 In spite of not receiving any direct funding for a number of years, USFO was a huge success: engaging young musicians, performing regular concerts and producing a CD recording at least once a year17. Eventually, we did receive some funding for our Youth Programme from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and later from the Ulster-Scots Agency.
40 The Ulster-Scots Agency was set up as part of a North/South Body under the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement of 1998. This government body was created as a sop to unionists (cementing the politicisation of Ulster-Scots) and like its counterpart, Foras Na Gaelige, had access to considerable sources of funding. It took the Ulster-Scots Agency quite a few years to get operational but once it did, there was a great increase in Ulster-Scots funded activity.
41 The problem with this government agency for Ulster-Scots was that it has been politically controlled and motivated from the start. Unlike Foras na Gaelige, the government employees in administration had their own careers within government foremost in their minds, and playing to their political masters was thus more important than the advancement of a culture. The Agency has failed to gain the respect of many within the broader Ulster-Scots community and has managed to completely alienate large sections of Protestant/Loyalist urban communities, especially in Belfast. Indeed, they have been viewed by many as having what might humorously be referred to as the equivalent of a “Plastic Paddy” approach to Ulster-Scots identity.
42 In any case, despite the success of The Ulster-Scots Folk Orchestra, and its Youth Programme, all funding was withdrawn from this body as it clearly interfered with the control the government agencies sought to exert.
43 The result of the termination of the Youth Programme in 2009 was that a number of young musicians who may well have developed a career for themselves as Ulster-Scots musicians started pursuing other paths which did not include an Ulster Scots frame.
44 I am afraid to say at this stage that I would not encourage any young musicians to even contemplate presenting themselves as Ulster-Scots musicians. It’s not only that there are no avenues of scope to pursue. It is that – such has been the politicisation of the identity – successful festivals in Great Britain do not want to give it any recognition. In other words, it would not be prudent for any young musicians, endeavouring to create a career in music for themselves, to be identified with that label in any way.
45 There may well be rays of hope in the Republic of Ireland however as there is a growing curiosity in what northern culture is all about. The southerners do not have the hang- ups of those of us in Northern Ireland and seem to have no difficulty embracing Ulster- Scots, Ulster Protestant or Ulster Unionist culture. For the most part, they are genuinely keen to put the problems of our historic past where they should be – in the history books. In 2011 and 2012, along with fellow musicians from an Ulster-Scots background, I was invited to perform “Ulster-Scots” material at the All-Ireland Fleadh in Cavan. The hospitality and response from the massive crowds, especially to the fifes and Lambegs, was tremendous.
46 I have also had the pleasure of being a guest Lambeg drummer with the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland, not only at the Royal Albert Hall in London but also in Rome to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Flight of the Earls. Herein lies much opportunity for music to do what it has done throughout history, throughout the world – bringing people of different, and conflicting backgrounds together.
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47 In these days of modern communication and global awareness, there are more and more people becoming aware that conflict and division are a direct result of political leaders generating and sustaining division for the prime purpose of advancing their personal power. Hopefully Ulster-Scots music and song, while celebrating a distinct cultural identity, and in spite of government attempts to control it for political purposes, can play some part in fostering cultural awareness and harmony in Ireland and the UK.
NOTES
1. See R.J. Gregg, “Muttonburn stream”, Ullans, Issue 4, p. 37. For a recording of this song, see the version sung by Billy Teare, grandson of author, William Hume, available on the Ulster Scots Folk Orchestra CD, Bringin it Thegither, 2003. 2. It was certainly my personal experience as I grew up in rural County Antrim to hear the words of Burns being quoted and his songs sung. His classic love songs, and “Auld Lang Syne” of course, were the most common, but as a teenager I discovered many more of his gems. “A Man’s A Man For A’ That” struck a particular chord for me at a time when I was exploring the works of early Bob Dylan. For a recent evaluation of Burns’ impact on Ulster, see Frank Ferguson and Andrew R. Holmes (eds.), Revising Robert Burns and Ulster, Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2009. 3. See James Johnson, Robert Burns and Stephen Clarke, The Scots Musical Museum in Six Volumes, Edinburgh, James Johnson, 1839, available at http://archive.org/details/ scotsmusicalmuse05john 4. See, Philip Robinson and Will McAvoy, “Old Time Square Dancing: Keeping Ulster- Scots traditional dances alive”, Ullans, Nummer 3, Spring 1995, p. 5-17. 5. See Derek Montgomery, “Ulster Country Dance”, The Ulster Folk, Issue 12, p. 5. 6. Michael Robinson, “The Fiddle Music of Donegal”, Fiddler Magazine, Fall issue, 1995. 7. The connection between marching bands and Ulster-Scots folk music is indeed very significant. My own personal experience is that my first musical instrument was a flute in a marching band. This led me to exploring folk music on guitar, tin whistle, drums and banjo, initially through an uncle, Bertie, who played various instruments in his very own unique style. He introduced me to several old traditional fiddlers and accordion players and that was me hooked on music playing. What was particularly interesting about the many “older” musicians was that the majority of them also had had an involvement in marching bands, or in the Lambeg and fifing tradition. Much of the repertoire was similar to the repertoire of the marching bands, often adapted for dance tunes or simply played in march timing. I suspect that dance tunes were often adapted from the marching bands while the exact reverse of this exchange also happened. 8. There are some Republican marching bands but not on the same scale as in the Loyalist tradition.
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9. The Lambeg was most probably developed within the Orange tradition, but it is important to note that it was also a prominent part of the Ancient Order of Hibernians parading from the mid-19th century until the late 1920’s. 10. See, for example: http://www.lowcountryboys.com/ and http:// thethompsonbrothers.blogspot.co.uk/ 11. For this representation of the Ulster Scot, see Rory Fitzpatrick, God’s Frontiersmen. The Scots-Irish Epic, London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1989. 12. I have had the pleasure of playing with many Appalachian Oldtime fiddlers, and discussing the origins of their tunes and styles with them. I have yet to meet one of these musicians who challenge the dominant Scotch-Irish roots of their music. These connections are still very much alive. In March 2001, along with members of the Ulster- Scots Folk Orchestra, I participated in the “Roots & Branches” Scots-Irish conference at Emory University, organised by The W.B. Yeats Foundation. In September 2003, along with members of the Ulster-Scots Folk Orchestra, I gave 12 concerts in Kentucky in conjunction with Morehead State University’s Centre for Traditional Music. 13. Belfast Sacred Harp currently meet on Sunday nights at Skainos Centre, East Belfast. 14. See “Belfast Sacred Harp”, The Ulster Folk, Issue 9, p. 2. 15. See Willie Drennan, “Canada, The Disregarded Link”, The Ulster Folk, Issue 11, p. 14. 16. Miles Krassen, O’Neill’s Music of Ireland, Over 1,000 Fiddle Tunes’, AMSCO Music, 1980. 17. The Fowkgates Collective was formed in 1998 and evolved into the Ulster-Scots Folk Orchestra Association in existence between 2000 and 2010. Work included over 800 concerts, the creation of stage shows (including Fae Lang Syne, a history of Ulster-Scots, and An Ulster Address to Rabbie Burns), an extensive Youth Programme and the production of 14 CD’s: A Clatter o Fowk, 1999 (fgcd001); Fae Oot o Slemish, 2000 (fgcd002); Planet Ulster, 2001 (fgcd003); Endangered Species, 2002 (fgcd004); Bringin it Thegither, 2003 (fgcd005); Wee Book CD, 2004 (fgcd006); My Aunt Jane, 2004 (fgsd007); A Spade’s a Spade, 2005 (fgcd008); Somme, 2006 (fgcd009); Old Time Fusion, 2007 (fgcd0010); Rhythms of Ulster, 2008 (fgcd0011); Wired up and Plugged in, 2009 (fgcd 0012); Journey to Orion, 2011; Ulster-Scots Top 20 Nearest Hits, 2012; and 2 DVDs: Fae Lang SyneDVD 2003; Slow Doon, 2007.
ABSTRACTS
This article sets out to provide a broad overview of how Ulster-Scots cultural identity is presented today through music, dance and song. Historical background explains the origins of the cultural identity and how the cultural revival evolved from the late twentieth century to the present. Connections, influences and cross-overs with other cultures and with other musical genres are explained.
Cet article tente d’expiquer comment l’identité culturelle Ulster-Scots est présentée aujourd’hui à travers la musique, la danse et la chanson. Cette identité culturelle puise son origine dans
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l’histoire et ce contexte historique éclaire la façon dont la renaissance culturelle a évolué depuis la fin du XXe siècle jusqu’à nos jours. L’article fait état des connexions, des influences et des interférences entre cette tradition et d’autres cultures et genres musicaux.
INDEX
Mots-clés: identité collective, Ulster-Scots, musique, danse, Irlande du Nord, héritage culturel Keywords: Ulster-Scots, music, Northern Ireland, dance, collective identity, cultural heritage
AUTHOR
WILLIE DRENNAN
Traditional musician, writer and storyteller
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The Ulster-Scots Musical Revival: Transforming Tradition in a Post- Conflict Environment
Gordon Ramsey
Introduction
1 The Ulster-Scots musical revival that started to flower in Northern Ireland during the late 1990s has attracted little academic attention compared to the controversies surrounding the Ulster-Scots language movement of the same period, perhaps because entrenched western modes of thought associated with Enlightenment rationalism and 19th century nationalism have tended to see language as the core of a “national culture”, and music as a somewhat frivolous optional extra1. I have previously made the case that music-making processes are central to the emergence and maintenance of political identities in Ulster2. A decade of ethnographic experience as a researcher and participant in Ulster-Scots music has convinced me that it is musical activism that has had by far the greatest effects in propagating the concept of Ulster-Scots identity, and often commitment to such an identity, within a significant section of the population of Northern Ireland.
2 Those academics who have paid attention to the musical revival have tended to dismiss it, along with the language movement, as a spurious “invented tradition”3. In this paper I will first give a brief account of the development of the revival. I will then move to consider to what extent Hobsbawm & Ranger’s (1983) concept of “invented tradition” is applicable to the movement, before going on to situate it in relation to Rosenberg’s (1993) theorisation of folk revivals as “the transformation of tradition”. I will then focus on similarities and differences between the Ulster-Scots revival and earlier “Irish traditional music” revivals, using Torino’s (2008) distinction between “presentational” and “participatory” musics to highlight aesthetic differences between the two contemporary genres which, I suggest, are related to the differing class composition of performance groups and audiences. Finally, I will consider the impact of the Ulster-
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Scots musical revival on both musical practices and conceptions of identity within Northern Ireland, and on the challenges facing Ulster-Scots musicians in a period of economic hardship and associated hardening of ethno-political divisions.
The Development of the Ulster-Scots Revival
3 The Ulster-Scots Language Society was formed in 1992, and by the time of the 1998 Belfast Agreement, the idea of Ulster-Scots language and culture as something different from both insular “Irish” and metropolitan “British” culture had become well- established. Largely at the behest of the Ulster Unionist Party, official status for Ulster- Scots was embedded in the Agreement and the Ulster-Scots Agency was established to conserve and promote both language and culture. Dowling4 and others have suggested that this was motivated chiefly by a desire to provide a cultural counterweight to the co-option of the Irish language movement by nationalist political parties.
4 The agreement opened a space within which it was possible for cultural entrepreneurs to innovate. One of the most significant of such figures was Willie Drennan, a traditional musician and former marching band member from Ballymena, who returned to Northern Ireland with his family in 1997, after many years living in Nova Scotia. Drennan, who had released his first Ulster-Scots album whilst still living in Canada, established Fowkgates – described as an artists collective, which released the CD, A Clatter O Fowk, in 1999, with financial assistance from the Ulster-Scots Language Society. As well as various performances by Drennan, including one with a folk band alongside his daughter Eleesha, and another playing the Lambeg drum accompanied by bagpipes, the album included performances by the McNeillstown Pipe Band; traditional unaccompanied singing in the Ulster-Scots dialect; singer-songwriters Bob Speers and Roy Arbuckle5 performing their own English language compositions with guitar accompaniment, the Co. Down based group Appalachian Strings; and reciter of Ulster- Scots poetry, Natty Shaw. This CD effectively defined what would be included in Ulster- Scots performances from this point on – tunes from the Scottish, Irish and Appalachian dance and march traditions performed by “folk” ensembles or marching bands; Lambeg drums; traditional and contemporary song in both the Ulster-Scots and English languages; and Ulster-Scots recitation.
5 The same year, and using funding from the same source, Drennan released an album entitled Fae Oot O Slemish with a new musical partner, John Scott Trotter, a multi- instrumentalist from Londonderry who made his living as a jazz-player. Built around Co. Antrim fiddle tunes of Scottish origin, the album also included Drennan’s own compositions, and introduced two more elements that would come to be central to Ulster-Scots performances, the songs of Rabbie Burns, and the unique rhythms of the fifing tunes which traditionally accompanied Lambeg drums in certain Ulster counties6, some of which were closely related to Irish and Scottish dance tunes, whilst others were peculiar to the fifing fraternity.
6 Both albums were well received both by critics and audiences, and in 2000, Drennan and Trotter formed the Ulster-Scots Folk Orchestra (USFO). The USFO produced a distinctive sound by bringing together fiddles, accordions, whistles and flutes with the backing rhythms of a double-bass and percussion provided by rope-tensioned military style drums7. Their repertoire included all the elements that had been defined in Drennan’s earlier work, although sometimes combined in innovative ways. Also
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distinctive amongst folk groups was the size of the ensemble. As intimated in the name, the USFO put a lot of people on stage: a minimum of ten players could sometimes rise as high as twenty when musicians from other groups were invited to join them on stage. The scale of the ensemble, combined with the on-stage banter and musical interaction of Drennan’s and Trotter’s very different but complementary personalities gave the group a powerful stage presence.
7 Over the next four years, the USFO toured tirelessly, playing large numbers of village, church and Orange halls as well as major venues and festivals ranging from the Ulster Hall and the Orange Order’s Twelfth of July celebrations, to the Portpatrick Folk Festival in Scotland. Performances outside Northern Ireland also included a Scotch- Irish Symposium at Emory University, Atlanta, and participation in an ethnomusicological workshop and concert at the Irish World Music Centre in Limerick (IWMC), which prompted the director, Michael O’Suilleabhain to write: Their emphasis on their own identity existing as both an integral and separate aspect of Scottish and Irish cultures leads to a more inclusive definition of music and dance practice. The Ulster Scots Folk Orchestra have not just opened our eyes to another wonderful and enriching music and dance culture of this island but have also challenged us to redefine ourselves as musicians and our music as all our musics8.
8 This quotation appeared on the sleeve of the USFO’s rousing debut album, Planet Ulster, released later in 2001. This was followed by another album in each succeeding year, culminating in the poignant Somme, released in 2004. It was this four-year period of performance and recording by USFO that effectively defined Ulster-Scots music in the eyes of its core audience, as well as the Northern Irish media and the wider population it reached.
9 During this period, other Ulster-Scots groups started to emerge, of which the most prominent were Ailsa, and The Low Country Boys. Ailsa were a three piece ensemble built around piper Wilbert Garvin, whose debut album, The Misty Burn (2003), set poetry from the Rhyming Weavers, whose work was central to the Ulster-Scots language movement, to Barbara Gray’s newly composed or arranged tunes, sung by Michael Sayers. Their intimate presentation was significantly different to the expansive sound of the USFO. The Low Country Boys were different again - performing a repertoire of gospel songs in both Ulster-Scots and English, in four-part harmony accompanied by Appalachian style instrumentation9. The Low Country Boys often performed alongside the USFO and proved popular with audiences. Their debut album, Gran Time Comin, was released in early 2005.
10 Later in 2005, the USFO split, with John Trotter and a number of other players leaving to form a new group, the Ulster-Scots Experience (USX). The USX sought to maintain the “big band” presence which characterised the USFO, and as a result both groups drew more musicians into the field. Over the following five years, both groups continued to perform widely, and large numbers of smaller Ulster-Scots groups appeared, some associated with loyalist marching bands, whose members’ eyes had been opened to new musical possibilities by USFO and USX performances. Most prominent of these were Maiden City Beat, which grew from the Churchill Flute Band in Londonderry, and Skullduggery, which had strong associations with Dunloy Accordion Band in Co., Antrim10. Other significant names were: Scad the Beggars, Session Beat, Rightly On, Risin’ Stour, Keep ‘Er Lit and the first Ulster-Scots folk-rock group, Sontas.
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11 A significant factor in the growth of the Ulster-Scots folk scene was the establishment in 2000 of the Ulster-Scots Folk Festival in Cairncastle, a small village situated between Larne and the Glens of Antrim which overlooked the North Channel coast and the Mull of Kintyre. Originally conceived as a celebration of the centenary of the village’s Orange Lodge, the first festival was a small-scale single-day affair. However, in subsequent years it grew considerably in size, attracted funding from the Ulster-Scots Agency, established links with Ulster-Scots groups in Scotland, brought over Scottish performers, and became a significant showcase for Ulster-Scots music and dance.
12 The success of the first festival also gave birth to another phenomenon, the establishment of a monthly musical “soiree” held in Cairncastle Orange Hall. Again, Willie Drennan was the primary musical initiator, but as the soirees increased in popularity, leadership passed to the Grousebeaters, fronted by Cecil Knox, a local, accordion-based group which grew from the informal music-making. Whilst Knox compered, and called up local and visiting musicians, reciters and dancers to perform, the Grousebeaters provided musical continuity and accompaniment when required. The soirees also increased in popularity to the point that they outgrew the Orange Hall, and had to be moved to a hotel in neighbouring Ballygalley. Similar soirees occasionally take place in other parts of the country, but none have proved as popular or durable as Cairncastle’s.
13 Funding for Ulster-Scots media agreed in the 1998 settlement has provided a platform for Ulster-Scots musicians to reach wider audiences through radio and television, and the Republic of Ireland’s RTE and TG4 have also produced programs featuring Ulster- Scots music. The genre has received very limited exposure outside the island of Ireland, however, and an attempt by the Ulster-Scots Agency to stage a large-scale musical production, On Eagle’s Wing, in the USA, had to be abandoned due to poor ticket sales11.
14 As the popularity of Ulster-Scots folk music grew, the movement started to influence music-making within the established marching-band genres, with an increasing interest in “traditional” material, and tunes introduced by groups such as the USFO and Low Country Boys began to be played as street marches. Some bands introduced the term “Ulster-Scots” into their names12, and Ulster-Scots concerts became a common form of fundraising event.
15 The 2008 financial crisis has had a noticeable negative effect on the Ulster-Scots folk scene, with numbers of events decreasing, a number of musical groups disappearing, and widespread problems due to cuts in funding. The Cairncastle Festival, for instance, lost funding from the Ulster-Scots Agency in 2012 but has managed to survive on a reduced scale thanks to local support. Whilst Ulster-Scots music is probably now too well established to disappear and the appetite for it remains, it is financially struggling rather than flourishing.
An Invented Tradition?
16 Dowling entitled his 2007 paper on the Ulster-Scots revival “Confusing Culture and Politics” whilst Vallely’s 2008 heading was “Scenting the Paper Rose”. Both titles carry connotations of inauthenticity associated with the idea of an “invented tradition”. Both Dowling and Vallely point out the significance of the political context created by the 1998 Belfast Agreement, and the institutionalisation of Ulster-Scots culture and
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language through the establishment of the Ulster-Scots Agency in providing a milieu in which the musical movement could develop. Since it is unarguable that “Ulster-Scots music” was almost unheard of before the Belfast Agreement13, it could be seen as a paradigmatic example of an “invented tradition”, as theorised in Hobsbawm & Ranger’s seminal work. Hobsbawm asserted that insofar as such traditions refer to a historic past, “the peculiarity of ‘invented’ traditions is that the continuity with it is largely factitious14”.
17 “Factitious continuity” is precisely the allegation put forward in Vallely’s paper, which claims that “Ulster-Scots music […] does not arise from an assortment of extant objects and practices” and that “[w]hile it may have Scottish antecedents, this identified music does not have Scots continuity15” but is the product of an “importation strategy16” focusing on “bagpipes […] marching bands and Scottish dancing […] all a nineteenth century highly evolved Victorian Scottish legacy17”. In his book, published later the same year, Vallely goes further, asserting that: “The music does not draw for resources on the surviving extant traditional music” but involves “a music acquisition exercise” which is “a profoundly ahistoric, unartistic stab at irredentism18”.
18 Dowling presents a considerably more nuanced picture, but also claims there is a tendency to “import recently evolved cultural practices like Scottish Highland dancing, rather than focusing on practices embedded in historic Ulster itself19”.
19 Drennan’s discussion of the broad range of musical practices included in the Ulster- Scots revival (in this issue) shows that Vallely’s case depends upon a selective focus on certain of the revival’s practices and the exclusion of many others from consideration. Vallely’s claim, also asserted by Dowling, that the revival does not draw on traditional music within Ulster is a significant misconception, for as Drennan makes clear, local elements such as marching band styles, Lambeg drums and the fiddle tradition were central to the revival from its inception, and there are few Ulster-Scots events that do not include traditional jigs, reels and hornpipes played on fiddles, accordions, whistles and other instruments: including many tunes also played in the “Irish traditional music” of which Vallely and Dowling are both devotees. Whilst Vallely claims that the music of the Ulster-Scots Folk Orchestra is dominated by Scottish Highland music20, the group’s discography shows that this has only ever been one element of their repertoire, which also includes jigs, reels, hornpipes, fifing tunes and marches from the north of Ireland, Ulster/Lowland Scots and English language song, and music and song deriving from the Ulster-Scots diaspora21. The IWMC Report on Ulster-Scots Music noted that the Ulster-Scots Folk Orchestra’s arrangements were “indicative of a traditional performance practice in the more literate and harmonically aware Scottish tradition – yet the actual choice of tunes was more Irish in nature22” (original emphasis).
20 Moreover, whilst Dowling and Vallely are correct in their assertion that Scottish Highland Dancing is a recent import to Ulster, the same cannot be said of the other musical strand on which Vallely focuses: the pipe band. Pipes had been played in Ulster for centuries, whilst pipe bands appeared in the first decade of the 20th century, massively increased in popularity following World War Two, and had become the dominant genre in Orange Parades by the early 1950s23. By the 1990s, Northern Ireland already had the largest branch of the Scottish Pipe Band Association, with more bands than any of the Scottish districts, and Northern Ireland pipe bands were already winning top honours on the global competitive circuit, which they still dominate. It is not credible, then, to claim that pipe bands were merely imported “tartan iconology”,
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since they were a strongly established musical tradition in Northern Ireland for nearly a century before the Ulster-Scots movement of the 1990s.
21 For Hobsbawm the term “invented tradition” includes “both ‘traditions’ actually invented, constructed and formally instituted, and those emerging in a less easily traceable manner within a brief and dateable period”24. Hobsbawm offers the British royal Christmas broadcast (instituted 1932) as an example of the first, and the practices surrounding the English Cup Final as an example of the latter. Vallely, and to a lesser extent, Dowling, claim that the Ulster-Scots musical movement is very much of the first type – an invented, constructed and formally instituted “tradition” that owes little to what has actually gone before. Vallely strenghtens his case by pointing out that the “tartan iconology” on which he claims the Ulster-Scots movement is based is itself of comparatively recent provenance25. In fact Trevor-Roper’s chapter concerning “The Highland Tradition of Scotland” in Hobsbawm & Ranger’s (1983) text has frequently been cited as describing a paradigmatic example of an “invented tradition”.
22 There is no question that Dowling and Vallely are right to assert that the 1998 political settlement and institutions such as the Ulster-Scots Agency and the Ulster-Scots Heritage Council played a crucial role in the emergence of the Ulster-Scots revival. Moreover, the origins of Ulster-Scots music can be pinpointed to a certain place, time and individual. It seems clear that Willie Drennan, in association with his musical partner John Scott Trotter and the Ulster-Scots Folk Orchestra they formed, invented Ulster-Scots music, as a genre, between 1996 and 2000 in precisely the same way that Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys invented Western Swing in the mid-1930s and Bill Monroe and The Bluegrass Boys invented Bluegrass music during the late 1940s. None of these genres, however, were invented out of thin air – all owed a great deal to what had preceded them.
23 The Ulster-Scots revival seems in many ways to be closer to Hobsbawm’s second type of “invented tradition”, for unlike the royal Christmas broadcast, and more like the practices surrounding the Cup Final, it was never under the control of a single authority, but emerged over a period of years as a result of the commitment of a wide range of diverse actors with different and sometimes conflicting agendas, including organisers, musicians, (professional, semi-professional and community) and audiences.
24 In fact, I suggest the Ulster-Scots revival is neither just an officially instituted invention, nor an entirely spontaneous popular movement, but both occurring in tandem – sometimes moving together, sometimes at loggerheads, as the differing motives of participants lead to shifting alliances and conflicts. Both the “official” and “popular” revivals, however, are dependent upon each other. As Dowling points out26, funding from government sources has been highly significant in providing performance opportunities for Ulster-Scots performers, but I would also note that official agencies are dependent upon performers and audiences to sustain their credibility. Moreover, rather than consisting entirely of freshly imported practices, much of the revival seems rather to fall into what Hobsbawm described as the “more interesting” category of those which use “ancient materials to construct invented traditions of a novel type for quite novel purposes27”.
25 Both Handler (1984) and Burke (1986) have pointed out the conceptual difficulties of attempting to differentiate “invented” from “authentic” traditions, since all tradition is at some point, humanly created and instituted28. An alternative lens through which to examine the Ulster-Scots musical revival is put forward in Rosenberg’s (1993) edited
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volume on North American folk revivals: Transforming Tradition: Folk Music Revivals Examined, in which it is suggested that such revivals are not so much inventions of tradition, as transformations, or reinventions29.
A Transformed Tradition?
26 As the title suggests, the idea of revival as transformation runs through most of the papers in Rosenberg’s (1993) volume, but it is a particular type of transformation on which they focus. In Jabbour’s foreword to the book, he observes that: “What we were doing (in the old-time string-band revival) is […] easy to describe as a cultural transfer of a musical tradition from one segment of American society to another30”. Rosenberg’s introduction summarises the view presented in many of the papers in his volume that “folk music revivals […] constitute an urban middle-class intellectual community […] that […] appropriates, and consumes the music31” of a lower-class, and usually rural originating community. Rosenberg’s own paper adds that “Revivalists […] view the tradition’s past […] from the viewpoint of a different class” and that “[…] revivalists […] are from a dominant class and therefore have the power to choose the terms on which they will assimilate32”, whilst Lederman observes that, in this context, “neither revival audiences nor members of traditional societies appreciate the music of the other33”. Finally, Narváez observes that: “Like many other forms of sociological change, folk revival arises out of a restless or vehement dissatisfaction with one’s own contemporary culture34”.
27 When we apply this model of transformation to the Ulster-Scots revival, we find a disjuncture in every dimension. Rather than being a transfer of a musical tradition from a rural lower-class to an urban dominant class, the majority of the musicians, and the majority of the audiences for Ulster-Scots music are drawn from the working-class and lower middle-class in which the revived traditions originated. Rather than being appropriated by an urban middle-class, Ulster-Scots music has often been ignored or ridiculed by the urban middle-class, precisely because it remains attuned to the aesthetic tastes of the “backwoodsmen” of the rural lower-classes35. There is little conflict between the tastes of “traditional society” and revivalists, since the revivalists are largely drawn from the traditional society, and finally, the revival arose less from “dissatisfaction with one’s own contemporary culture” as from a dissatisfaction with the ways in which that culture was perceived, or not perceived, by those outside it. Much of Willie Drennan’s motivation, for instance, came from his experiences as a traveling musician in North America, where he found himself expected, and sometimes economically compelled, to fit into what he regarded as a one-dimensional stereotype of romantically nationalist, Catholic and crassly commercialised “Irishness”: an image which he felt bore no relation to his own identity as a northern unionist of Scots Presbyterian heritage.
28 Rather than a transferral of a musical tradition from one social group to another, I suggest that the Ulster-Scots revival is a transformation of a different kind: a deliberate shift to the performance context of the “folk band” by musicians who had matured in other musical contexts, and who were interested in both broadening their own musical practice, and in performing for different or broader audiences than they had hitherto reached. These performers had previously performed in a range of different settings. The most significant of these in terms of numbers were probably those whose musical
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background was in loyalist marching bands. There were others whose primary performance opportunities had been in Irish traditional sessions and groups, piping competitions, Scottish or Irish céilidh bands, country or showbands and churches or gospel halls, whilst some had played in a number of these contexts. Moreover, many of these musicians continued to play in their original settings, alongside their “Ulster- Scots folk” performances, leading to the perception amongst audiences that many of these genres were, or could be to some extent, “Ulster-Scots”.
29 Moreover, the context of the “folk band performance” allowed these different genres to be combined in new and innovative ways, bringing together previously separate practices such as fiddling, marching band percussion and gospel singing to create something that was genuinely new, and yet still sounded familiar to traditionalist audiences.
30 I suggest, therefore, that the Ulster-Scots musical revival is indeed a “transformation of tradition”, but of a significantly different type to those documented in Rosenberg’s (1993) volume. There are interesting comparisons to be made in this regard to the “Irish traditional music” revivals of the 20th century which preceded the Ulster-Scots movement.
The Ulster-Scots Revival Compared to Irish Traditional Music Revivals
31 I will consider two significant “revivals” of Irish traditional music, the first associated with the Gaelic League and the “Celtic Twilight” of the early 20th century, the second associated with the counter-cultural folk revival of 1960s North America.
32 Both Fairbairn and McCarthy describe how, following Douglas Hyde’s call in 1892 for the de-Anglicisation of Ireland, there was a deliberate attempt by the urban intelligentsia to “revive” traditional music, and that this revival was an attempt to transform a tradition of solo performance, usually in a domestic setting, into a “public” art form in a concert context suitable for a “national” music36. Some similarity may be seen here in regard to the USFO’s declared intention of “presenting Ulster Scots cultural traditions at a professional level” (sleeve notes: Planet Ulster CD), or as Willie Drennan put it, “taking kitchen music on to the stage37”. The ways in which this was done in the two cases were quite different, however, as were their effects.
33 In 1897, academic and composer Annie Patterson set up the first Feis Ceoil. Modelled on the Welsh cultural revival’s Eisteddfod, it was a competition that brought peasant performers from all parts of Ireland to be judged by classically trained musicians with quite different aesthetic values38. Unsurprisingly, the judges did not appraise the native performers highly, and as a result, formal training was introduced to render performances acceptable to a middle-class which measured them by the criteria of European art-music. Breathnach claimed that by the 1920s, the competitors in the Feis Ceoil were not traditional players “in the sense that the early ones had been”39. Continuing attempts to not only “revive” but also “improve” the music continued throughout the 20th century, culminating in the establishment in 1951 of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, a government-sponsored traditional music association which introduced “classical” fiddle techiques and organised competitive festivals known as fleadhs (Henry 1989). Henry observes that:
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the music at the higher level fleadhs is […] removed from the communities in which it was an authentic expression of local experience. It is also music no longer controlled by the originating communities40.
34 This process seems to follow Rosenberg’s conception of revival as the appropriation of the music of a rural working-class by an urban middle-class. Traditional music continued to be popular in working-class communities, however, in the form of the céilidh band, originally a product of the revival which was exported to the USA, re- appropriated by the Irish rural lower class and which abandoned the pursuit of “pure” Irishness for a hybrid dance music which combined fiddle and flute with newly imported instruments from drum-kits to saxophones41.
35 The second, and perhaps better known, Irish traditional music revival of the 1960s was in some respects an outworking of the dynamics of the earlier revival in a changed cultural context, in which the strident nationalism of the early 20th century revival was tempered by counter-cultural values emanating from the American folk revival. A significant actor in the 1960s movement was composer Sean Ó Riada, who attacked the céilidh bands which he claimed “bore as much relation to music as the buzzing of a bluebottle in an upturned jamjar42”. Ó Riada sought to replace these popular dance groups with a “folk chamber orchestra”, the prototype of which was his own group Ceoltoiri Cualann but which came to full fruition in the influential Chieftains43. O’Shea describes the music of The Chieftains as “the rationalised music of modernity, marketed as traditional44”.
36 The Chieftains, in turn, influenced the growing popularity of the “session”, an informal grouping of musicians which by the 1970s had displaced the céilidh band as the primary context for the performance of “traditional” music. Whilst the céilidh bands had performed primarily in dance halls, the session was usually located in a pub, with little room for dancing, the music was increasingly seen as a “listening” rather than a “dance” music, with significant effects on the way it was played: often faster, with more variable rhythms and an increased emphasis on individual virtuosity45. This change in context attracted middle-class “revivalist” audiences and players who eventually came to dominate the genre.
37 Chapman has observed that folk music revivals are an enaction of romanticism involving the appropriation of “peripheral” features by trend-setters at the centre46. He notes that for such appropriation to work – to result in the accumulation of “cultural capital” in Bourdieu’s terms – the feature must be dying out even in the periphery47. Chapman gives the example of the Scottish harp revival, observing that: If you are an aesthetically-minded 19th-century Edinburgh lady, you can play the harp in your Georgian drawing room, and expect to elicit admiration and nostalgia for the misty and fugitive beauties of this forgotten tradition, and for your own sensitivity in recapturing it. The trick does not work, however, if outside on the street every peddler and roughneck has a ‘Celtic’ harp, which he habitually uses to accompany the latest bawdy songs48.
38 Ó Riada’s attack on the céilidh bands may be seen as an attempt to hasten the abandonment of traditional music by “roughnecks” freeing it to be appropriated by those whose “aesthetic disposition”, better equipped them to appreciate its potential, and thus speeding the processes started by earlier revival movements, through which originating communities lost control of the music49.
39 Since the 1960s, “Irish traditional music” has indeed been abandoned by most of the rural working-class who have turned to genres such as Showbands, or Country & Irish
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for the dance music that remains central to rural social life, but is regarded with condescension or disdain by the urban middle-class. The Irish traditional music revival, however, has gone on to become perhaps the most prolific “transformation of tradition” ever-expanding to become the music of a trans-national middle-class affinity group stretching from Berlin to Tokyo.
40 The Ulster-Scots revival of the 1990s has followed a radically different path from the Irish revivals in either their early or late 20th century forms. The informal and non- competitive performances of the Ulster-Scots folk revival have not resulted in a radical change in aesthetics between the revivalists and the earlier genres on which they draw. Ulster-Scots folk music remains under the control of the originating communities, and as a result, Ulster-Scots performers feel freer to innovate without the obsessive concern for “authenticity” which tends to characterise middle-class folk revivals of the kind documented in Rosenberg’s (1993) volume and which has been a perennial feature of Irish revivals50.
41 There is a significant price to be paid, in terms of cultural capital, for this indigenous control, however. One problem for the Ulster-Scots movement is the age of its core audiences. Folk revivals internationally, including that in Ireland, have been seen to a considerable extent as youth cultures. Whilst the Irish traditional revival has strong appeal amongst twenty and thirty-somethings, audiences for Ulster-Scots performances tend to be predominantly over forty, some considerably over. In part, this is because the Ulster-Scots folk movement is, to a significant degree, a genuine revival – a return by an older generation to types of music they had enjoyed in their youth, but which had largely disappeared from their lives during “the troubles”. A frequent question put by academic visitors I have brought to Cairncastle soirees, is “where are all the young people51?”
42 Moreover, insofar as Ulster-Scots performers remain close to the tastes of their aging lower-class core audience, they may find it harder to appeal to the trendier, more affluent demographic which have made the Irish traditional revival a global phenomenon. The strong country-music influence on the Cairncastle based Grousebeaters, for example, distances them from the aesthetics of many Irish and international folk revivalists, whilst I have heard earthy humorous recitations concerning rural sexual adventures condemned as unworthy of the tongue of Rabbie Burns and USFO performances described as “just bad trad”. Such critiques can feed into wider middle-class discourses concerning the inauthentic or “backward” nature of the Ulster-Scots language and cultural movement.
43 The description of some Ulster-Scots performances as “bad trad” by a middle-class Irish traditional music revivalist is interesting. Whilst recognising affinities with the traditional music he enjoyed, the speaker found USFO performances aesthetically unsatisfying. I suggest that even though the tunes may be the same, there are real aesthetic differences between the Ulster-Scots and Irish Traditional genres, that have their roots in the class base of their performers and core audiences.
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Presentational and Participatory Musics: The “Aesthetic Disposition” and the “Taste for Revelry”
44 Ethnomusicologist Thomas Turino’s seminal (2008) work distinguishes between “participatory” and “presentational” performance, offering Shona mbira ensembles and Aymara panpipe groups as exemplars of the first, and western orchestras as exemplars of the second. “Participatory performance” is characterised as: a special type of artistic practice in which there are no artist-audience distinctions, only participants and potential participants performing different roles, and the primary goal is to involve the maximum number of people in some performance role52.
45 Turino defines “participation” as “actively contributing to the sound and motion of a musical event through dancing, singing, clapping and playing musical instruments when each of these activities is considered integral to the performance53”.
46 Conversely “presentational performance” refers to a context in which “one group of people, the artists, prepare and provide music for another group, the audience, who do not participate in making the music or dancing54”. Turino goes on to argue that participatory performance is a “separate art” and cannot be judged aesthetically by the standards of “presentational performance”. In fact, he notes that: “Participatory values place a priority on performing in ways that invite participation, even if this might limit a given performer’s desire for personal expression55”.
47 Whilst characterising participatory and presentational forms as separate arts, Turino acknowledges that like the Zydeco band in which he himself plays, many musical genres may exemplify a compromise between the two aesthetics56. I would suggest that if we view the participatory and presentational frames as the ends of a continuum, Irish traditional music, whilst still some distance from the formality of western art music, has moved steadily from the participatory toward the presentational over the last century. The values of the Ulster-Scots revival, in contrast, remain firmly rooted to the participatory end of the spectrum. This participatory ethos is evident in the size of the early Ulster-Scots folk ensembles, a willingness to invite amateur musicians and even children to join them on stage, and frequent invitations to the audience to clap, sing along, dance or engage in call and response interaction with the band, all of which are less frequently seen in the polished performances of Irish “folk chamber orchestras” from the Chieftains to Dervish. It is also evident in the openness of Ulster-Scots soirees to performances of every level of skill, from beginner to expert, which contrasts with the Irish traditional session, where musicians may find themselves overtly or covertly excluded or marginalised if their performances are judged inadequate57.
48 The different evaluation of participatory and presentational aspects of performance may be one reason why Ulster-Scots performances generate enthusiasm amongst their core audiences and many visitors, but may leave “Irish trad” afficianados and other folk revivalists cold58. Such different evaluations, I suggest, are not purely arbitrary, but may be associated with the different class positions of both performers and audiences. Whilst there is a middle-class ideological influence on the revival, particularly through government agencies and funding bodies, a large proportion of Ulster-Scots folk musicians have come from the background of working-class marching bands, genres which promote a communalist ethos in which even when individual virtuosity is valued, as in the piccolo player of a part-music flute band, it is subordinated to the
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needs of the ensemble59. Audiences too come primarily from working-class communities where musical forms ranging from marching bands to showbands have always been evaluated as much on the quality of the “crack” as on the quality of the sound.
49 Bourdieu (1984) has contrasted the “aesthetic disposition” of the dominant classes – the mode of listening suitable for “art” music, which Irish traditional music has increasingly aspired to be – with the “taste for revelry” of the working-classes – a taste which is often felt to be coarse or vulgar by those further up the social hierarchy. Whilst neither Irish Traditional nor Ulster-Scots music can be seen as monolithic in terms of class participation or aesthetic values, I suggest that the increasing domination of Irish Traditional music by middle-class revivalists may be related to its move towards more presentational contexts, whilst the continuing rootedness of Ulster-Scots music in originating communities can be correlated with the participatory “taste for revelry”.
50 The boundaries of social class, then, have significant effects on the aesthetics of the Ulster-Scots revival. In contrast, the apparently more salient boundaries of ethnic identity may have rather less effect than might be supposed.
Ulster-Scots Music as an Articulation of Ethnic Identity
51 Both Dowling and Vallely describe the Ulster-Scots revival as a Protestant response to strong assertions of cultural nationalism by Northern Irish Catholics, and Vallely in particular emphasises the combative attitude of Ulster-Scots ideologues toward “Irishness”, claiming that: “For the Ulster-Scots […] ‘Irish’ is a dirty word60”. Both Dowling and Vallely suggest that the purpose of the Ulster-Scots movement is to buttress the boundaries of the established sectarian divisions in Northern Ireland, between Protestant/Unionist/Ulster-Scots on the one hand, and Catholic/Nationalist/ Irish on the other. They may well be right, in regard to the “significant group of politicians and businessmen” that Dowling identifies as having cultivated a “thin […] identification with Ulster-Scots” in order to articulate connections between cultural activists and “anti-Agreement political constituencies61”. Dowling describes a “thin identification” as: one based on consumption, rather than production, of cultural practices, accessed through spectacle and the new media forms rather than in engaged practice and daily interaction, and which has a superficial presence in the formal education curriculum and the culture and heritage departments and nondepartmental bodies of the state62.
52 When we look at the performance practices, listening practices and discourses of those musicians and audiences who actually sustain the Ulster-Scots revival, those who, in Dowling’s terms, might be said to cultivate a “thick identification”, a very different relationship to Irishness and a very different embodied politics is apparent.
53 The foundational performances of the Ulster-Scots Folk Orchestra enacted an Ulster- Scots identity, the boundaries of which were neither coterminous with Protestantism or Unionism, nor exclusive of Irishness. As the IWMC Report noted, Irish traditional tunes formed the core of the USFO’s repertoire from its early years63. Given that, as Vallely has documented, many Protestants had turned away from Irish traditional
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music during the troubles, re-introducing these tunes to Unionist audiences constituted a challenge in the early years of the revival64. One way this challenge was overcome was by a discursive emphasis on the role of the British army in the propagation of Irish traditional music. The jig, “St. Patrick’s Day”, for example, would not be introduced as the nationalist party tune that it once was, but as the regimental march of the Irish Guards. As audiences became more accustomed to this kind of material, such discourses became less necessary.
54 The vision of Ulster-Scots identity articulated by the USFO was clearly outlined in the musical stage show, Fae Lang Syne, which presented a musical history of the Ulster-Scots people. The show premiered at the 2004 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and was performed at 23 further venues over the following two years. Fae Lang Syne did indeed include staples of Unionist and Protestant popular history and culture: the Covenanters, the Siege of Derry, the Lambeg Drum, the 1912 Ulster Covenant and the Battle of the Somme. This, however, was by no means the whole story. The first three musical numbers were dedicated to pre-Plantation Ulster, starting with an evocation of the earliest Mesolithic hunter-gatherers whose home was the shores, seas and islands of the North Channel, moving to the arrival of St. Patrick and ongoing waves of migration in both directions including the Ulster settlements in Argyll and Galloway, the influx of gallowglass soldiers to Ireland and the settlement of Scottish highlanders in the Antrim Glens, before addressing the Protestant Plantation in the fourth tune. Significant parts of the show were also devoted to the Ulster-Scots roles in the American Revolution against British rule, and the 1798 United Irish rebellion in Ulster. In fact three songs were dedicated to the United Irishmen, in comparison to just one instrumental tune representing the Williamite Wars. The fact that this broad conception of Ulster-Scots identity had real resonance was poignantly apparent during the performance in Belfast’s Lyric Theatre, when the overwhelmingly Unionist audience joined in singing the 23rd Psalm, in a re-enactment of the final act of United Irish rebel, William Orr, before his execution.
55 Fae Lang Syne was a carefully scripted show, but at the less formal and more spontaneous performances at the Cairncastle soirees, the boundaries between the Ulster-Scots and the Irish are similarly blurred. In-between the Burns songs, flute band tunes, reels and recitations, one may hear someone sing “The Cliffs of Dooneen”, “My Lovely Rose of Clare”, or other stereotypically “Irish” offerings. In part, this is because this is a “real” revival – a return by a pre-troubles generation to the music of their youth, when they made much less distinction between Irishness and their Ulster identity than the generations who grew up during the troubles. In fact, far from regarding “Irish” as a dirty word, the Ulster-Scots revival seems to have made many Protestants more comfortable with their Irishness, by providing a context in which it can be expressed without any danger of that expression being hijacked to support a nationalist agenda.
56 Another reason expressions of Irishness are unproblematic in Cairncastle is because many participants in the soirees have a grassroots “reconciliation” agenda – for them good neighbourliness, regardless of religious or political commitments, is an important part of the Ulster-Scots heritage. This agenda derives in large part from the members of the Cairncastle Orange Lodge, who organise the soirees. Although the events were held in the Orange Hall for the first few years, the Union Flag was not flown during soirees, in order to make it clear that all were welcome. No “party” songs, Orange or
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Green are performed at the soirees, although humorous songs or recitations making fun of Ulster’s political and religious divisions are not uncommon. Moreover, the tradition was established of finishing the evening, not with “God Save the Queen”, as would be usual at social events in Orange Halls, but with “Auld Lang Syne”, during which the entire audience stand and link arms in an inclusive act of sociality. As a result, the soirees have been successful in attracting Catholic performers and audience members, and establishing a warm and inclusive atmosphere which has been appreciated by visitors from a wide range of backgrounds.
57 There is no doubt that the Ulster-Scots revival has emerged primarily from Unionist communities, and that it has therefore produced a social environment in which Unionists are culturally comfortable and numerically dominant. On occasions, Unionism is embraced as a central part of Ulster-Scots heritage, for example, in the Ulster-Scots Experience’s CD, The Songs My Father Sung, which focuses on traditional Orange material, and in Ulster-Scots performances at loyalist band parades and the annual Twelfth of July celebrations. On other occasions, Unionism is downplayed, as in the unspoken exclusion of Orange songs from the Cairncastle soirees; is decentred, as in the focus on the United Irishmen in Fae Lang Syne; or even challenged, as in the song Young Sons of Erin on the USFO album, Somme, which questions Unionist appropriations of memories of the battle by highlighting the contribution of nationalist soldiers.
58 The relationship between the Ulster-Scots revival and Protestantism is also far from straightforward. The vast majority of revival performers and audiences hail from Protestant backgrounds, but the focus of the revival has not been on the heritage of Protestantism per se, but on Presbyterianism. In particular, the narratives propagated through the songs of the revivalists tend to promote Presbyterianism as principled, egalitarian, the province of the lower-classes or “plain folk” and always potentially rebellious in the face of injustice, opposing it to the pragmatic and hierarchical Anglicanism of the upper-classes as well as to the Catholic hierarchy. This interpretation of Presbyterianism unites the rebellion of the 17th Century Presbyterian Covenanters, the closing of the gates of Derry by Presbyterian apprentice-boys, the anti-British rebellions of 1776 America and 1798 Ireland, and the Unionist rebellion of “Carson’s Army” in 1912 in a single coherent narrative of resistance to upper-class oppression. In so doing, however, it challenges the “banns of marriage” between the Presbyterian Church and the Church of Ireland proposed by Henry Cooke in 1834, reviving memories of the role of upper-class Anglicans in the oppression of lower-class Ulster-Scots. The emergence of this narrative of resistance cannot be divorced from the increasing economic and cultural class-divide within Protestantism in post-industrial Northern Ireland.
The Impact of the Ulster-Scots Revival
59 As Dowling noted, the Ulster-Scots revival provoked fiercely hostile reactions from two quarters: firstly from those Irish nationalists committed to a monocultural view of the Irish nation, and secondly, and in Dowling’s view, more significantly, from “bourgeois Unionists of the ‘Ulster-British’ multicultural stripe65”. The main weapon in the discursive onslaughts from both these constituencies has been ridicule, particularly of the Ulster-Scots language, portrayed as both inauthentic and “backward”.
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60 The musical revival, whilst not immune to such attacks, has proven less vulnerable to them than the language movement, in part because Irish cultural nationalists cannot characterise traditional music as either inauthentic or “backward” due to its central place in their own constructions of identity, and in part because song and recitation give a context for the language which is clearly neither inauthentic nor ridiculous, even to “bourgeois Unionists” of a “multicultural stripe”. Vallely’s academic assaults on the musical revival have not been widely replicated in more popular discourses, and Ulster- Scots music and dance performances have become familiar elements of events across Northern Ireland ranging from working-class loyalist band parades to middle-class multicultural festivals such as the Belfast Mela66. In so doing, they have given the lie to the view propagated by nationalist historian Tim Pat Coogan that “unionists have no culture”.67 They have achieved this less by the “invention” of a new culture than by the “transformation” of long-established cultural practices into “folk” contexts in which they are acceptable both to the originating communities, and to the urban middle-class that, in practical terms, has the power to define what is and what is not “culture”. Turino has observed that a similar strategy of “folkloricization” was adopted by Andean migrants in order to make their musical practices acceptable to urban Peruvians in Lima68.
61 This process of transformation has also had broader effects on musical practices within the originating communities. The now common practice of staging Ulster-Scots folk performances at Orange celebrations or the fundraising parades of loyalist marching bands has given Ulster-Scots folk groups an opportunity to reach younger audiences and has largely reversed the “tuning out” of working-class Protestants from traditional music documented by Vallely69. A second generation of loyalists are now growing up with the assumption that traditional tunes played on fiddles are part and parcel of their Orange heritage, and such performances have become increasingly common at loyalist events whether or not those performances are labeled as “Ulster-Scots”.
62 Finally, the Ulster-Scots movement has influenced developments within the marching band tradition itself. The “blood & thunder” flute bands which came to dominate the marching band world in the 1970s and 1980s had largely turned their back on jigs and other dance tunes in favour of simple sing-along party tunes played in a uniform 2/4 march time. Only in the Ballymena-Ballymoney area of north Antrim, with its strong Scottish links, did jigs, hornpipes and reels remain a common element in blood & thunder repertoires. Blood & thunder bands from this area were referred to as “jig- style” bands, but their music was regarded with some suspicion, and sometimes derided as “Fenian” by loyalists from other areas70.
63 The discourses of the Ulster-Scots revival were adopted enthusiastically by jig-style bands as a justifying ideology for the musical habitus they had preserved. Characterising their style as “Ulster-Scots” rather than “Fenian”, jig-style bands became increasingly influential within the blood & thunder scene, winning significant numbers of cash prizes at the “battles of the bands” which are held in nightclubs in loyalist neighbourhoods throughout the winter months. The jig-style spread as traditional dance tunes were increasingly adopted outside the north Antrim area by bands seeking to lift audiences and gain a competitive edge on their rivals. Whilst the Ulster-Scots folk groups had drawn in part on marching band repertoires in the establishment of their genre, the flow of influence was now reversed as tunes first aired in folk performances increasingly made their way on to the street.
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64 This process was possible because revival performances had stayed close to the aesthetic tastes of the working-class communities from which they had sprung, and this interaction between “folk” revivalists, playing for predominantly older audiences, and the marching bands which constitute the youth culture of the originating communities may be seen as confirmation that this musical transformation was a real revival, and not merely an appropriation of the kind theorised by Rosenberg (1993).
The Future: Revival or Recessional?
65 The Ulster-Scots revival came to fruition in the post-Agreement years which were probably the most economically prosperous Northern Ireland has ever seen. Following the 2008 financial crisis, we are now living in a very different climate, and the Ulster- Scots music scene has been squeezed both financially and ideologically. Cuts in funding from government agencies have led to reduced performance opportunities, the large “folk orchestra” ensembles that characterised the early years of the revival have proven unviable in the changed economic environment, and a number of smaller bands have also folded, often because their members have found it necessary to concentrate on more lucrative work, musical or non-musical. Members of two different folk groups, one now folded, the other still performing, told me during 2012 that the scene is “dying”.
66 For those trying to make a living from their music, times are hard, particularly because Ulster-Scots, as a genre, has failed to achieve widespread international recognition or distinguish itself effectively from the already globally recognised brand of “Irish Traditional Music”. Some of those bands who are still performing, therefore, choose not to brand themselves as “Ulster-Scots”. The Lyttle Family from Co. Armagh, for instance, well-known international performers who have long been favorites at the Cairncastle Festival describe themselves, on their website (http://www.davidlyttle.com/ thelyttlefamily), as a “Celtic” group, and avoid both the terms “Ulster-Scots” and “Irish”. Many lesser-known professional or semi-professional musicians may also move strategically between Ulster-Scots, Irish or Celtic identities in order to maximise performance opportunities.
67 At the amateur level, the Ulster-Scots scene has been less damaged by the recession, and some elements may even have benefitted. The Cairncastle soirees continue to play to packed houses despite the fact that travel expenses paid to musicians have been significantly reduced. Highland Dance groups appear to be flourishing, and are starting to achieve competitive success outside Northern Ireland71. Marching bands have always done well during recessions, when unemployment leaves people with time on their hands and few other leisure options, and whilst some bands have reduced the numbers of parades to which they travel, the scene remains extraordinarily vibrant. In the pipe- band world, Northern Ireland continues to maintain a leading position in international competitions.
68 Not all the effects of the recession have been financial, however. As the dominant political parties in Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin have cooperated to enforce neo-liberal austerity policies on Northern Ireland, they have simultaneously engaged in a string of symbolic battles over flags and other issues, which a cynic might suggest are calculated to distract their working-class voters from their failure to deliver the promised peace dividend. These disputes have sometimes led
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to street disorder, and the hardening of the division between British and Irish identities which has accompanied these conflicts might seem to leave less room for the nuances of the Ulster-Scots narrative. In fact, however, as the alienation of the loyalist working-class from both the Unionist politicians who are supposed to represent them, and from the British state to which they assert loyalty has increased during the recession, intense debate has been generated within these communities, and the association of Ulster-Scots identity with class oppression continues to offer an alternative to the traditional Unionist narrative. Considerable numbers of Ulster-Scots flags continue to fly amongst the Union Jacks in working-class loyalist neighbourhoods in both Belfast and Glasgow.
69 Perhaps just as significantly, after a decade and a half of intensive musical activity, the idea that the Ulster-Scots thread is an essential element in the cultural weave of Northern Ireland has become firmly established even in the minds of those nationalist and urban unionist elites who were most hostile to it. This was first evident when Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Belfast, Alex Maskey, included Ulster-Scots performers in the 2003 St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, and Ulster-Scots performances have since become a feature of many of the multi-cultural events patronised by Belfast’s middle-class.
70 Whilst the situation of many individual performers remains financially precarious, then, and the future of the revival is uncertain, there is no question that it has changed the cultural landscape within Northern Ireland in palpable ways, has influenced significant transformations in musical practice within Protestant communities, and has provided new narratives which offer Protestants alternative ways of thinking about their situation in a rapidly changing world.
71 Ulster’s people currently face a future in which little can be taken for granted. Unionism is being torn apart by class divisions; the stability of the United Kingdom is overshadowed by the possibility of Scottish independence; continued membership of the UK in the European Union, and the continued existence of the Eurozone itself are open to doubt; and it remains unclear whether the ongoing crisis of capitalism is merely long term, or indefinite. The narratives of the Ulster-Scots revival, embodied in music, song and dance performance, will undoubtedly remain significant tools through which various groups negotiate their positions and identities in this ongoing maelstrom of change. Whether, in the long term, Ulster-Scots is seen as a central or a marginal element of communal identity may be largely decided by processes and events which are beyond the capacity of musicians, audiences or academics to predict.
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McCarthy, Marie. 1996. “The Transmission of Music and the Formation of National Identity in Early Twentieth-Century Ireland”, in Patrick Devine & Harry White (eds.), Irish Musical Studies 5:
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The Maynooth International Musicological Conference 1995 Selected Proceedings: Part 2, Dublin, Four Courts, p. 146-159.
Montgomery, Michael. 1997. “The Rediscovery of the Ulster Scots Language”, in Edgar Schneider (ed.), Englishes around the World: Studies in Honour of Manfred Görlach, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, p. 211-226.
Montgomery, Michael. 1999. “The Position of Ulster Scots”, in Ulster Folklife, p. 45.
Nic Craith, Mairead. 2001. “Politicised Linguistic Consciousness: The Case of Ulster-Scots”, in Nations & Nationalism, Volume 7, Issue 1, p. 21-37.
O’Shea, Helen. 2006-7. “Getting to the Heart of the Music: Idealizing Musical Community and Irish Traditional Music Sessions”, in Journal of the Society for Musicology in Ireland 2, p. 1-18.
O’Shea, Helen. 2008. The Making of Irish Traditional Music, Cork, University Press.
Ramsey, Gordon. 2011. Music, Emotion and Identity in Ulster Marching Bands: Flutes, Drums and Loyal Sons, Oxford, Peter Lang.
Rosenberg, Neil. 1993. “Introduction”, in Neil Rosenberg (ed.), Transforming Tradition: Folk Music Revivals Examined, Urbana, University of Illinois, p. 1-26.
Rosenberg, Neil V. 1993. “Starvation, Serendipity, and the Ambivalence of Bluegrass Revivalism”, in Neil V. Rosenberg (ed.), Transforming Tradition: Folk Music Revivals Examined, Urbana, University of Illinois, p. 194-202.
Shields, Hugh. 1982. “Recent Meetings: the Feis Ceoil and Irish Music”, in Ceol Tire, 10/1982, p. xxii.
Stapleton, Karyn & John Wilson. 2003. “A Discursive Approach to Cultural Identity: The Case of Ulster Scots”, in Belfast Working Papers in Language & Linguistics 16, Belfast, University of Ulster, p. 57-71.
Stapleton, Karen & John Wilson, 2004. “Ulster Scots Identity and Culture: The Missing Voices”, in Identities, Volume 11, Issue 4 October 2004, p. 563-591.
Trevor-Roper, Hugh. 1983. “The Invention of Tradition: The Highland Tradition of Scotland”, in Eric Hobsbawm & Terence Ranger (eds.), The Invention of Tradition, Cambridge, University Press, p. 15-42.
Turino, Thomas. 1993. Moving Away from Silence: Music of the Peruvian Altiplano and the Experience of Urban Migration. Chicago, University of Chicago.
Turino, Thomas. 2008. Music as Social Life: The Politics of Participation, Chicago, University of Chicago.
Vallely, Fintan. 2008. “Scenting the Paper Rose: The Ulster-Scots Quest for Music as Identity”, in Mervyn Busteed, Frank Neal & Jonathan Tonge (eds.), Irish Protestant Identities, Manchester, Manchester University, p. 247-256.
Trevor-Roper, Hugh. 2008. Tuned Out: Traditional Music and Identity in Northern Ireland, Cork, University Press.
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NOTES
1. See Crowley (2005); Fenton (2000); Kirk (1998); Kingsmore & Montgomery (1995); Mac Póilin (1999); McBride (2000); McCall (2002); Montgomery (1997,1999); Nic Craith (2001); Stapleton & Wilson (2003,2004) for a range of perspectives on the language revival. 2. Gordon Ramsey, Music, Emotion and Identity in Ulster Marching Bands: Flutes, Drums and Loyal Sons, Oxford, Peter Lang, 2011. 3. Martin Dowling, “Confusing Culture and Politics: Ulster Scots Culture and Music”, in New Hibernia Review 3(11) Autumn 2007, p. 51-80; Fintan Vallely, “Scenting the Paper Rose: The Ulster-Scots Quest for Music as Identity” in Mervyn Busteed, Frank Neal & Jonathan Tonge (eds), Irish Protestant Identities, Manchester, University Press, 2008, p. 247-256; and Fintan Vallely, Tuned Out: Traditional Music and Identity in Northern Ireland, Cork, University Press, 2008. 4. Martin Dowling, “Confusing Culture and Politics”, op. cit., p. 51-5. 5. Arbuckle was lead singer with the cross-community group Different Drums of Ireland, which whilst not defining itself as Ulster-Scots, had a significant influence on the practices of the revival by taking the Lambeg drum out of the parading and competition contexts and introducing it to a “folk” milieu. Percussionist Stephen Matier of Different Drums also performed on some tracks on A Clatter O Fowk. 6. The Lambeg tradition was until recently limited to Co. Antrim, Co. Down, north Armagh, south Londonderry and east Tyrone. As a result of the Ulster-Scots movement, it has now spread into other areas such as Co. Fermanagh. 7. Marching bands have largely abandoned the mellow sound of the rope-tensioned drum for the sharper sound of the screw-tensioned drum, which allows higher tension to be achieved and more elaborate rhythms to be played, at the expense, some would say, of the tone. In some ways, the USFO’s sound was reminiscent of experimentation by English folk-rock band Fairport Convention during the 1970s. 8. Irish World Music Centre, Ulster-Scots Music: An Ethnomusicological Report, 2001. 9. The original line-up of the Low Country Boys was Gibson Young, Mark Thompson, Graham Thompson, and Ivan Ferran. Mark and Graham Thompson are no longer members, and sometimes perform under the name, The Thompson Brothers. 10. Skullduggery broke up in early 2013, partly as a result of performance opportunities being limited by the economic recession. 11. See Dowling, “Confusing Culture and Politics”, op. cit., p. 68-71, for an analysis of this production, which was very much a top-down product of the “official” revival emanating from the Ulster-Scots Agency. See infra. 12. For instance, Lower Woodstock Ulster-Scots Flute Band in Belfast and Bready Ulster-Scots Pipe Band in Co. Tyrone. 13. So far as I can ascertain, Willie Drennan was the only person referring to himself as an Ulster-Scots musician prior to the 1998 Belfast Agreement, and his (1996) CD, Its A Quair Guid Yin, was the only Ulster-Scots musical recording in existence before that time. 14. Eric Hobsbawm, “Introduction”, in Eric Hobsbawm & Terence Ranger (eds.), The Invention of Tradition, Cambridge University Press, 1983, p. 2. 15. Fintan Vallely, “Scenting the Paper Rose”, op. cit., p.254.
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16. Ibid., p. 253. 17. Ibid., p. 252. 18. Fintan Vallely, Tuned Out: Traditional Music and Identity in Northern Ireland, op. cit., p. 23. 19. Martin Dowling, “Confusing Culture and Politics”, op. cit., p. 72. 20. Fintan Vallely, Tuned Out: Traditional Music and Identity in Northern Ireland, op. cit, p. 212. 21. It seems likely that this misconception results from limited fieldwork. The fieldwork for Vallely’s 2008 book was completed in 1992, before the Ulster-Scots revival began. Vallely’s writing does not refer to any actual Ulster-Scots performances, and his data on the revival appears to have been gathered primarily from documentary sources. 22. Irish World Music Centre, op. cit., p. 13. 23. Dominic Bryan, Orange Parades: The Politics of Ritual, Tradition and Control, London, Pluto, 2000, p. 58 & p. 70. 24. Eric Hobsbawm, “Introduction”, in Eric Hobsbawm & Terence Ranger (eds.), The Invention of Tradition, op. cit., p. 1. 25. Fintan Vallely, “Scenting the Paper Rose”, op. cit., p.252. 26. Martin Dowling, “Confusing Culture and Politics”, op. cit., p. 51-5. 27. Eric Hobsbawm, “Introduction”, in Eric Hobsbawm & Terence Ranger (eds.), The Invention of Tradition, op. cit., p. 6. 28. See also Richard Handler & Jocelyn Linnekin, "Tradition, Genuine or Spurious", in The Journal of American Folklore (385), 1984, p. 97. 29. Burt Feintuch, “Musical Revival as Musical Transformation”, in Neil V Rosenberg (ed.), Transforming Tradition: Folk Music Revivals Examined, Urbana, University of Illinois, 1993, p. 184. 30. Alan Jabbour, “Foreword” in ibid., p. xiii. 31. Neil Rosenberg, “Introduction” in ibid, p. 19. 32. Neil Rosenberg, “Starvation, Serendipity, and the Ambivalence of Bluegrass Revivalism”, in ibid, p. 196-197. 33. Anne Lederman, “Barrett’s Privateers: Performance and Participation in the Folk Revival”, in ibid, p. 172. 34. Peter Narvaez, “Living Blues Journal: The Paradoxical Aesthetics of the Blues Revival”, in ibid, p. 244. 35. The term “backwoodsmen” is often used in the Belfast-based media as a derogatory reference to the socially conservative rural lower classes elsewhere in Northern Ireland. 36. Hazel Fairbairn, “Changing Contexts for Traditional Dance Music in Ireland: The Rise of Group Performance Practice”, in Folk Music Journal 6 (5), 1994, p. 578; Marie McCarthy, “The Transmission of Music and the Formation of National Identity in Early Twentieth-Century Ireland”, in Irish Musical Studies 5, The Maynooth International Musicological Conference 1995 Selected Proceedings: Part 2, Dublin, Four Courts, 1996, p. 147. 37. Willie Drennan, pers. com. 2004.
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38. Marie McCarthy, “The Transmission of Music and the Formation of National Identity in Early Twentieth-Century Ireland”, op. cit., p. 148. 39. Hugh Shields, “Recent Meetings: The Feis Ceoil and Irish Music” in Ceol Tire,10/1982, p. xxii. 40. Edward O. Henry, “Institutions for the Promotion of Indigenous Music: The Case for Ireland’s Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann”, in Ethnomusicology, 33 (1), 1989, p. 93. 41. Hazel Fairbairn, “Changing Contexts for Traditional Dance Music in Ireland: The Rise of Group Performance Practice”, op. cit., p. 578. 42. Ibid., p.579. 43. Helen O’Shea, “Getting to the Heart of the Music: Idealizing Musical Community and Irish Traditional Music Sessions”, in Journal of the Society for Musicology in Ireland 2, 2006-7, p. 48. 44. Idem. 45. Hazel Fairbairn, “Changing Contexts for Traditional Dance Music in Ireland: The Rise of Group Performance Practice”, op. cit., p. 574-7. 46. Malcolm Chapman, “Thoughts on Celtic Music”, in Martin Stokes (ed.), Ethnicity, Identity and Music: The Musical Construction of Place, Berg, Oxford, 1994, p. 41. 47. Pierre Bourdieu, “The Forms of Capital”, in Nicole Biggart (ed.), Readings in Economic Sociology [1986], Malden, Blackwell Publishers, 2002. 48. Malcolm Chapman, “Thoughts on Celtic Music”, in Martin Stokes (ed), Ethnicity, Identity and Music: The Musical Construction of Place, op, cit. p. 41. 49. Pierre Bourdieu describes the “aesthetic disposition” as the bourgeois orientation that makes it possible to experience something as “art”. Pierre Bourdieu, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1984, p. 28-30. 50. Helen O’Shea, The Making of Irish Traditional Music. Cork, University Press, 2008, p. 51-62 & p. 78-104. 51. The answer is frequently: “at a loyalist band parade”. The relationship of these events to the Ulster-Scots revival will be discussed below. 52. Thomas Turino, Music as Social Life: The Politics of Participation, Chicago, University of Chicago, 2008, p. 26. 53. Thomas Turino, Ibid., p. 28. 54. Thomas Turino, Ibid., p. 26. 55. Thomas Turino, Ibid., p. 33. 56. Thomas Turino, Ibid., p. 55. 57. Helen O’Shea, “Getting to the Heart of the Music: Idealizing Musical Community and Irish Traditional Music Sessions” in Journal of the Society for Musicology in Ireland 2, 2006-7, p. 7-8; Helen O’Shea, The Making of Irish Traditional Music, op. cit., p. 99-101 & p. 119-40. 58. Having brought many academic visitors to Ulster-Scots soirees, I have noticed that whilst Asian scholars often respond with passionate enthusiasm to the music and social interaction, European and American scholars tend to be more restrained in their approval, and more inclined to be critical of aspects of performances. This may be because “western” scholars bring more in the way of preconceived notions of musical quality and authenticity to the venue.
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59. Martin Dowling, “Confusing Culture and Politics”, op. cit., p. 73. 60. Martin Dowling, “Confusing Culture and Politics”, op. cit. p.54 ; Ƒintan Vallely, Tuned Out: Traditional Music and Identity in Northern Ireland, op. cit, p. 251. 61. Martin Dowling, “Confusing Culture and Politics”, op. cit., p. 73. 62. Martin Dowling, Ibid., p. 73. 63. Irish World Music Centre, Ulster-Scots Music: An Ethnomusicological Report, op. cit. 64. Ƒintan Vallely, Tuned Out: Traditional Music and Identity in Northern Ireland, op. cit. 65. Martin Dowling, “Confusing Culture and Politics”, op. cit., p. 73. 66. Fintan Vallely, “Scenting the Paper Rose”, op. cit.; Ƒintan Vallely, Tuned Out: Traditional Music and Identity in Northern Ireland, op.cit. 67. Ruth Dudley-Edwards, “The Outsider” in Britain and Ireland: Lives Entwined II. British Council, London, 2006. 68. Thomas Turino, Moving Away from Silence: Music of the Peruvian Altiplano and the Experience of Urban Migration, Chicago, University of Chicago, 1993, p. 219-220. 69. Fintan Vallely, Tuned Out: Traditional Music and Identity in Northern Ireland, op.cit. 70. Gordon Ramsey, Music, Emotion and Identity in Ulster Marching Bands: Flutes, Drums and Loyal Sons, op. cit. 71. The Sollus Dancers, based in Bready, Co. Tyrone, for example are current European Choreography Champions.
ABSTRACTS
This paper describes the Ulster-Scots Musical Revival which started in the late 1990s, and argues that neither Hobsbawm & Ranger’s conception of “invented tradition” nor Rosenberg’s theorisation of folk revivals as appropriations of tradition are adequate to understand this ongoing musical and social movement. By comparing the Ulster-Scots revival with earlier “Irish traditional music” revivals, I will argue that the Ulster-Scots movement is significantly different both from Irish revivals and from the American folk revivals theorised in Rosenberg’s volume, in that it is not the appropriation of a working-class music by a middle-class constituency, but a deliberate transformation of tradition undertaken by members of the originating communities.
Cet article décrit la renaissance qu’a connue la musique Ulster-Scots à partir de la fin des années 1990, et suggère que ni la notion élaborée par Hobsbawm & Ranger d’une « tradition inventée », ni la conception proposée par Rosenberg des festivals folkloriques comme appropriations de la tradition n’arrivent à cerner ce qui se passe au sein de ce mouvement musical et social en pleine évolution. La comparaison entre la renaissance Ulster-Scots et celle qu’a connue la « musique irlandaise traditionnelle » par le passé nous montrera que le mouvement Ulster-Scots est radicalement différent à la fois des renaissances irlandaises et des renaissances folkloriques américaines étudiées par l’ouvrage de Rosenberg, puisqu’il ne s’agit pas de l’appropriation d’une
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musique « ouvrière » par la bourgeoisie, mais d’une transformation délibérée de la tradition entreprise par des membres des communautés dont cette tradition est issue.
INDEX
Mots-clés: musique, Ulster-Scots, héritage culturel, identité collective, Irlande du Nord Keywords: Ulster-Scots, collective identity, cultural heritage, music, Northern Ireland
AUTHOR
GORDON RAMSEY
Queen’s University, Belfast
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Language and Politics in Ireland – a Constructive or Destructive Interconnection?
Ian James Parsley
1 One of the biggest challenges faced by minority language movements across Europe is the association that most people inherently make between a language and a people, or a nation. After all, if most people who speak Slovene are Slovene, and most people who are Slovene speak Slovene, then why would the same correlation not apply to any other language? As a result, almost inevitably and often unintentionally, minority language development becomes associated with movements of national determination, of whatever kind – summed up perhaps by the old Welsh maxim Cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon (“a nation without a language is a nation without a heart”). The difficulty is that the correlation is almost universally inaccurate. This paper argues that the correlation between “language” and “nation” is often unhelpful to minority language development, particularly with reference to Ulster Scots (defined as the variety of the Scots tongue spoken in parts of Northern Ireland and County Donegal), and that indeed the “language versus dialect” debate this correlation inevitably engenders is pointless and unhelpful.
2 How is the correlation between “language” and “nation” inaccurate? Most obviously, most people who speak English (however defined) are not English; indeed, counting those who speak it fluently as a second language, England itself is a comparatively minor part of the modern English-speaking world. Furthermore, the recent census of England and Wales demonstrated clearly that an increasing minority of English and Welsh residents (8%) do not in fact speak English at home (or at all)1. The correlation therefore falls down immediately in the case of the world's most widely spoken language.
3 Even within the boundaries of Europe, where the “nation state” (which is often defined or was defined by linguistic boundaries) took root, the correlation is of scant value. Most French people do indeed speak French – but so do lots of Belgians and Swiss. Proportionately as many Austrians speak German as Germans; yet Austria was itself
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once the centre of a multi-national and multi-lingual empire which, even after the “independence” of many of its nation states, has left linguistic minorities all over the place. A third of Hungarian speakers in Europe do not live in Hungary – many live in Romania; yet many Romanian speakers live in Moldova. Polish is indeed the dominant language in Poland, but is also now the second language of the UK and Ireland – the 17,700 Northern Ireland residents declaring it as their “main language” at the 2011 census outnumber those for Irish by four to one. Some Italians speak German; some Czechs speak Slovak; some Estonians speak Russian. This is before we get into the “language definition” debate – some Spaniards speak Galician (perhaps closer to Portuguese than Spanish); some Swiss speak “Swiss German”; most Luxembourgers switch between Germanic Luxembourgish and Standard French depending on context. Even though international frontiers came sometimes even to mark linguistic frontiers (e.g. between German and Dutch), even a Europe of over 50 sovereign units does not match “nation” with “language” in any meaningful way.
4 If the correlation between “nation” and “language” does not stand up to scrutiny in the case of widely known national and administrative languages, why then do we insist on assuming the two are linked when it comes to minority languages? It is widely assumed that anyone who takes an interest in the development of, for example, Catalan or Scots is likely to be a Catalan or Scottish Nationalist; indeed, most people would assume the two are directly interlinked, with the language used (or abused, according to preference) to emphasise the distinct “national identity” of the would-be independent state. It is not for me to determine whether or not this helps the political objective being assumed; but I am certain it hinders the linguistic one.
5 The fact, with both the above examples, is that Catalan and Scots are widely spoken languages in certain spheres of life (exactly which spheres differ, with Catalan now enjoying much wider access to more formal, educational and administrative settings than Scots does). The fact is also that their speakers are almost all proficient in the dominant administrative language of the state (Spanish in the case of Catalonia/Spain and English in the case of Scotland/UK), and that this “dominant” language also has a wider global role, and thus international economic and diplomatic importance, as one of the most widely spoken languages on the planet. Therefore, to tie the minority language in with an independence movement is to suggest the minority language could one day enjoy the same status as the currently “dominant” language – even though Spanish and English have obviously global reach and Catalan and Scots obviously never will. However, this is plainly a ludicrous suggestion. The current national governments of Catalonia and Scotland may aspire to independence on a par with the rest of Spain or the UK, and they have every right to that aspiration, but most of their residents – even those pre-disposed to support the objective of independence – would recognise that suggesting minority languages could or even should ever enjoy parity in a globalised world with languages such as Spanish or English is quite ridiculous (and conceivably even economically harmful if they are taught in preference to the core science and technology subjects which many people feel will drive the 21st century economy). The result is that tying minority languages to independence movements suggests an unattainable objective for those minority languages – leading a lot of people, even those instinctively supportive of the independence movements, to give up on them altogether.
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6 Across the “Sheuch”2 from Scotland lies Northern Ireland, which naturally has its own constitutional peculiarities. Here, the “Irish” language had already become intertwined in the familiar way with Irish Nationalism, itself assumed to correlate with Irish Catholicism too. Thus, Scots (known in Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland as “Ulster Scots”, in the same way Dutch in Belgium is often referred to as “Flemish”) became intertwined with Unionism. Given the tendency for minority languages to be associated with breakaway national movements, it in fact became more obviously associated with “Loyalism”, a form of Unionism which vehemently opposes any hint of unity with the rest of Ireland and yet regards its affiliation to Britain as strictly conditional, to such an extent indeed that minority strands of “Loyalism” have even hinted at a last-ditch preference for a separate Protestant State in the north east of Ireland, as was evidenced notably through the “Ulster Clubs” movement in the 1990s, for example. However, the link between the Scots tongue as spoken in Ireland (Ulster Scots) and “Loyalism” bears no relation to reality whatsoever. This is immediately obvious from the fact that contemporary Ulster Scots is spoken exclusively in rural areas and “Loyalism” is more evident in the urban inner-city.
7 Government departments and agencies in Northern Ireland have, unfortunately, subscribed to the fiction that “Ulster Scots” and “Loyalism” are somehow linked. As recently in 2012, a Department of Culture consultation running from July to November 2012 referred throughout, including in its title, to “Ulster-Scots language, heritage and culture”, in such a way as to suggest in effect that the Scots language and Loyalist heritage and culture were to be regarded as a single unit, when in reality they are almost entirely distinct, even geographically. As a result, the language has come to be almost totally ignored; since it is tied to a group of people who do not speak it, any attempts at promoting it inviting ridicule, with the result that most people in Northern Ireland refuse to believe that there are any speakers. Ulster Scots speakers themselves, meanwhile, are left marginalised from any attempts at “promotion”, because almost all such attempts are aimed, for “culture and heritage” reasons, at a completely different set of people – people who actually speak English! This is a perfect example of the risk of trying to link “language” to “nation” – sometimes the two scarcely coincide at all.
8 Another difficulty for Ulster Scots, given its implicit association with “Loyalism” and thus with “Unionism” (and therefore against Nationalism), is that its proponents have often been unwilling to share their development work with those developing Scots in Scotland, precisely because the latter are assumed (often correctly) to be in favour of Scottish independence and thus of a completely opposing view concerning the constitutional future of the UK. As a result, the tendency in Northern Ireland has been to argue for language status for “Ulster Scots” alone, suggesting it is distinct not just from “English” but also from “Scots”. Politically this is bizarre and linguistically it lacks any justification whatsoever. Politically, it amounts to supposed Unionists (i.e. people assumed to support linkage between Northern Ireland and Great Britain) opposing an obvious link to Scotland; linguistically, there simply is no case for suggesting Ulster Scots in distinct grammatically, lexically or phonologically from Scottish Scots, and indeed its development in harmed by doing so. Denying – for political reasons – the obvious linguistic links between Ulster Scots and Scottish Scots deprives Ulster Scots of much of its interest; why would proponents of any variety of Scots wish to cut themselves off linguistically from the writings of Burns (including “Auld Lang Syne” and “Burns Nights”) or the vocabulary of the game of golf (putt, links, divot, etc.), when
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these are the key introductory points of immediate and obvious interest to millions of people even well beyond the British Isles?
9 The other fundamental difficulty with the false intertwining of “nation” and “language” in the case of minority languages is that too many proponents of minority languages are inclined to take an attack on one as an attack on the other, and define them in similar terms. For example, a suggestion that Scots is not a “language” in the true sense is not, in fact, an attack on the idea that the Scottish nation could do perfectly well as an independent country; it is merely a suggestion that the Scots language is not used across the whole range of settings from formal to informal. People who are inclined to tie together minority language development with campaigns for political independence are inclined to spend a lot of time arguing over language status in the same way they argue over national status, despite the fact that the two are entirely separate arguments! Scots could quite easily be revived with Scotland remaining in the UK. After all, Welsh has flourished within the UK far more than Irish has in the independent Republic of Ireland; on the other hand, an independent Scotland could quite easily decide to promote English for economic reasons to the exclusion of Scots.
10 This point transfers to Northern Ireland too. The suggestion that Ulster Scots is not a language, or at least lacks the range that English has, is often taken as an insult to Loyalist or broader Unionist culture because that culture is supposedly intertwined with the Ulster Scots language. It is noteworthy that the public figures who react most vehemently to this suggestion are, without exception, unwilling to utter so much as a word in Ulster Scots – because, as established above, they actually speak English! Visiting actual speakers of Ulster Scots, on the other hand, one is instantly struck how unconcerned they are about the “language versus dialect” debate (in much the same way speakers of Swiss German are unconcerned about it). The most prominent living poet in Ulster Scots, Jim Fenton, has long studiously avoided the debate altogether by referring to it as a “tongue” – precisely because he wants people to enjoy it, not argue about it!
11 Why is this? Here, I proceed with caution because when assessing a group of people, however defined, it is easy to drift into generalisation and conjecture. Nevertheless, much of this still derives, in my view, from the “Siege Mentality” of many Ulster Protestants, a mentality which is felt very much to be literal.
12 The story of “The Siege”, which in Northern Ireland needs no further definition to be taken automatically to mean the 1689 Siege of Derry, is highly relevant here. The albeit slightly simplified narrative carried down to the present day involves not just the clash between the Catholic “Irish” Jacobites seeking to take the city and the mainly Presbyterian “Ulster Scots” city residents who held out against all odds, but also the “English” – namely the English ships which waited in Lough Swilly for months instead of intervening, and (in common Ulster Protestant perception at least) leaving those inside the city walls to starve. This presentation of the “English” as essentially gutless and untrustworthy remains characteristic of much Ulster Protestant mentality and instinct to this day. Ironically this further enforces the “siege mentality” of the community as they see themselves caught between an adversary on one side (the “Irish”) and fellow countrymen they don't trust on the other (the “English”).
13 It is this which, long pre-dating any “language” movement, gives the notion of “Ulster Scots” – even if it was not always so widely referred to as such – a particular resonance
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for many Ulster Protestants, particularly those for whom “identity” is most important. The world over, those who are most preoccupied with identity generally tend to be those of more limited means, i.e., these days, those in the inner cities and some rural locations. Exactly how this played out politically and linguistically has varied from time to time. Most “Ulster Scots” instinctively took the American side in 1776, many joined the 1798 rebellion, some (including nearly a third of Presbyterian Ministers in Ulster as noted in a recent BBC documentary series on Irish Presbyterianism) were supportive of Home Rule at least until the Ne Temere decree of 1907 3. Prior to the Victorian Age, Ulster Scots were marked for the priority they gave to education and particularly literacy, but in creative writing and particularly in poetry many purposefully followed Scots norms – including not just vocabulary, spelling and grammar but even verse forms – rather than English ones; i.e. they preferred Burns to Wordsworth. The County Down poet, Hugh Porter, writing at the start of the 19th century, perhaps summed it up best when he wrote of his own use of language (and, perhaps, of his own identity): […] in the style appears, The accent o’ my early years, Which is nor Scotch nor English either, But part o’ baith mix'd up thegither: But it’s the sort my neighbours use, Wha think shoon prettier far than shoes4.
14 Perhaps his more famous contemporary, James Orr from Ballycarry in County Antrim, went further and dismissed the English entirely, most notably in “Ode to the Potatoe5” where he mocks the “English” for requiring so many crops when the “Irish” (to which he is clear he belongs, if only by virtue of his birth and upbringing on the island of Ireland) make do perfectly well with one – a poem made, in retrospect, almost into a tragedy by the Great Famine little more than a generation later.
15 In other words, politically and linguistically, the notion of “Ulster Scots” has long been compelling for Ulster Protestants, as has the link between the politics and linguistics of “Ulster Scots”, based as they are upon Ulster Protestants’ sense of being trapped (indeed, besieged) between the English and the Irish; however, how precisely this has revealed itself has swung dramatically over time. Those who define themselves as “Ulster Scots” have always been split fully three ways, Nationalist, Liberal and Unionist, but exactly in which proportion has varied hugely from generation to generation, and may do so again.
16 So it is that we arrive at a contemporary situation in which most (though not all) who associate themselves with “Ulster Scots” regard themselves as “Unionist”, seeing the two as intertwined, and yet often at the same time rejecting outright any direct linguistic association between “Ulster Scots” and “Scots”; in other words, for many, Ulster Scots has become something to be associated exclusively with “Ulster” and not shared with Scotland. It is a peculiar thing, surely, for “Unionists” who support the link with Great Britain politically to deny it linguistically?
17 Yet the combination of the two core parts of this paper explains this peculiarity, at least in part. Firstly, because everything in Northern Ireland is mirrored into two sides: if “Nationalists” have their own exclusive culture (incorporating a language), so must “Unionists” have theirs. Secondly, as we have seen with regard to the Loyalists, most “Unionists” belong to a heritage which, while supportive of the link with Great Britain, is also greatly suspicious of the people who live there. These combine to explain why “Unionists”, having in fact secured their constitutional future as best they possibly can
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within the UK, remain so wary and suspicious. This lack of confidence cannot easily be overcome.
18 It was noted earlier also that many Ulster Scots, at least historically, had in fact been “Liberals” (now most likely to associate with the contemporary Alliance Party rather than any of the Unionist groupings). Historian Eamon Phoenix notes that, even in the run-up to the Covenant of 1912 led by all the great Unionist Leaders of the time designed to demonstrate their determination to remain fully part of the United Kingdom, entire hamlets in Scots-speaking and predominantly Protestant parts of rural Ulster (such as Armoy) refused to sign6. This provides evidence of the presence, even at that stage, of a radical Liberal tradition running contrary to the perceived Conservatism of “Unionists”. It is even conceivable that it suggests that certain “Ulster Scots” did not necessarily regard themselves as “British” in preference to “Irish”.
19 So what do modern “Liberals” make of this intertwining of language and culture? In truth, they do not think much about it. Liberals across the world tend to focus more on the reasoned and rational, and thus make political appeals to the “head”, where many others focus more on the emotional and indeed identity-based, thus making political appeals to the “heart”. The recent Flags Dispute over Christmas 2012 was a classic example: the Liberals took a rational position that the flag on Belfast City Hall should change from flying 365 days a year as it always had in Belfast to flying on “designated days” as was the case with most Councils in the rest of the UK, in a way which would maintain the flying of the sovereign flag without overdoing its use in the centre of a city of divided national affiliations. Unionists, particularly Loyalists, took the more emotional position that “their flag” was being “taken away”. The fact that once- militant Irish Republicans, for the first time in the history of Ireland, voted to fly the Union Flag over a civic building was lost to all sides, even though in theory it was a thorough endorsement of both the Liberal position (on the flag) and the Unionist position (on the constitution). Liberals were unable to engage at the emotional, identity-based level in order to claim victory; and for aforementioned reasons, Unionists are always too suspicious to engage rationally to claim it.
20 Similarly, on language, Liberals tend to focus merely on the use of language as a mode of direct communication, rather than on the intertwining of language and political identity (and the way in which language can be used to communicate much more than just what is conveyed by the words themselves). In the same way they dismiss emotional attachments to symbols, they dismiss emotional attachments to languages. Although in theory Alliance Party policy in recent manifestos is supportive of the development of all minority languages, this support rejects any notion that “indigenous” languages such as Irish and Ulster Scots should be treated any differently from more recently arrived languages such as Cantonese and Polish, and in practice gives such primacy to English that other languages would perhaps be best subtly forgotten. Indeed, Alliance election leaflets have appeared with small sections in Polish, Chinese and Lithuanian but never in Irish or Ulster Scots. This is, rationally, an entirely sensible policy position and party strategy, of course. However, does it do justice to the emotional side, based as it is on centuries of the intertwining of language, politics and identity?
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Conclusion
21 The whole thing has, in my view, broader political implications for Northern Ireland. Once one accepts that “language” and “nation” are not necessarily intertwined, and may indeed not be connected at all, one can begin to imagine that the whole diametric view of Northern Ireland to which we are supposed to subscribe may not be true at all. Under nationality, we are supposed to choose “Irish” or “British”; under political affiliation “Nationalist” or “Unionist”; under religious background “Catholic” or “Protestant”; under language “Irish Gaelic” or “Ulster Scots”; under sporting preference “GAA” or “hockey/cricket”; even under football team “Celtic” or “Rangers”. However, if the correlation between “language” and “nation” does not stand up to scrutiny, do any of these other correlations?
22 Once we in Northern Ireland begin to accept that the idea that to be “German” you have to speak “German” and to speak “German” you have to be “German” is a myth, suddenly a whole lot of other myths become apparent – such as the one that we must neatly box ourselves into compartments marked “Irish-Nationalist-Gaelic” or “British- Unionist-Ulster Scots”. Once we recognise that in fact we may wish to exercise a free choice in distinguishing between “language” on one hand and “nation” (or “culture and heritage”) on the other, a very different, new Northern Ireland opens up – one which is not so much bitterly divided as fascinatingly multi-faceted. Is a future embracing that new Northern Ireland not much, much better than the one in which a bitter sectarian conflict has cost thousands of lives?
NOTES
1. See: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/detailed-characteristics- on-demography-for-2011-census-merged-wards-and-middle-layer-super-output-areas- in-england-and-wales/info---english-language-proficiency-in-england-and-wales.html 2. “Sheuch”, meaning “a narrow, open drain or ditch” (James Fenton, The Hamely Tongue, The Ullans Press, 1995) is also used to refer to the North Channel, between Scotland and the north-east of Ireland. 3. See “Taking Root”, BBC Northern Ireland documentary by William Crawley, March 2013, one of the three-part An Independent People series: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ programmes/b01qt8s3 4. Hugh Porter, “The Author’s Dedication to the Right Hon. Earl of Moira. The Author’s Preface”, Amber Adams & J.R.R. Adams (ed.), The Country Rhymes of Hugh Porter. The Bard of Moneyslane, Bangor, Pretani Press, 1992, p. XXIX. 5. Philip Robinson (ed.), The Country Rhymes of James Orr. The Bard of Ballycarry, Bangor, Pretani Press, 1992, p. 1-4.
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6. See “The Ulster Covenant” documentary, by William Crawley ( http:// www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mzlgw) shown on BBC Northern Ireland in September 2012.
ABSTRACTS
This paper demonstrates that the idea that a language, a culture and a nation are tied together as one single unit just because they share the same name is almost always fundamentally flawed. In Northern Ireland, the tying together of “Irish language”, “Irish culture” and “Irish Nationalism” has led to a mirrored response from opponents of Irish Nationalism, who have sought to present “Ulster Scots language, heritage and culture” as a single entity. Because they are not a single entity, the outcome of this has been the presentation of “Ulster Scots” as something at best unreal and at worst invented. This has merely meant that the identity crisis that some in Northern Ireland are experiencing has continued, while much needed work on promoting “Ulster Scots language” and “Ulster Scots culture” as the distinct entities they are has gone undone.
Cet article démontre que l’idée qu’une langue, une culture et une nation puissent former une seule entité simplement parce qu’elles partagent le même nom est presque toujours fondamentalement erronée. En Irlande du Nord la façon dont la « langue irlandaise », la « culture irlandaise » et le « nationalisme irlandais » ont été reliés ensemble a produit un effet de miroir parmi les opposants au nationalisme irlandais, qui ont tenté de faire croire que « la langue, l’héritage et la culture Ulster Scots » constituent un seul et même bloc. Or, puisque ces éléments ne constituent pas un seul bloc, le résultat de cette stratégie a été que l’« Ulster-Scots » paraît au mieux, irréel, au pire, inventé. Ainsi, la crise identitaire que vivent certains en Irlande du Nord n’a pas été résolue, et beaucoup de travail qui aurait dû être fait pour promouvoir la « langue Ulster Scots » et la « culture Ulster Scots » n’a pas été effectué.
INDEX
Keywords: collective identity, cultural heritage, Irish nationalism, languages in Ireland - language policy, languages in Ireland - Ulster-Scots, Northern Ireland, Ulster-Scots Mots-clés: héritage culturel, identité collective, Irlande du Nord, langues en Irlande - politiques linguistiques, langues en Irlande - Ulster-Scots, nationalisme irlandais, Ulster-Scots
AUTHOR
IAN JAMES PARSLEY
Chairman of the Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund
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The Irish Ulster Scot
Liam Logan
1 Ulster Scots, Ulster-Scots, or as I personally prefer, the “Hamely Tongue”, a name given it by James Fenton, the poet and lexicographer and very much the Doctor Johnson of the Tongue. As for Dr Ian Adamson, the distinguished paediatrician and cultural historian, he coined the term “Ullans” to designate the language derived from the transfer of the Lowland Scots tongue (Lallans) to the north-east corner of Ireland (Ulster).
2 Not that it had a name back in the 1950s when I was born and first encountered Ulster Scots.
3 The man who introduced me to the notion of a language not used by my favoured Scottish authors Robert Louis Stevenson, R. M. Ballantyne and Walter Scott, or English and American writers like Jane Austen, R. D. Blackmore and Mark Twain, was a family friend and neighbour, Alex Calderwood. Alex worked for/with my grandfather and was a friend and contemporary of my father. I knew Alex as “Catherwood” but had caught sight of the spelling of his name as “Calderwood”. He explained that the pronunciation differed from the spelling and gave me examples from round our locality: the Ellots (neighbouring famers) were actually spelt Elliott, the Aikesons – Alex was himself married to an Aikeson/Atkinson – were in fact the Atkinsons, etc. This was my first introduction to the arcane (to me anyway) world of Ulster Scots. Again, not that it had a name.
4 I was brought up in North Antrim, in the townland of Galdanagh, near the villages of Dunloy, Loughgiel and Cloughmills on the outskirts of the town of Ballymoney. The geography may not seem important but I mention it since all these places had what I now realise were linguistic communities. It was possible to detect subtle distinctions of vocabulary or accent that identified the speaker’s home. Villages like Dunloy and Loughgiel would be perceived as being more nationalist and Catholic, while the main market town of the area, Ballymoney would be predominantly, but not exclusively Protestant and unionist. However, the more subtle linguistic distinctions crossed over and blurred the more easily recognisable lines of religious and political affiliation, so
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that the speech of many in the area, from the mainly Protestant market town or the surrounding Protestant and Catholic villages, was deeply affected by Ulster Scots.
5 When I was asked to describe myself for this publication I suggested “broadcaster and author”. Both are true but bear little or no relation to my academic background (I hold business qualifications including an MBA) or professional life (as a planner for the National Health Service). In fact, both the descriptions I chose flow from a chance hearing of an Ulster Scots radio broadcast, A Kist o Wurds1, the flagship programme for Ulster Scots on our local BBC station, BBC Northern Ireland, around 2001. The programme (a magazine format) dealt with preparations for the 12th July celebrations (a commemoration of the victory of the Protestant Prince William of Orange over King James at the Battle of the Boyne, an exclusively Protestant event), reminiscences of Sunday School (another exclusively Protestant experience) and another item with the emphasis firmly on another religious group of the non-Catholic variety. I would have been in my mid-forties then and knew enough of the world to know that radio shows were the creations of producers. So I telephoned the producer and berated him for portraying Ulster Scots (for it had acquired a name by this stage) as being exclusively the domain of one part of the community in Northern Ireland. Ulster Scots was, as I could personally testify, used across the sectarian divide and indeed, across social and economic classes. It is entirely possible that my tirade was liberally larded with Anglo- Saxon expletives.
6 After he had heard me out, the producer, Chris Spurr, now a friend and still producing top quality Ulster Scots programming, noticed my Ulster Scots twang and suggested I come in and record my comments (sans the expletives) for broadcast the following week. After I did so, he suggested that I record other pieces for broadcast. This I did with increasing regularity and eventually I became one of the hosts of the show, a role I have discharged for the past 10 or 11 years and continue to this day.
7 My background is Irish Nationalist. I was brought up as a Roman Catholic and yet I was an Ulster Scots speaker from an Ulster Scots speaking area. And I knew I was not alone. Hence my concern that a narrative without factual foundation should be promulgated, either directly or by implication, by the BBC. For me, it is the difference between saying that “Ulster Scots is spoken exclusively by one section of the population” and “Ulster Scots is spoken mostly by one section of the community”…
8 I do worry about a narrow ethnic or sectarian basis for Ulster Scots. It is wider than that, both inside and outside the north of Ireland.
9 Inside Northern Ireland, it is difficult to have a balanced idea as to the attitudes towards Ulster Scots in the Catholic/nationalist community as there has been no detailed work in that community on the question comparable with the work that has gone on in the Protestant/unionist community regarding attitudes towards Irish2. This in itself says a lot. But, despite the stereotypes, it is perfectly clear that Ulster Scots continues to be used across the sectarian divide, especially in rural districts. In my work on the Kist o Wurds circuit, I myself have made many programmes about cross- community activities – horse fairs, ploughing matches, sheepdog trials – that draw on Ulster Scots speakers from both religious and political traditions.
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Over the Water
10 Similarly, outside the purely Northern Ireland context, Ulster Scots also raises important issues about the complexity of the paradigms linking Ulster and Scotland. There has been an ongoing relationship between Ulster and Scotland for thousands of years. Many parts of Ulster are closer to Scotland than they are to Belfast and, especially for those living along the coast, you could be in Scotland and back in the day, as sea journeys could be much faster than travelling by road. Trade, intermarriage, employment – these are the traditional reasons for emigration and immigration, and this has not changed much over the years.
11 However, these links are not always seen as positive.
12 Take sport. Today, a significant physical link between Ulster and Scotland is football. Many hundreds, perhaps thousands, make that journey across the Irish Sea to follow “their” respective football teams. Both Celtic and Rangers draw support from Northern Ireland, with rival supporters drawn largely but not exclusively from nationalist and unionist communities but with some concomitant sectarian rivalries. Indeed, when people look at this experience they see only difference, dramatic divisions, rivalry and fierce competitiveness. When I look at it, I see only similarities: the dawn rise, the early boat, the seasickness, the magnificent stadium, the game, the joy, the despair, the late return, more seasickness and the journey home.
13 These regular maritime links with Scotland go back to the time of Columba, Columbanus, Comgall and the monasteries they established on either side of the Irish Sea. Evangelical links are maintained to this day and, interestingly enough, the common language is Gaelic not (Ulster) Scots.
14 And while Christianity has deep roots in the Western Isles, there are religious divisions similar in nature to those in Northern Ireland. Thus, owing mainly to the different allegiances of the clans in the past, the people in the northern islands (Lewis, Harris, North Uist) have historically been predominantly Protestant, and those of the southern islands (Benbecula, South Uist, Barra) predominantly Roman Catholic. However all churches have Gaelic-speaking congregations throughout the Western Isles. For people in the North of Ireland the association between Irish and the Catholic population is obvious. By extension, many people have great difficulty understanding that there are Scots Gallic-speaking Protestants and Scots-speaking Catholics. For some people in Northern Ireland, educated to believe a model which analyses linguistic communities simplistically as equating Irish/Gaelic with Catholic nationalism and Ulster Scots with Protestant unionism, this is clearly a challenging concept. If it has long been established in Ireland, North and South, that you can be a Protestant and an Irish speaker, and if Scotland proves that language and identity frames are capable of interesting subtlety, then it should be accepted that you can be a Catholic nationalist in Northern Ireland and well disposed – indeed – committed to Ulster Scots.
The culchie3 and the elite
15 I studied French at school, along with German and Latin. I finally made it to France when I was 21. One of the things I remember about my first trip was the poor interaction between my friends, all of whom came from Paris, and a farmer somewhere
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in the middle of France. When I asked why relations seemed frosty between them I was told that he looked down on them as ignorant city dwellers while they looked down on him as an ignorant yokel.
16 In the intervening years, I have come across the same metropolitan/sticks divide in many countries and this is part of a problem which has dogged Ulster Scots – the ignorant yokel encountering the sophisticated city slicker. I often say that the most vigorous supporters of Ulster Scots I meet today are exactly the same people – the sophisticated metropolitan elite – who made such sport of the way I talked back in the day. Or a section of that elite anyway. This attitude was ostensibly changed by the Good Friday Agreement. It was as a result of that document that “oor hamely tongue” was defined as “the variety of the Scots language traditionally found in parts of Northern Ireland and Donegal”4. However, keeping alive the tradition of the metropolitan elite looking down on the culchie, the ink was hardly dry before the language element began to be diluted. “Culture and heritage” were to be promoted ahead of the language. The battle was joined by various elements within the Ulster Scots community, many of whom were a lot more interested in filthy lucre than language, in order to wrest Ulster Scots from the speakers.
17 Amongst other things, a hyphen was falsely introduced between Ulster and Scots. “Why”? –you ask. Because the hyphenated Ulster Scots could be portrayed as a separate language, unrelated to Scots.
18 The language, as I have tried to show, is cross-community; it is also cross-border as it is spoken in the Laggan district of Donegal in the Republic of Ireland; neither of these qualities fitted with some politicians’ agendas. And so we saw a sudden interest in a range of things like kilts and highland dancing (nothing to do with the Lowlands from whence came so many of our Ulster Scots ancestors), or pipe bands (flourishing north and south of the border and either side of “the sheugh”5, indeed all over the world, for years before the GFA and the implementation bodies) and a focus on the Plantation as the birth of Ulster Scots6.
19 Needless to say, this reduced the share of the cake available for language. It also tended to reduce the community with which the language could be associated. Both factors have contributed to hindering the development of work on and in the language.
Ulster Scots – its own worst enemy?
20 The “hamely tongue”, Ullans, Ulster-Scots, Ulster Scots… Since I got involved, I have heard all the criticisms. And never met so many experts, so many knowledgeable authorities. It’s not a language they say; it’s only a dialect. It’s bad English; even worse, it’s bad English with a Ballymena accent – a remark I find particularly hurtful. It’s Protestant Irish. Or again: it’s a totally made up language, and an imperfect one at that.
21 In many ways, this is a nationalist and/or republican response to the often visceral – and equally uninformed - hostility of many unionists and/or loyalists to the Irish language.
22 But hostility to Ulster Scots is by no means limited to a nationalist or republican agenda. It has also suffered further impediments from the most unexpected points on the political spectrum. Within the ranks of unionism, there is a particular mind-set which, broadly speaking, takes the view that anything that challenges the status of
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people in Northern Ireland as supposedly as “British-as-Finchley” is a threat to the Union. Allied to this position within the unionist camp is an anti-Ulster Scots philosophy which would be happy to see it denied funding as long as Irish is similarly deprived.
23 In the end, Ulster Scots is perhaps its own worst enemy. It is a hardy tongue for a hardy people and to my mind contains far more pejorative terms than praise. If I look at one single letter of the alphabet, say G, there are some 24 terms of abuse, 25 if you count “galoot” – but some people think this an American import. Let’s have a quick run through them. 1. Gaederel a stupid person, a simpleton 2. Gam, foolish, lightheaded person 3. Gansh, an empty chatterbox 4. Gebberloon, a clown, an idiot 5. Geek, a fool, an idiot 6. Get, an idiot, a nasty or objectionable person 7. Gillie, a fool 8. Girn, someone never done whining 9. Glipe, a raw youth, a fool 10. Glump, a fool, a gawky, awkward person 11. Glunter, a dull-witted person, a clumsy greenhorn, one easily fooled or taken advantage of 12. Glunterpudden, a slow fat person 13. Goam, a numskull 14. Gomerel, a simpleton, a fool 15. Gorb, a greedy person, a glutton, a sybarite 16. Gornet, a greenhorn, a gauche person 17. Gornicle, a ludicrous person, an oddity, a simpleton 18. Gostran, a raw youth, an awkward simple fellow 19. Gowster, a loud mouthed, blustering person 20. Gral, a puny insignificant person 21. Grulsh, a slow awkward obese person 22. Grumph, a surly scowling person, a continual complainer 23. Gulpin, a raw youth, a growing boy, a fool 24. Gype, a fool, a clown, as in: “ect the gype”…
24 Is it any wonder Ulster Scots is hard to fall in love with? And yet I could say that my interest in Ulster Scots is indeed that of an amateur, a lover. I enjoy the nostalgia for a rural tongue in an age of technology, a tongue with a razor’s edge and a directness so far removed from the political correctness and diplomatic insipidness of the modern age.
25 And then, like it or not, I would contend that Ulster Scots informs – or perhaps infects – much of our everyday speech here in Northern Ireland.
26 Mostly, I love that Ulster Scots is a force for bringing people together rather than a divisive one, that the links with Irish are so close, that the tongue is so full of humour.
27 There is a bright future for something tasty in a bland world.
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NOTES
1. The programme goes out weekly on BBC Northern Ireland some 48 weeks of the year. It has a broad audience and figures have recorded it at over 60,000 listeners. See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007d4s0 2. See the work of the Ultach Trust for example, or Roger Blaney, Presbyterians and the Irish Language [1996], Belfast, Ulster Historical Foundation, 2012. 3. A word used in Ireland to designate a redneck. 4. Statutory Instrument 1999, No. 859, The North/South Co-operation (Implementation Bodies) (Northern Ireland) Order 1999. 5. “Sheuch”, meaning “a narrow, open drain or ditch” (James Fenton, The Hamely Tongue, The Ullans Press, 1995) is also used to refer to the North Channel, between Scotland and the north-east of Ireland. 6. A few years ago, I attended a celebration in Donegal of Francis Makemie, who is credited with bringing Presbyterianism to North America. As part of the celebrations, the late Finlay Holmes, the noted Presbyterian historian, gave a talk about the Plantation. Holmes was keen to underline that the planters had been largely Presbyterian but not exclusively so: they also had within their ranks Episcopalians, Roman Catholics and even atheists. The point here is that there was no exclusivity there.
ABSTRACTS
Liam Logan, someone from an Irish nationalist background, gives his perspective on Ulster Scots as a cross-community tongue. Ulster Scots has been unfairly burdened with politics and has suffered misunderstanding as a result. The article also attempts to show how Ulster Scots is part of a broader network of relationships between Scotland and Ulster. The article also attempts to show how Ulster Scots is part of a broader network of relationships between Scotland and Ulster and how it has been the victim of various elite agendas.
Liam Logan, originaire de la communauté irlandaise nationaliste en Irlande du Nord, livre sa perspective personnelle de l’Ulster-Scots en tant que langue trans-communautaire. L’Ulster-Scots a été injustement encombré de facteurs politiques, ce qui a été source de regrettables malentendus. L’article essaie également de démontrer comment l’Ulster Scots s’insère dans la multiplicité des rapports qui existent entre l’Ecosse et l’Irlande. L’article essaie également de démontrer comment l’Ulster Scots s’insère dans la multiplicité des rapports qui existent entre l’Écosse et l’Irlande et comment il a été malmené par différentes élites.
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INDEX
Keywords: cultural heritage, collective identity, Ireland/Scotland relations, languages in Ireland - Ulster-Scots, Northern Ireland, Ulster-Scots Mots-clés: héritage culturel, identité collective, langues en Irlande - Ulster-Scots, Ulster-Scots, Irlande du Nord, relations Irlande/Ecosse
AUTHOR
LIAM LOGAN
BBC presenter and author
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Common Identity
Ian Adamson
I am grateful for the assistance of my colleague Helen Brooker of Pretani Associates and Chair of the Ullans Academy in the preparation of this paper.
1 On 13th January 1992 Professor René Fréchet of the Sorbonne wrote to me to ask for permission to translate my book, The Ulster People1, into French and have it published by his University Press. He had spoken to his colleague, Paul Brennan, later to become Professor of Irish Studies at the Sorbonne, who had agreed to do so. Sadly, Fréchet’s tragic death on April 24th of that year obviated the possibility of that proposed translation and publication2.
2 It was during this time that I began to become more involved in the promotion of Ulster-Scots with my founding chairmanship of the Ulster-Scots Language Society and the establishment of an Ulster-Scots Academy3. Although Fréchet had not lived to see these projects develop, I would like to think that my vision for Ulster-Scots, as an integral part of an inclusive culture that stretches across the sectarian divide, would have met with his interest and approval.
3 In 1992, therefore, the year of Fréchet’s death, I published, under my imprint, Pretani Press, the three-volume Folk Poets of Ulster series 4, thus initiating the modern Ulster- Scots revival in Northern Ireland.
4 I had also suggested the new name “Ullans” for the Ulster-Scots Academy which I proposed in June 1992, and formally established in Northern Ireland following a meeting in Vancouver between Professor Robert Gregg and myself on Thursday, 23rd July that year. The Ullans Academy was to be based on the Frisian Academy of Sciences in the Netherlands, which I had visited in 1978, and again in 1980, with a group of community activists from Northern Ireland, including Andy Tyrie, then Chairman of the Ulster Defence Association, and now Patron of the Ulster-Scots (Ullans) Academy. The essential characteristic of the Frisian Academy was its division into three departments: Linguistics and Literature, History and Culture, and Social Sciences. This tripartite division was to become our model.
5 The new Ullans Academy was intended to fulfil a need for the regulation and standardisation of the language for modern usage. These standards were to have been
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initiated on behalf of the Ulster-Scots community, Protestant and Roman Catholic, nationalist and unionist, and would be academically sound. What we didn’t need was the development of an artificial dialect which excluded and alienated traditional speakers5. It seemed clear to me that it was fundamentally important to establish a standard version of the language, with agreed spelling, while at the same time maintaining the rich culture of local variants. Therefore in 1995, I published for the Ulster-Scots Language Society a regional dictionary by James Fenton, The Hamely Tongue: A Personal Record of Ulster-Scots in County Antrim6, under the imprint of the Ulster-Scots Academic Press, from my premises in 17 Main Street, Conlig, County Down. This was the most important record yet produced of current Ulster-Scots speech and is now, under the imprint of the Ullans Press, in its third edition. It was distributed by my friend David Adamson, who did so without remuneration.
6 Like the Frisian Academy on which it was based, the Ulster-Scots or Ullans Academy’s research was intended to extend beyond language and literature to historical, cultural and philosophical themes such as the life and works of Frances Hutcheson and C.S. Lewis, and to studies of the history of Ulidia in general, especially Dalriada, Dalaradia, Dal Fiatach, Galloway and Carrick, not forgetting Ellan Vannin, the Isle of Man.
7 The failure to establish a statutory Academy at this period meant that the work that went on over the years in each of these fields was on an exclusively voluntary basis, with all the constraints that such involvement implies. Hope of a new initiative returned in 2008 when Professor John Corbett of Glasgow University agreed to write a draft report7 and recommendations for the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee. In it, he suggested that an institute or centre for research and teaching that focused on the Scots language in Ulster and the West of Scotland should be set up. This Centre of Excellence would have been drawn from staff of three contributing universities, the University of Glasgow, the University of Ulster and the Queen’s University of Belfast. Ian Paisley and I met the then Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Gregory Campbell MP MLA, on 23rd July 2008 to discuss this proposal. We were well received and a meeting between Professor Corbett and the Minister’s officials was arranged. The Minister wrote to me on 15th August 2008 informing me that this meeting had taken place on 12th August 2008. Arrangements were made for him to meet Deloitte who were in the process of refreshing the business case for the Ulster-Scots Academy and this meeting was described as “very useful”. Officials were to develop a paper for the Minister’s consideration and he had asked them that Professor Corbett’s proposals should receive due consideration in the development of that paper.
8 This initiative has since been progressed. On 23rd March 2010, the then Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Nelson McCausland MLA, eventually announced his plans for the Ulster-Scots Academy. Speaking at North Down Museum in Bangor, County Down he talked of the importance of Ulster-Scots as one of Northern Ireland’s main cultural traditions. I attended on the invitation of the Ulster-Scots Agency of which I was a member. Among the subjects broached on this occasion was the creation of a Ministerial Advisory Group to develop an Academy. Referring to this presentation, the Northern Ireland Executive site explains: The initiative has three strands: Language and Literature; History, Heritage and Culture; and Education and Research. The Minister added: “I believe great damage has been done to the development of the sector by opponents who have sought to characterise this as being all about the
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status of the Ulster-Scots language. Clearly, it is about much more than that – this is a rich and vibrant culture which has shaped many aspects of life in Northern Ireland8.
9 And so it came to pass that Minister McCausland announced the appointment of a Ministerial Advisory Group for the Ulster-Scots Academy. Following open competitions for the appointment of a Chairman and four new Members, these were appointed with immediate effect for a period of up to four years. Yet another four members to “represent the Ulster-Scots Sector” were appointed by the Minister himself9.
10 At the launch of the “MAG(USA)” on 24th March 2011, the Minister reiterated the tripartite basis if the strategy: This group has been established to provide advice on the strategic development of the Ulster-Scots sector and to rapidly build confidence within the sector by progressing projects under the three streams of activity for the proposed Ulster- Scots Academy, i.e. Language and Literature; History, Heritage and Culture; and Education and Research10.
11 Although we wish this excellent initiative well in its attempts to establish a statutary Ulster-Scots Academy in Northern Ireland, it remains difficult to see how the damage done to the Ulster-Scots movement over the years can be rectified at this stage. Actually, most of the blame must surely lie with those who were imbued with narrow sectarian and political attitudes – in some cases bizarrely so, particularly British Israelite theories –, some of whom achieved high status in government and stifled any attempt to promote the true ideals of the Ulster-Scots movement, while always remaining astute enough to present themselves as non-political and non-sectarian.
The Ullans Academy – Common identity
12 As for the original Ulster-Scots (Ullans) Academy which we had established in 1992, it has continued to promote aspects of shared heritage and community relations between the nationalist and unionist sections of our community in Northern Ireland, particularly in Belfast. The group was established with the idea that bringing people together through their shared cultural heritage would raise awareness of those things that bind us together rather than divide us and thus foster a sense of mutual tolerance and respect, and this it has achieved. Its members believe that this will lead to the development of stronger inter-community relationships in future years.
13 Thus, the key objectives of the group are: 1. – To encourage and promote the shared Ulster-Scots, Ulster Gaelic and Ulster English heritage and to raise awareness throughout Northern Ireland of this shared cultural heritage through delivery of high quality and engaging events and activities, particularly our Saint Patrick’s Breakfast and the Feast of Columbanus11; 2. – To go into the community and encourage inter-community activity and exploration of the diversity of community learning as an extension of education.
14 As Northern Ireland moves further into the post-conflict period there are still many people who are struggling to develop their potential and who experience minimal inter-community contact in their everyday lives. These “hard to reach” areas, both unionist and nationalist, Protestant and Roman Catholic, are some of the key areas that the Ullans Academy has sought to engage and will continue to target over the
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coming years to facilitate the ongoing development of a more prosperous and peaceful society in the local community across Northern Ireland.
15 We support the promotion of our shared culture, heritage, history, literature, language and music through a community-based approach which identifies three strands for development as modelled on the Frisian Academy: 1. – Culture and History; 2. – Research in Language and Literature; 3. – Social Science and Community Development.
16 In 2010 our current Management Committee reaffirmed the principles and philosophy of the Ullans Academy and its commitment to cross-cultural and inter-community work in their widest possible context – preserving and developing interest in and understanding of Ulster-Scots, Ulster Gaelic and Ulster English culture and heritage right across the community12, especially at grass-roots level in a manner which encourages contact, dialogue, respect, mutual understanding and parity of esteem with a view to reconciliation. The people we were trying to reach were primarily people from working-class, urban areas, those most directly affected by the violence of the Troubles and those who had the fewest opportunities for access to “Culture”, especially when that was in any way remotely associated with a political agenda of a different colour.
17 It was with this particular aim in mind that in 2012 we started a series of lectures in the community13 supported by funding from Belfast City Council and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Dublin. To ensure the highest level of openness to potential audiences, lectures were given in each of two prominent sites: Belmont Tower in (the predominantly Protestant) East Belfast14, closely associated with C. S. Lewis15, and An Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich, at the heart of the (predominantly Roman Catholic) Gaeltacht area of West Belfast16. As a fulfilment of our original Memorandum of Association (2003), we are preparing The Bible in Plain Scots for publication translated by Gavin Falconer and Ross G Arthur17.
18 Our focus at the Ullans Academy is now on “Common Identity”, an expression I first used in my book, Cruthin, The Ancient Kindred (1974), and which I continued to explore in all my later publications. By this term “Common Identity” we understand the total expression of all the inter-relationships within the island of Ireland which define who we are. It creates a sense of belonging, which takes people beyond the confines of their side of the religious divide. Understanding Common Identity will empower all sections of our community to achieve cultural expression and allow freedom of thought. Common Identity is by its very nature politically plural and inclusive.
19 The Ullans Academy has therefore been involved, for example, in assisting former loyalist combatants to take a wider perspective on their history and culture, especially in relation to the myths of ancient Gaelic history. Thus, the Dalaradia organisation was formed in County Antrim several years ago as a way of engaging working class loyalists in the peace process. Although key members were involved in enabling the peace process to move forward, especially by facilitating decommissioning of the loyalist arsenal, many members and associates had not bought into the process because they saw no benefits to their community. It is precisely this kind of area that interests the Ullans Academy.
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20 The first official representation of Dalaradia was in 2011 at Belfast City Hall when the chairman of the group was co-opted on to the Ulster Centenary Committee, of which the present author was founder chairman, to organise the ongoing decade of events. This has involved the highly successful Balmoral Review and the Centenary of the founding of the original UVF at Craigavon House. Key members of Dalaradia were previously involved in founding the Loyalist Commission after the loyalist feud (2003), meeting with all loyalists, MLAs, clergy and Secretaries of State. In 2011, members of Dalaradia went on a week-long, inter-community trip to the Somme to try to give everyone involved a deeper understanding of this key period of history. Individuals from either side of the political divide who took part in that project have remained in touch.
21 Although the Somme is paramount in their minds, the members of Dalaradia are eager to engage with people from across the board within a Common Identity logic to move towards a shared future. Thus, with the Dalaradia chairman, we have accompanied them both to Crew Hill, Glenavy, to see the site of the inauguration stone of the Kings of Ulster and in liaison with Brian Ervine, who has a particular interest in the area, to a Caledonian “Scottish” Dalriada Residential – again inter-community – in Argyll in September 2013. Similarly, the group, who meet at the Hubb on the Shore Road, North Belfast18, have recently visited the Bogside Bloody Sunday Museum, the Orange Museum and Derry’s walls19.
22 Its members see Dalaradia as a broadly Ulster-Scots body open to all aspects of our culture relating to all who share our land. However, in many ways they have already moved beyond the two traditions frame, developing strong links with the Polish and Black communities who have become an integral part of the ever-broadening tapestry of Northern Ireland society. They are also determined to learn from other people’s experience of divided societies. Thus, in 2012 the chairman was one of a small group of senior loyalists who visited Israel to study the conflict there, engaging with Israelis and Palestinians, as well as with university, Kibbutz, military and UN personnel.
23 They are also involved in facilitating the formation of a Dal Fiatach Group in North Down, complementing their own group, as well as the Kingdom of Dalriada group in North Antrim, linked to the Ullans Centre in Ballymoney, County Antrim. And Pretani Associates will promote the formation of a Manapian group in Taughmonagh (South Belfast) linked to Monaghan and Fermanagh.
24 Our vision is to promote Common Identity in order to contribute to creating stability for the people on the island of Ireland resulting in lasting peace for the benefit of the whole community in Northern Ireland and for future generations. In this spirit, it was therefore proposed by our Chair, Helen Brooker, that we should recommend to our Board that the Ullans Academy be henceforth known as the Academy promoting Common Identity, in line with Pretani Principles.
Conclusion
25 Martin Hay, writing about Ulster-Scots communal origins, refers to: “the thesis forwarded by Ian Adamson in various publications where he argues that the contemporary Ulster-Scots are descendents of the original inhabitants of the island of Ireland and that the cultural connections between Ulster and Scotland are of ancient
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origin20”. It is precisely this extensive yet inclusive narrative for Ulster-Scots that I wish to promote. The presentation of that narrative through the medium of Common Identity signals a more confident and more open approach, which I am convinced will be to the benefit of the Northern Ireland community as a whole.
NOTES
1. Ian Adamson, The Ulster People, Ancient, Mediaeval and Modern, Bangor, Pretani Press, 1991. 2. See Ian Adamson, “The Ulster-Scots Movement, A Personal Account”, in Wesley Hutchinson & Clíona Ní Ríordáin (eds.), Language Issues: Ireland, France, Spain, Brussels, Peter Lang, 2010, p. 33-42. 3. NB The reader will understand that this body is distinct from the body referred to later in the paper, The Ulster-Scots Academy, whose creation is currently being envisaged within the framework of the Ministerial Advisory Group on Ulster-Scots. 4. The three titles in the series are: The Country Rhymes of James Orr, the Bard of Ballycarry 1770-1816; The Country Rhymes of Hugh Porter, the Bard of Moneyslane c. 1780; and, The Country Rhymes of Samuel Thomson, the Bard of Carncranny 1766-1816, all published by Pretani Press, Bangor, 1992. Series editors: J.R.R. Adams and P.S. Robinson. 5. Unfortunately, this is exactly what has happened, to the detriment of the language itself. 6. James Fenton, The Hamely Tongue: A Personal Record of Ulster-Scots in County Antrim, Conlig, The Ulster-Scots Academic Press, 1995. 7. Personal communication, 25th June 2008. 8. See: « Minister outlines way forward for Ulster-Scots », Thursday 24 March 2011, available at : http://www.northernireland.gov.uk/index/media-centre/news- departments/news-dcal/news-dcal-march-archive-2011/news-dcal-240311-minister- outlines-way.htm (13/11/2013). 9. The Chairman of the Ministerial Advisory Group was Dr Bill Smith, and the Members were Dr Caroline Baraniuk, Dr John McCavitt, Dr David Hume MBE, Dr Ivan Herbison, Tom Scott OBE, Iain Carlisle, Alister McReynolds and John Erskine. Appointees were to serve for a period of up to four years. 10. See: “Appointments to the Ministerial Advisory Group for the Ulster-Scots Academy”, Thusday 24 March 2011, available at: http://www.northernireland.gov.uk/ index/media-centre/news-departments/news-dcal/news-dcal-march-archive-2011/ news-dcal-240311-appointments-to-the.htm(13/11/2013). 11. These events were first organised in March 2005 with the first St Patrick’s Breakfast, followed by a Feast of Columbanus in November, based on the Farset “Steps of Columbanus” project of the mid-eighties. Farset was led by Jackie Hewitt, formerly of the Northern Ireland Labour Party, who was responsible for the later development of
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Farset International Hostel on the Springfield Road, Belfast, interface. These events have been addressed by prominent speakers from across the whole community, for example, Rev Dr Ian R.K. Paisley, the Lord Bannside, and President Mary McAleese, who spoke together in the Park Avenue Hotel, East Belfast on Tuesday, 23rd November 2010. The 2013 event was addressed by Rev Dr Ian R.K. Paisley, the Lord Bannside and President Michael D. Higgins. 12. In my introduction to Ian James Parsley’s superlative Ulster Scots: A Short Reference Grammar, Belfast, Ulster-Scots Academic Press, 2012, p. v, I wrote: “At the Ullans Academy, although Ulster Scots has been our focus, we have always wanted to emphasise the interrelationships between English, Scots and Gaelic as they are spoken in Ulster. What is exciting about this book is that it provides an exhibition of Ulster- Scots grammar, but also how it relates to other languages spoken in Ulster and Scotland”. 13. To date, the lectures have been as follows: Dr Ian Adamson OBE (Somme Association), “Breaking Stereotypes of the First World War at the Somme”, 1st & 5th November 2012; Liam Logan (Ulster-Scots Academy), “Ulster-Scots Language”, 3rd & 6th December 2012; Dr Ruairí Ó Bléine (Ultach Trust), “Presbyterians and Irish”, 7th & 9th January 2013; Nicky Gilmore (Dal Fiatach), “King William”, 4th & 7th February 2013; Brian Ervine (Former Leader of the Progressive Unionist Party), “St Patrick”, 4th & 7th March 2013. All lecturers are Board members of the Ullans Academy. On the first date given, the lecture was held at Belmont Tower (East Belfast); on the second date at An Cultúrlann McAdam/ÓFiaich (West Belfast). All lectures are available on Youtube. 14. On 29th November 1999 the Old Belmont School Preservation Trust (OBSPT) was established as a company limited by guarantee. The Trust, chaired by Helen Brooker, was established in November 1999 as a result of a community driven campaign, the main aims of which were to secure and restore the former Belmont Primary School – a Grade B1 listed building for the benefit of the local community and future generations. As such, OBSPT was one of the first single building preservation trusts to be established in Northern Ireland. The Patron of the Trust was Lady Carswell OBE. The Trust acquired the building in April 2001 and the building was restored with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the DOE Environment and Heritage Service. It was officially opened by HRH Prince Charles on 1st September 2004 and was named Belmont Tower. The building has won a number of prestigious awards, including that from the Royal Society of Chartered Surveyors for “Excellence in the Built Environment”. The building also featured in the BBC’s second Restoration series in 2004, as being a first-class example of a community-led regeneration project. Since then, Belmont Tower has become a multi-use facility offering classes, conference facilities, a coffee shop and a CS Lewis exhibition. On the 31st August 2013 the trustees of the Old Belmont School Preservation Trust passed ownership of the building to the National Trust. The future of the building and its use within the community has been secured. 15. Lewis’s magisterial work, Poetry and Prose in the Sixteenth Century, Volume IV in the Oxford History of English Literature (1954), was particularly important, dealing as it does with language and literature at the close of the Middle Ages in Scotland. Characteristically, Lewis writes “Scotch” not “Scottish”, claiming the freedom of “my ain vulgaire”, which has historical precedence.
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16. An Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich is an arts and cultural centre with a strong focus on Irish language and culture. It is named after the Presbyterian Gaelic scholar, Robert Shipboy Mc Adam, and my old friend Cardinal Tomas Ó Fiaich. The centre offers a vital arts programme, including theatre, music, visual arts, poetry, literary events, workshops and classes catering for all ages. Located in a former Presbyterian church on the Falls Road, Belfast, the building has had a number of incarnations during its often troubled history. As an arts centre it is at the heart of a vibrant cultural community. An Cultúrlann also houses a café / restaurant, book and gift shop and a tourist information point. 17. Publication pending by the Ullans Academy with a grant from MAGUS. 18. The Hubb is the last Second World War Civil Defence Hall left in Northern Ireland and was preserved mainly due to the fundraising efforts of local community worker, Jim Crothers. 19. Future plans will be on www.dalaradia.co.uk 20. Martin Hay, The Elite Promotion of Ulster-Scots Identity: Origins, History and Culture, Working Papers Volume 1, Institute of Ulster-Scots Studies, The University of Ulster, 2009.
ABSTRACTS
This paper is designed to show how my involvement in the development of the early Ulster-Scots movement has evolved in recent years towards using the Ulster-Scots tradition as part of a broader panoply of cultural expression. It highlights the ways in which the search for parity of esteem can be enhanced for that important section of our community, the ordinary People, through an awareness of their Common Identity.
Cet article essaie de montrer comment mon engagement aux débuts du mouvement Ulster-Scots a évolué récemment vers l’insertion de la tradition Ulster-Scots au sein d’une gamme d’expression culturelle plus large. L’article souligne les façons dont la recherche d’une parité d’estime peut être mieux mise en valeur auprès de cette composante importante de notre communauté – les gens ordinaires – à travers une sensibilisation à l’identité commune qu’ils partagent.
INDEX
Keywords: collective identity, cultural heritage, Northern Ireland, reconciliation, Ulster-Scots Mots-clés: héritage culturel, identité collective, Irlande du Nord, réconciliation, Ulster-Scots
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AUTHOR
IAN ADAMSON
Author and founding Chairman of the Ulster-Scots (Ullans) Academy
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A Selection of Ulster-Scots Writing Une sélection de textes en Ulster-Scots
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A selection of Ulster-Scots writing Selection and commentary by Wesley Hutchinson
Wesley Hutchinson
1 The idea behind this section is to give those who have had little or no contact with this tradition an idea of some of the dominant themes and styles in Ulster-Scots writing. A range of material – poetry, prose and the theatre – has been chosen from the beginning of the nineteenth century up until today1. It is in no sense an attempt at an anthology. Those interested should see Frank Ferguson (ed.), Ulster-Scots Writing, An Anthology, Dublin, Four Courts, 2008. Readers will notice the inconsistency of spelling across the selection.
1. James Orr, “The Wanderer”2.
2 James Orr (1770-1816), from Ballycarry, Co. Antrim, was a handloom weaver by trade, a Freemason and a member of the United Irishmen. He took part in the Rising in Ulster in 1798 and fled to America before returning to Ireland under an amnesty. Although this text, “The Wanderer”, unlike several of his other poems such as “Donegore Hill”, makes no explicit reference to a particular political context, it is generally taken as being set in the immediate aftermath of the defeat of the United Irishmen in the Battle of Antrim in June 1798. After the fighting, a group of United Irish sympathisers, among them McCracken, Hope and Orr himself, took refuge for several weeks on the rough, inaccessible terrain of Slemish, a mountain in North Antrim not far from Ballymena. What is striking about this short text is the remarkable energy of the clipped exchanges between the (republican) fugitive and the young woman who offers him her bed for the night while she keeps watch. The poem, set to a traditional Scottish tune, reflects the strong oral base of Ulster-Scots writing: in many ways, it functions as a mini dramatic dialogue. A “wanderer” in Scottish history refers to a Covenanter outlawed by the later Stuarts. The title therefore makes an oblique reference to the religious subtext of the 1798 rebellion.
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Tune – “Mary’s Dream”
“Wha’s there?” she ax’t. The wan’r who is; asked Against the pane the lassie scaur’d: frightened The blast that bray’d on Slimiss tap Slemish; top Wad hardly let a haet be heard would; anything “A frien’,” he cried, “for common crimes Tost thro’ the country fore and aft” – back and forth “Mair lown,” quo’ she – thir’s woefu’ times! – more quietly; said “The herd’s aboon me on the laft.” above; loft “I call’d,” he whisper’d, “wi’ a wight person “Wham aft I’ve help’d wi’ han’ an’ purse; whom; often “He wadna let me stay a’ night – wouldn't; all “Weel! sic a heart’s a greater curse: such “But Leezie’s gentler. Hark that hail! “This piercin’ night is rougher far” – “Come roun’,” she said, “an’ shun the gale, “I’m gaun to slip aside the bar.” going
“Waes me! how wat ye’re? Gie’s your hat, woe is; wet; give me An’ dry your face wi’ something – hae. “In sic a takin’, weel I wat; well; know I wad preserve my greatest fae: enemy “We’ll mak’ nae fire; the picquet bauld patrolling offcier; bold Might see the light, an’ may be stap; stop But I’ll sit up; my bed’s no cauld, cold Gae till’t awee an’ tak’ a nap. go; to it; a little while
2. Thomas Beggs, “The Auld Wife’s Address to Her Spinning Wheel”3.
3 This poem is of interest in that it reflects one of the most significant frames of Ulster-Scots literature, that of the self-employed “rhyming weaver”, a vernacular literary tradition that was highlighted by John Hewitt in his Rhyming Weavers and other Country Poets of Antrim and Down, published in 1974.4 The work of several of the poets discussed in this volume (Hugh Porter, James Orr and Samuel Thomson) was subsequently reprinted in the early 1990s in the Folk Poets of Ulster series5. This body of work was heavily influenced by such authors as Burns whose poetry was, and continues to be, much admired in Ulster. Weaving, spinning, the production of flax and the preparation and sale of linen form a constant backdrop to this poetry. Faced with the increasing pressure of industrialization gradually undermining the traditional base of this cottage industry, many of the poets writing in this tradition, people like David Herbison (the Bard of Dunclug)6, or Edward L. Sloan7, for example, did not hesitate to take a stand on social and economic issues, denouncing the low prices paid by merchants, the pressure of mechanization, the frenetic new work cadences, and the resulting impact on the health and morals of the poor. In this particular case, Thomas Beggs (1789-1847), speaking significantly as an elderly woman, bemoans the death of an activity that had given her financial independence and allowed her to supplement her husband’s income from the farm. The personal content of the
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poem – “An’ what tho’ we never were blest wi a bairn” – could arguably be taken as an allusion to an entire way of life that saw itself dying without heirs.
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Frae Tibbie Gordon I gat this wheel, got An’ then I was young, an’ my face was fair, An’ since the first day she cam’ into my shiel, small house/hut We aye had something to keep an’ to spare. always On the wintry night by the clear ingle side, hearth My wee bit lamp hung laigh in the lum; low, chimney/fireplace An’ I sung my sang, an’ my wheel I plied, An’ Rorie was pleased wi’ the hartsome hum. But now upon her I maun spin nae mair, must; no more An’ it mak’s my heart baith sorry an’ sair. both; sore
Now fare thee weel, my cantie wee wheel, lively/cheerful In age an’ youth my staff an’ my stay, How gladly at gloamin, my kind auld chiel twilight; old; companion Has reeled our pirn, sae bonnie an’ blae spool/bobbin; so; pretty; pale blue But men o’ cunning an’ pelf, an’ pride, wealth Hae made thee a useless thing to me; For they carena what puir bodies betide, do not care Or whether they live on the yirth or die. earth Now the feck o’ my fare is a heart fu’ o’ wae grater part; fortune; woe An’ the fourth o’ a groat is the wage o’ a day.
The mountain lass, at her wee bit wheel, How blythe was her e’e, an’ how rosy her cheek! eye Her bosom was white, an’ her heart was leal, – fathful/true Her mien it was modest, her manner was meek; But now the pert maidens, wha ply in the mill, who How wan is their visage, – how dim is their e’e For the ban they maun bide is enough to chill curse; must; endure The spring o’ the heart an’ to deaden their glee: To toil for men, that are hard to please, In a hot-bed rank wi’ vice an’ disease.
An’ when they speak, it maun be wi a squeal; They maun rise an’ rin at the toll o’ the bell, An’ brook the insult o’ the tyrant an’ de'il, devil An’ the jargon they hear is the language o’ hell. To breed a bit lassie in sic a vile place, small Instead o’ her ain father’s cot on the green, own; cottage It puts the puir thing in a pitiful case – poor Ah! black was the day when they made the machine. It has added mair pelf to the hoards o’ the great more; wealth And left those that were low in a far lower state.
But weel I remember langsyne, that I, well; a long time ago When Rorie had little outbye to dae, out of doors; do Gat aye meat enough an’ some claes forbye, got; always; food; clothes; besides By keepin’ thee busy, an’ birrin’ away; An’ what though we never could boast o’ our gear possessions An’ what tho’ we never were blest wi a bairn; child For cault or hunger we hadna to fear, cold An’ I sung my sang, an’ I spun my yarn; But nae mair for mysel’ can I provide, no longer In these weariful’ days o’ poortith an’ pride. poverty Études irlandaises, 38-2 | 2013
An’ when I was rade, an’ hale, an’ young, active My thread cam’ level, an’ fine as a hair, An’ the kitten purred, an’ the cricket sung An’ the care o’ my heart, was a lightsome care. 153
3. Samuel Turner, “Lezzie McMinn” (1846)8.
4 This is a wonderful piece that shows the supposedly “dour” Ulster Scots in a radically different light from the more clichéd environment of the kirk or the ploughed field. Here, Turner (1804-1861), a teacher at the national school in Ballycorr, Co. Antrim, discusses the activities of the local fortune-teller who doubles up as a healer capable of countering the mysterious illnesses that occur in livestock, one of the principal sources of revenue in this primarily rural economy. This poem suggests that the Ulster Scot could be as superstitious as his neighbours from the Gaelic tradition9 or, for that matter, farmers in the French countryside...10
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They talk o’ the spaewife o’ misty Glenramer, female fortune-teller O’ Madge o’ the hill-tap, an’ Kate o’ the Linn; But trew me for devilrie cantraips and glamour trust; spells They may a’ cast their caps at auld Leezie M’Minn. all; old Sune as her loof ye hae cross’d wi’ the siller soon; palm (of hand); silver She birls roun’ a cup, an’ she bids ye leuk in. whirl round Och, the foul thief himsel’ sure the words whispers till her, That fa’ frae the lips o’ auld Leezie M’Minn. fall; from
Wanters o’ men come ilk day Leezie seekin’, each Frae hill an’ frae valley, frae hut an’ frae ha’; from; hall Some in gay cleedin’, some barely a steek on, clothing; stitch Wee gilpies, young widows, auld maidens, an’ a’. lively young girls They come in the spring time, they come in the simmer, They come when the snaw-drifts hae lang setten in, They come o’ Fate’s black book to get a bit glimmer, some insight For wha can unravel’t like Leezie M’Minn? who
She hecht to wee Mary the han’ o’ the Gauger, promised Tho’ lang syne his troth he had plighted to Nell; a long time ago To Jeannie she spoke o’ a cuddy creel cadger, donkey; wicker basket; pedlar An’ as she predicted, just sae it befel. The cross-bones, the coffin, a ring that was broken, Betocken’d that Nannie wad never get ane. one Nan swore it was lies the fause spaewife had spoken; But as yet, true’s the word o’ auld Leezie M’Minn.
Should prowlers by nicht or by day rype your biggin’, burgle: building (house) Despoilin’ your coffers o’ gowd and o’ gear, possessions On the tip-toe o’ hope to auld Leezie gae jeegin’, go; jigging Regardless how scoffers an’ scorners may jeer. She’ll tell ye what’s stolen, she’ll tell ye wha did it, who An’ gin ye hae courage her glass to keek in, if; have; look The face o’ the thief to your e’e she’ll exhibit, eye Sae great is the power o’ auld Leezie M’Minn.
Gin’ Hawkie fa’ back o’ her milk an’ her butter, pet name for a cow Or haply lies rowtin’ elf-shot i’ the straw, bellowing; sick (as a result of a spell) Let Leezie but sain ’er, some mystic words mutter, bless An’ sune deil haet ails the puir beastie ava! nothing at all; at all She’s far kent an’ noted for a’ I hae quoted, known An’ sair she’ll be miss’d when death tucks up her chin. Tho’ frail noo, an’ feckless, an’ mair than half doted, now; weak; more Yet show me the peer o’ auld Leezie M’Minn.
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4. Archibald McIlroy, “Odds and ends”11, and “Dolly McQuoit”12.
5 The following extracts from work by Archibald McIlroy (1859-1915) are examples of writing in what is known as the “kail-yard”(cabbage-patch) tradition that was popular in Scotland and with Scots communities in Ireland in the late 19th and early 20th century. In its Ulster variant, the genre is characterized by a story, usually set in the rural communities of counties Antrim or Down, in which the narrative is in standard English and the dialogues in Ulster-Scots. The material produced would often appear in serial form in local newspapers. The subject matter can be historical or contemporary, the latter being frequently based on the personal reminiscences of the author. Thus, W. G. Lyttle, for example, produced Betsy Gray and the Hearts of Down [1885], set in the Presbyterian community at the time of the “Turnoot” in 1798, and Robin’s Readings [1890], a series of short comic texts, set in contemporary North Down and Belfast. Several of these texts have recently been reprinted by the Ullans Press or have been adapted for radio.
6 The first extract from The Auld Meetin’-Hoose Green is typical of the tone of much of this work, looking at the community from within with great affection. The text points to the businesslike and often blunt nature of exchanges, even in what are considered to be the most emotional occasions. In the humorous concluding anecdote, Dorothy Logan’s miraculous recovery at hearing about her “weel-daen, sonsy, managin’” rival, allows the author to highlight the importance of the unsaid - a central characteristic of Ulster-Scots culture.
7 “What’s a’ that chappin’ aboot, Andy?” said Mrs. Semple on the night before her death.
8 “It's Wully Turner an’ his man pittin’ thegither the bit coofin.”
9 “A’ houp they’r no’ usin’ up ony o’ the guid timmer,” continued the dying woman— "there’s
10 plenty o’ odd bits lyin’ roon’ aboot ’at wud’ answer weel eneugh.”
11 “They’r workin’ up es much aul’ stuff es they can mak’ available,” said Andy; “bit if they shud’ hae tae tak’ a bit length aff a plank, it’s no’ a big metter. ”
12 Even in the face of death, people did not overlook the practising of thrift.
13 Mrs. Semple passed away during the night, and Andy hardly recognised himself as he stepped about next day in his second best clothes and with polished boots – farm work being, of necessity, suspended.
14 Towards noon, he sauntered up as far as Timothy Sloane’s, whose eldest son was wearing near the end, with decline.
15 “Hoo’s the boy the day, Teemothy?”
16 “Vera low, Andy – sinkin’ awa’ fast.”
17 “Wull ’e be likely tae pit ower mair nor a day or twa?”
18 “The ‘turn o’ the nicht’ ’ll likely bring a change… We hear the Mistress hes got awa’.”
19 “She gaed aff last nicht, an’ a’ wus thinkin’ o askin’ Rabin Riggs tae appin’ a grave; an’ if ye thocht the boy’s wud’ sune be required, we micht es weel join an’ engage Rabin fur a half day.”
20 “Thir’ can be little risk,” said Timothy, “even shud’ it no’ be wanted fur a day or twa; the wather bin’ dry, the grave can tak’ little herm.”
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21 Andy was feeling utterly lonely and desolate; Timothy's heart was just breaking about his beloved son; and yet a stranger, to have overheard the two thus economically arranging matters, would have been unable to detect the least semblance of grief in either.
22 During the wake, neighbours and friends would drop in, and the talk would be about land, labour, or the price of produce and stock. When the time for the funeral service arrived, the husband or father would join heroically in the singing of a portion of the 103rd Psalm to the tune of “Coleshill”; the interment would take place, and friends move slowly away from the newly-made grave – no weeping – no demonstration; but “The heart knoweth its own bitterness, and a stranger intermeddleth not with its grief.”
23 Nowadays, when the doctor shakes his head and announces that a patient has passed beyond hope of recovery, the fact is, at least for a time, carefully withheld from the sufferer; but when Mrs. Semple’s doom was confided to Andy, he acquainted her with the fact there and then – she receiving the same with as much composure as if it were only the matter of another cow or sheep being added to the farm stock.
24 “If it’s the Almichty’s wull, a’m ready at ony time He may see fit.
25 “Ye’ll be left lanely, Andy, ma man: bit it’ll only be fur a wee while: at ye’r age ye canna’ expeck tae be lang ahin’ me.”
26 “Wud’ ye like me to step ower fur Rosey McCartney?” said Andy.
27 “Bliss’s a’, man, can a’ no’ dee ’athoot Rosey M’Cartney?”
28 “– or Mister M’Allister?”
29 “Dinna’ bother the man; he’s plenty tae dae, an’s no’ sae young es he hes bin hissel’.
30 “A’m no’ bin’ takin’ at a shoort. Ma lamp hes bin filled, an’ the week [wick] trimmed this mony a year, an’ a’m ready fur the Bridegroom whun He chooses fur tae come.” […]
31 Sammie Logan’s wife was thought to be on her deathbed at one time — “given up,” in fact, and considered to be very low. Sammie was sitting by the bed-side when she remarked: “Ye’ll think lang, Sam, an’ be bit puirly luck’t after whun a’m awa’, a’ hae nae doot.
32 “Gin’ a raisonable time hes elepsed, if ye can fa’ in wi’ some respectable, weel-daen, middle-aged wumman, ye micht dae waur nor merry agen; fur folk’s badly aff ’at ir’ left tae the mercy o’ strangers.”
33 “‘Deed, Dorothy, a’ wus jist thinkin’ o’ somethin’ o’ that sort masel’,” said Sammie; “an’ it occurred tae me ’at George Frame’s weeda michtna’ be ill-wully tae venture on the merrit’ state a second time. She’s a weel-daen, sonsy, managin’ wumman, an’ weel spoken o’ a’ roon’.”
34 Dorothy said little to this; but the “turn o’ the nicht” brought about an improvement in her condition. In a week’s time she was about again, and survived for another seven years— Sammie himself having passed away in the interval.
35 The second passage from the same author comes from The Humour of Druid’s Island, published in 1902. It presents the encounter between a local Presbyterian minister, the Reverend McIntyre, and two particularly “ignorant” parishioners. The example illustrates a strong preference within the culture for the short, humorous tale, centred on the well-known local “character”. It is as if the culture shies away from fiction, preferring writing that is firmly
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grounded in the real, recording, sharing and – significantly – “performing” the transient exchange.
36 “Talk aboot the heathen abroad,” said Geordie Eslor, one evening, to Staffy M’Crone, as they sat together enjoying a fireside ‘crack’. “Did ye iver hear tell o’ the M’Croits?”
37 “Dae ye mean auld Jacky an’ Dolly that leeved doon near the rockin’-stane?”
38 “The very same,” Geordie replied; “a think a mair ignorant couple could harl’y hae been foun’ an’ un’ner the sun.”
39 “So a hae been informed,” Staffy answered.
40 “Auld Mr. M’Intyre went tae visit them on yin occasion,” Geordie continued; “an’ when he got inside the do’r, it tuk him some minutes afore he could see onythin’ for the darkness an’ peat-reek.”
41 “Jacky was deaf, an’ was sittin’ at his loom in a corner; on his heid a dirty nicht-cap, wi’ an enormous tassel hangin’ ower his ear; an’ his face luck’t as if it hadna seen sape or water for six months.”
42 “Jacky nether hear’d nor saw the minister’s approach an’ continued at his weavin’; but Dolly got up aff the creepy-stool on which she had been crouchin’ ower the fire, snatched the ‘cutty’ frae her mooth, an’ made a pretence o’ drivin’ the hens and ducks ootside, as weel as the soo which was gruntin in contentment on the opposite side o’ the fireplace, at the same time drawin’ forrit a rickety chair for the minister.”
43 “Dolly was hersel a bit deef; an’ on that accoont, as weel as a dulness o’ comprehension, she lost much o’ the guid that Mr. M’Intyre did his best tae impart.”
44 “‘The hoose abane?’ she cried oot in response tae some remark he had made. ‘Why, it’s no near as guid as whor we’re sittin’: for it’s just filthy wi’ the hens and deucks.’”
45 ‘But have you no idea,’ said Mr. M’Intyre, ‘as to who it was that brought you from the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage?’”
46 “‘It couldna hae been us, yer rev’rence,’ says Dolly; ‘a was niver a mile ayont the Druid’s Altar in my life, nor nether was Jacky.’”
47 “‘Have you never heard,’ asked the minister, in despair, ‘of that place where there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth?’”
48 “‘A hae only two auld stumps left;’ says Dolly, ‘an they’re no’ fornenst ither.’”
49 Glossary: chappin’: knocking; pittin’ thegither: assembling; timmer: timber; aul: old; the day: today; pit ower: survive; mair nor: more than; ony: any; ahin: behind, after; can a no dee: can I not die; athoot: without; tae dae: to do; A’m no’ bin’ takin’ at a short: I am not being taken unexpectedly; mony: many; awa’: away (=dead); gin: if; waur: worse; michtna’ be ill-wully; might not be opposed; sonsy: full of life; a’ roon: by everyone; leeved: lived; ignorant: rude, ill-mannered; yin: one; peat-reek: peat smoke; heid: head; creepy-stool: low three-legged stool; cutty: short clay pipe; forrit: forward; hoose abane: house above (i.e. in heaven); ayont: beyond; no’ fornenst ither: not opposite each other.
5. William Davison, “Yin Life”13.
50 This contemporary short story is set on the margins of a rural Presbyterian, Ulster-Scots community. The conditions described – no exact time frame is given – reflect those that readers might associate more closely with representations of the rural Catholic community in the 19th
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and early 20th century – the large family, the tyranny of the mother, the pressure to emigrate, the relative poverty of the small farmer, his (reluctant) celibacy. Although the narrative adopts the well-tried format of the author’s personal reminiscences of the “characters” that inhabited the country landscape of his childhood - one that is to be found, for example, in texts such as Hugh Robinson’s, Across the Fields of Yesterday published in 199914 - what is of interest here is that Davison – the story was first published in 2004 – chooses to investigate areas that are outside the conventions of this now familiar frame, thus implicitly challenging the comfortable - comforting? -or nostalgic representations of an idealized rural past so common in contemporary Ulster-Scots writing. In this story we see a family who do not correspond to this norm, who,although they maintain a tenuous link to their Church – “They pyed intae the Kirk”, – are largely off the radar of their community, living an isolated existence and ultimately falling into poverty (the Workhouse) and alcoholism. The image at the end of the story when Tam is found “stiff an’ deid, half birried in clabber” surrounded by his cattle is one that recalls the fate of another famous Ulster “character” in W.F. Marshall’s poem, “Me an’ me da”:
51 The deil a man in this townlan’
52 Wos claner raired nor me,
53 An’ I’m dyin’ in Drumlister
54 In clabber to the knee.15
55 Eh nivir mairried. It wuznae that eh wuz ill luckin, fur eh wuz tahl, wi blaak curly hair an bricht broon een. Naw, eh wuz weel luckin, it wuznae that. But if ye hadda aaxed onieboodie aboot ’im they wud aa hae saed the same, that eh wuz baakward, parteekklary wi wimmen. Gye an affen whun ye spoke tae ’im eh wudda saed nithin, skellied at ye fool luckin, or lucked doon at the grun.
56 Eh wuz christened Tammas, but eh niver got ocht but Tam. There wor ten o’ them in the wee hoose up the lang ruch loanin at the sooth neuk o’Glen Fada, the fether, mother an’ echt weans. Tam wuz the youngest o’ the brood. There wuznae much grun an’ maist o’it wuz ruch grazin’ or moontin. Yin bae yin the weans groued up an’ left, yin followin’ the ither ower the ocean tae Canada. Then there wuz juist Tam an’ the oul fether an’ mother.
57 The fether wuz a quaite man, niver in guid health. Eh tuk tae eh’s bed, an’ only come doon the odd time. Then eh didnae come doon ava, unless ye coont bein’ cairried oot the door in eh’s coffin. So oniewie, that left Tam an’ the oul hizzie tae luk efter their wee wheen o’beese an’ sheep. They didnae gaa oot much. They pyed intae the Kirk, but they nivir went tae the Meetin’ Hoose.
58 Yin or twa folk wudda caaled in, for the oul mother liked news, tae hear wha wuz daein’ weel, or daein’ badly, an’, of coorse, there wuz aye the breid cairts an’ither yins comin’ in an’ oot. Tae tell ye the truth a guid wheen o’folk kep oot o hir road, fur shay had an ill tongue in hir heid. If your beese or sheep hadda went on tae hir grun, shay wudda come doon intae yir cassey shoutin’ aboot puttin’ the laa an ye. So, oniewie, maist o’ the time they leeved in a worl’ o’ their ain.
59 Whiles the ootside worl’ did brack in. They heerd little fae the brithers an’sisters, apairt fae the odd letter an’ postcaird. An’, of coorse, money wuz sent hame tae the oul mother. Then yin o’ the sins come hame. He gien the appearance o’ haein’ daen weel, tho’some folk saed if eh done sae weel in Canada, why did eh no stey there. “Sam’s Rab’s baak”, they saed “an’ taaks as if eh wuz boorn in Canada, no Glen Fada”. Oniewie, Tam didnae taak too weel tae eh’s brither’s return. Eh likely thocht eh wuz comin’ baak
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tae taak ower, efter aa his years o’ hard labour. But Rab didnae stey lang. Eh bocht a horse an’ridd aboot laik some gentleman, wrocht at nithin. Eh’s money soon run oot an’ eh finished up inside the nerra gavels o’ Bellamena poorhoose. Eh deed there o’scairlet faiver.
60 The oul wumman tuk it baad; shay thocht shay’d got a loost sin baak, only tae loss ’im agane fur guid. Shay went doon hill fast, tuk hir baad temper oot on Tam. Yin o’the kirk elders come tae see hir, tried tae get hir tae go tae the Meetin’. “The nixt taim ah’ll bae in Glen Fada Meetin’ Hoose wull bae wi the boords on mae face”, shay saed. An’ dae ye know, shay wuz richt. Saa, whun the han’ shakin’ wuz daen in the graveyaird, Tam went baak tae the hoose on eh’s ain.
61 Bein’ on eh’s ain seemed tae change ’im. Eh started tae gaa oot at nicht, maistly tae nighbour hooses. Eh wudda sut in the corner an’saed little. Folk saed eh only went roon the hooses tae save ’im haein tae maak eh’s ain tay in the foresupper. Then eh started tae waak doon tae Craigban, a wee clatter o’hooses wi a shap an’ a pub. Eh went tae a certaint hoose whaur they hel’ punch dances. What wuz in the punch, ah dinnae know; maistly wee still ah wudda thocht. They wor poor folk an’gled o’the wheen o’ pennies they wor gien. The guid leevin folk didnae like it, of coorse, an’ they wor brocht up an’admonished in front o’the Kirk Session. But, oniewie, that wuz whaur Tam tasted strong drink fur the first taim.
62 The drink brocht ’im oot o’eh’s sel, dae ye see, made ’im feel less baakward. An’ the punch dance hoose wuz whaur eh fell in wi Mag. Shay leeved on the ither side o’the Glen an’ iveryboodie wudda toul ye shay wuznae up tae much. Shay wuz a guid bit ouler than Tam an’ shay attached hirsel tae im laik a breer tae a sheep’s wull. Shay didnae move intae the hoose, but shay kinna tuk ’im ower, hir an’ ir freens. They gien Tam orders, lached at ’im, trated ’im worse than a dug. “Hi Tam”, they wudda saed, “mak uz a drap o’ tay”, or “Tam, rin doon tae the shap an’ get uz somethin’ tae drink”. An’ him, laik the saft gulpin eh wuz, seemed tae taak it aa, niver turned the word on them.
63 An’ worst o’aa, Mag had a sin. They caaed him the cave man, becaz eh wuz supposed tae leeve in a cave, efter eh’s ma putt ’im oot o’ the hoose. Sae ye may guess eh wuznae a guid yin. Eh wudda come ower tae Tam’s on a Setterday nicht, houlin oot eh’s han, luckin fur money tae spen on drink. An’, dae ye know, the fool eejit gien’im money, juist tae be redd o’ ’im. Weel oniewie, Tam got redd o’ Mag an’ hir freens. Ah cannae tell ye the richt story, becaz ah heerd sae monie ah dinnae know what yin’s the truth. Ah think maesel eh juist cud taak nae mair, but eh musta daen somethin’ drastic, fur shay wuz yin hizzie wuznae easy skared.
64 Efter this eh steyed close tae hame fur a guid while. Whun eh did gaa oot agane folk wor surprised whun eh started tae frequent the pubs. Mebbe eh thocht eh wuz missin’ oot on somethin’, ah dinnae know. But whativer the raison eh wuznae used tae the drink an’ ye wudda fun ‘im lyin at the side, or whiles in the middle o’ the road an’ had tae cairry ’im hame. Eh started tae get cattered lukin, didnae keep eh’s sel sae clean.
65 Then yin o’ the brither’s sins come hame wi nae warnin an’ steyed wi ’im ower the simmer an’ this seemed tae gie ’im heert. The Meetin’ Hoose folk niver deserted ’im an’ finely eh gien in an’ started tae go tae the Meetin’. Eh didnae go fur lang, ah dinnae know why, but as ah saed, eh wuz quate an’ baakwaard in company an’ mebbe eh thocht some o’ the Meetin’ Hoose yins luked doon on ’im.
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66 Eh wuz gettin oul noo, the blaak hair turned grey, the boodie wuznae sae straicht an soople. Eh cut doon eh’s stock, let oot maist o’ the grun, kep a wheen o’ beese. If eh seen ye on the road noo eh wudda turned an’ went the ither wie or stud in behin a busch.
67 Yin mournin a nighbour wuz oot fotherin beese whun eh happened tae luk ower the dyke. Eh seen what eh thocht wuz a pile o’ raags lyin beside a hie rack, wi twarthie kye stanin roon. Eh jumped ower an’ fun Tam lyin’ stiff an’ deid, half birried in clabber.
68 Nane o’the owerseas yins come tae the funeral. It’s a lang wie fae Manitoba tae Glen Fada. But they did get the money whun the ferm wuz sowl. Eh wuz birried in the wee graveyaird in the middle o’ the fiels, in a guid shiltrie plice at the baak o’ the waa. Iveryboodie saed what a guid boodie eh wuz. Aye, they aa saed, eh niver done onieboodie onie hairm.
69 Glossary: wuznae: wasn’t; ill luckin: ugly; weel luckin: handsome; een: eyes; aaxed: asked; gye an affen: very often; skellied at ye fool luckin: looked furtively at you in a foolish manner; niver got ocht but Tam: was only ever called Tam; ruch loanen: rough lane; neuk: corner; weans: children; grun: land; yin bae yin: one by one; ava: at all, ever; oul hizzie: old woman; wee wheen: small number; beese: cattle; pyed intae the Kirk: gave regular contributions to the (Presbyterian) Church; the Meetin’ Hoose: the (local Presbyterian) church; breid carts; bread carts (mobile grocery stores); kep oot o’ hir road: avoided her; ill tongue: foul mouth; heid: head; cassey: yard of a farmhouse; putting the laa an ye: complaining to the police; leeved: lived; whiles: sometimes; fae: from; gien; gave; no: not; ridd aboot: rode about; wrocht at nithin’: did no work; nerra gavels: narrow gables; Bellamena: Ballymena; to loss: to lose; saa: so; wudda sut: used to sit; foresupper: between the end of the working day and the evening meal; a wee clatter o’ hooses: a small hamlet; shap: shop; wee still: poteen; the wheen o’ pennies: the few pennies; they wor gien; they were given; the guid leevin folk: good living people (church goers); laik a breer tae a sheep’s wull: like a briar to sheep’s wool; lached: laughed; dug: dog; saft: easily taken advantage of; gulpin: idiot; houlin’ oot: holding out; red: rid; hizzie: (young) woman; cattered: worn; fotherin: feeding; twarthrie: some; kye: cows; clabber: mud.
6. Fergie an Freens oan tha Fairm16.
70 One of the most interesting areas in the contemporary revival of interest in Ulster-Scots is involvement in the schools and with young people. Fergie an Freens oan tha Fairm is a very well-designed and amusing children’s book aimed at Key Stage 2 pupils (age 5+). The story is set on a family-run farm in County Antrim.
71 The following translation is provided at the end of the book:
72 “Watch out, John!” shouts William. “That old ram is always cross: best to avoid him!” The angry ram butts John and knocks him into the ditch. Oh no! John is up to his armpits in the mud!
Fergie an Freens oan tha Fairm
73 [Image non convertie]
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7. From: Willie Drennan, “Andy Blair”17.
74 Willie Drennan, with typical gusto, gives a lively re-writing in a local setting, of Burns’ famous poem, “Tam O’Shanter”. According to Drennan: “The similarity with Tam O Shanter is of course deliberate but the poem also partially relates to a story told by my mother, that she got from her mother, of a local man who was often brought home from the pub on a Saturday night by his trusty horse”. Both stories share a certain number of elements: the warmth and conviviality of the pub and the need to return home on horseback across a desolate landscape in a violent storm in the middle of a winter’s night. However, whereas Burns gives us an extremely detailed account of the horrors – and wonders! - Tam sees in Alloway’s Church, Drennan is very allusive about what Andy encounters on the moor. Furthermore, whereas Tam manages to escape the hoard of witches who pursue him as far as the bridge (“A running stream they dare na cross”), Drennan’s hero meets a sadder fate when his horse throws him in panic and dashes his brains out on Slatt Bridge.
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[…] An a wile nicht it wus in thon drink-hoose, wild; night; that Ahoghill’s star turns were aa oot on tha loose. all; out Tha whuskey seen, tha crack wus great, Shair nichts lie thon cudnae be bate. that one; could,'t; beaten Then jist afore tha midnicht oor, Andy taen hissel up an oot tha dorr. Yin happy man, sae pleased wae hissel, He thocht ne’r o deil nor o Hell. never; devil Jist chanted hissell a cantie sang lively An mebbe thon’s jist whaur he gaed wrang. For whan autumn days cum near til an en, An we cral doon intae cowl wunter’s den; It’s a time tae mine aa things sae eerie, Whan days are dour an dreich and drearie. bleak; tedious; dismal Andy lep ontae his horse an gien oot a gowl, lept; gave; shout An that cheered Meg wha had stud sae cowl, so; cold An aff went tha pair boon for hame, off; bound; home Tha road the’d cum, the’ taen tha same. Quack doon tha road Meg did thunner, down Leukin hame nae doot, an nae wunner; no; doubt For thon nicht hae, if wus sair cowl, that; night; (interjection) indeed; very; cold Tha wun it blaa’d wae ang’rt scowl, wind; blew; with But abain it aa Andy wus fit tae hear, above; all; able Anither soon at brung him fear, sound; brought He stap’t his horse wae a tug An lissened canny wae his lug, carefully; ear An heerd yins hoochin oot an lauchin, people; shouting loudly; laughing An thocht he heerd a fiddle scraichin. thought; shrieking Ay, fae mid tha moss cum wile narration, from; came; terrible noise and uproar Eerie, as if fae Hell’s damnation. It maun a gien Andy sic a fricht, must have given; such; fright He shud a rid fur hame wae aa his micht. But wae drink in him he didnae care An shair there wus nane mair boul nor Blair. none; more; intrepid He taen his mare alang tha rodden, took; along; path (esp. into a moss) Whaur gye an affen tha horse had trodden; quite often For in thon moss Andy cut his peat, But somethin odd that nicht did he meet, At shuk him richt tae his very guts, An feart him richt oot o his wuts wits For soon bak oot tha rodden reuch rough Cum horse an Andy wae sic a seuch; rush of air Fleein nae doot fae tha hemmers o Hell, doubt; hammers But Andy ne’r leeved tha tale tae tell, lived He ne’r gat ayont tha brig that nicht. goy; beyond; bridge An the’ say if wus sic a desperate sicht, sight Tha frichten’t horse lep intae tha air, An coup’t, tha naw sae boul, Andy Blair. threw (from horse) Wha throo tha air did fairly flee, fly An doon, heid first he div tae dee. die Ay, on Slatt Brig he’d sair hut his heid bridge; hit; head An sae Andy Blair lay doon stane deid; stone dead An folk, the’ say he wus lucky eneuch enough Étudesif he’d irlandaises, leeved it’d 38-2 been | 2013 e’en mair reuch, even worse For Meg she leeved tha tale tae tell - Til tha en o her days she feart fur Hell. Ay whan autumn days cum near til an en, end An we cral doon intae cowl wuntèr’s den; cold 163
8. James Fenton, On Slaimish18.
75 James Fenton is without doubt one of the most significant poets to have written in Ulster-Scots. He has an intimate knowledge of the language and the community it springs from. The following two poems illustrate something of the intensity that he can reach in what he calls the “hamely tongue”19. “Jeerin the jum” is a particularly tight piece centred on the vicious mockery that an obese local woman who loses her only child suffers at the hands of the local community. “A Nighber Wumman”, a poem about isolation and mental breakdown, is typical of Fenton’s ability to blur the reader’s capacity to define content, generating a feeling of deep unease in the most banal of settings. In accordance with the wishes of the author, no glossary has been provided for these poems.
9. Dan Gordon, The Boat Factory20.
76 The Boat Factory is one of a series of 6 plays for young people by Dan Gordon – the “Pat & Plain series” - commissioned by the Ulster-Scots Agency and destined to be used in performance in primary schools.21 The extract below focuses on one of the major sites of Northern Ireland’s industrial heritage, the Harland and Wolff shipyards. The main theme in the passage is again initiation, in this case into the world of work. Willie McCandless, the main character, is the 14- year old apprentice, being introduced into the vast community of shipyard workers – some 35000 in the late 1950s when the play is set. On his first day as an apprentice, Tucker takes him up on to the top of the Arrol Gantry, a huge steel structure built in 1908 that dominated the Belfast shipyards until the 1960s, before being replaced by the now iconic Samson and Goliath cranes. Once on top, Tucker offers Willie a new perspective on his native Belfast. From this vantage point at the heart of the industrial North – one significantly designed and constructed by the Scottish engineer, Sir William Arrol – Willie suddenly realises he can see from “the Mourne Mountains away to the South” right over to Scotland. What he is being shown is an entire cultural province, one that, significantly, goes beyond the island frame and straddles the North Channel along an east-west axis. So the young initiate is being shown not only where to look, but also how to look, how to see himself, his position in the world - in geographical, social and cultural terms. As Willie’s guide says: “they’re all Shipyard men. And now that you’ve climbed to the top of the Arrol Gantry – so are you!”
Scene 8: the Arrol Gantry
77 The boys begin a climbing sequence – they mime a climb, which is accompanied by music or a soundscape of shipyard workers shouting, hammering and working. Some of the cast might have seagulls on long sticks. They fly them and make cawing sounds around the boys as they climb.
78 TUCKER: (shouting) ‘Bout ye boys –.
79 FOREMAN 1: (from a distance) Youse uns alright up there?
80 TUCKER: (shouting) Aye we’re dead on.
81 Tucker stands upright while Willie clings on, sitting.
82 WILLIE: I should have wore a pair of gutties - these boots are too heavy for climbing.
83 (sees around) Oh it’s high up here - I think I’m going to be sick.
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84 TUCKER: Not at all, don’t be such a big Jinnie Anne, up here is the best view in the whole shipyard.
85 WILLIE: Why do they call this the Arrol Gantry?
86 TUCKER: (Scottish accent) Sir William Arrol and Company, of Glasgow, put up this big frame so they could build the Olympic and the Titanic underneath it – it’s near nine hundred feet long and it’s –
87 Shouting to Foreman 1 at the back of the hall.
88 Hey boy? How high up are we?
89 FOREMAN 1: What? What do you say son?
90 TUCKER: I said how far up are we?
91 FOREMAN 1: Two hundred and twenty foot.
92 TUCKER: Two hundred and twenty feet up – it was the biggest in the world. It was the same crowd built the Forth Rail Bridge. They’re never done painting that either.
93 WILLIE: I hate heights. Why did I ever let you bring me up here?
94 TUCKER: You’ll be alright in a minute - you’ve a grip on that gantry like a butcher’s dog. I love it up here. Look, there it all is before us – Belfast Shipyard.
95 WILLIE: I can’t look - it’s too scary.
96 TUCKER: You’ll be alright. Start in the distance – look at the horizon – that’s what the crane drivers do - then work back. Start at the Mourne Mountains away to the South – see them?
97 WILLIE: Yes! Yes I can, is that where they are?
98 TUCKER: Alright now turn your head to the other side – see the Cavehill to the North? – Look, you can see wee men walking up on the top against the skyline.
99 WILLIE: Yes, I see them.
100 TUCKER: Look to the right – you can see our part of Belfast – the East where the wise men come from – St Mark’s church spire and St Donard’s and St Matthew’s Chapel – you can see the Ropeworks and Gallaher’s cigarette factory where my Ma works. There’s Inglis’ biscuits and the Oval Football Ground and there’s the roof of our old school in Mersey Street.
101 WILLIE: It all looks so tiny - wee, like a picture postcard.
102 TUCKER: Right, now take a breath and look straight ahead right down the Victoria Channel past Belfast Lough.
103 WILLIE: (excited) Boys o - I can see Scotland.
104 TUCKER: Now bring your eye back up Belfast Lough and look down around us – alright?
105 WILLIE: Alright – oh!
106 TUCKER: It’s alright, you’re fine. Now what do you see?
107 WILLIE: I can’t see anything.
108 TUCKER: You will if you open your eyes. Here maybe this’ll help ye – (grabs him)
109 WILLIE: Ah mammy! Don’t Tucker – let me go, you’ll knock me off.
110 TUCKER: Well open your eyes and tell me what you see.
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111 WILLIE: Alright they’re open, they’re open – I can see the Clarence and Alexandra works, the slips below in the Victoria Yard, the Graving Dock, the fitting out docks and the Thompson Dock. I can see stagers building scaffolding and the steam cranes on the tracks pulling steel plates over to the Abercorn yard.
112 TUCKER: What else?
113 WILLIE: The foundry, the aircraft stores, the Musgrave channel, the boiler shops and the engine shops.
114 TUCKER: Good. Look at it down there Willie – look at them, there’s thousands of workers down there like ants in cloth caps – ating their pieces with jam and drinking cans of tay – they’re playing footie – or gambling – there’s card schools and holy choirs – there’s arguments and rows, there’s fights over the colour of the paint on the boat and the size of the fish somebody caught in the dock –but when the siren sounds they’re all Shipyard men. And now that you’ve climbed to the top of the Arrol Gantry – so are you!
115 The workers are silently coming to life and slowly beginning to work again. A seagull flies overhead. Willie clutches his head - it has pooped on him!
116 WILLIE: Ah yuck – look what that seagull just did on my head.
117 TUCKER: That’s supposed to be Lucky.
118 WILLIE: It’s minging!
119 TUCKER: No Willie, that’s your new name – Lucky - that’s what we’ll call you from now on - Lucky McCandless.
120 They laugh – Tucker slaps Willie on the back and Willie pretends to fall and scares Tucker – Tucker realises the joke and laughs too.
10. Philip Robinson, “Ayont the knowes”22.
121 Philip Robinson has been one of the most prolific and significant writers of the Ulster-Scots revival. He has published several novels23 and two books of poetry 24 as well as being actively involved in personal and collective projects translating religious texts into Ulster-Scots. The following poem illustrates a number of the themes that come out strongly throughout this considerable body of work: the intense connection with a (quasi-sacred) local landscape, religion and the afterlife, memory and the constant interplay between the present and the past, and the conviction that this dialogue has an on-going collective cultural significance.
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beyond; (small round) hills “Ayont the knowes” over there; that Ayont thonner an thon. behind; holy Ahint tha halie knowes. A plunnèr through a lan o draims, search; dreams Tae fin, find Whaur hairtsome gledness growes.
Abane aa thochts o threaps, above; all; thoughts; quarrels Amang tha leevin past, among; living A lan o leevin mem'ries bricht, Oul times, New catched, micht langer last.
Atween tha nicht an day. between Awa fae wun an rain. from; wind Afore tha weechil in me growes, young boy An lees leaves Me coul an haird as stane. Cold; hard
Awa fae wechtie cares, Ayont sich warldlie hell, such Tha hamely lan is haird tae fin, homely; land No lake not; like Tha yin we big oorsel. one; build; ourselves
Amang tha hairtsome crack. Aroon tha apen hearth. open “Ye niver know tha minute, hae”, Quo he, said A freen lang deid on earth. friend; dead
A place A knowed sae weel, knew A heerd tha hamely tongue. Sich sichts an soons fae lang ago, (= Ulster-Scots) Gars me Hae mind o whut A fun. makes remember; found Ayont thonner an thon, A cudnae thole it lee, Tha mair thon lan's ahint tha veil, couldn’t; bear to leave it (part) A'll hunt, although Fur mair afore A dee. for; more; before; die
11. John Erskine, “Tha Merle bi Lagan’s Loch”25.
122 Erskine’s “paraphrase” of the famous text in Old Irish26 is of particular significance not only in itself but also as it shows how interesting things can become when there is cross-fertilisation between the traditions in the north of Ireland.
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123 An Ulster-Scots paraphrase from the eighth-century Irish
Tha Merle bi Lagan’s Loch
Tha bricht wee burd haes wheeple’t furth Whistled an airra frae arrow a yella neb; yellow ; beak
blythe, skails its sang scatters owre Lagan’s Loch: over a merle, atap blackbird; on top of a yella whun. whin
NOTES
1. A number of sources have been used to prepare the glossaries accompanying the selected texts, notably: James Fenton, The Hamely Tongue [1995], n.p., The Ullans Press, 2006; Philip Robinson, English/Ulster-Scots Glossary: A Core Vocabulary Wordlist with Verb Tables, n.p., The Ullans Press, 2012; and Mairi Robinson (ed.), The Concise Scots Dictionary [1985], Edinburgh, Chambers, 1996. I would also like to thank Anne Smyth and Ivan Herbison for their most useful remarks on some of the terms. 2. James Orr, “The Wanderer”, Poems on Various Subjects, Belfast, Smyth and Lyons, 1804, p. 151. 3. Thomas Beggs, “The Auld Wife’s Address to Her Spinning Wheel”, The Poetical Works of Thomas Beggs, Ballyclare [1867], p. 14-17. 4. See John Hewitt, Rhyming Weavers and other Country Poets of Antrim and Down, Belfast, Blackstaff Press, 1974. A new edition of this book, with a foreword by Tom Paulin was published by Blackstaff in 2004. 5. See for example : Amber Adams and J.R.R. Adams (ed.), The Country Rhymes of Hugh Porter: The Bard of Moneyslane, Bangor, Pretani Press, 1992. 6. See, for example, David Herbison, “The Auld Wife’s Lament for her Teapot”, especially the concluding four verses, “The Irish Widow’s Lament”, or “My Ain Native Toun”, in The Select Works of David Herbison, Belfast, William Mullan and Son; Ballymena, John Weir and Moses Erwin; Londonderry, John Hempton, 1883 (?), p. 45, p. 48 & p. 305-308. 7. See, for example, Edward L. Sloan, “The Weaver’s Triumph”, The Bard’s Offering: A Collection of Miscellaneous Poems, Belfast, 1854, p. 73-74. 8. Gleanings frae Ballyboley Braes. Career of the Freebooters Ohaughin, and Poems, by the Late Samuel Turner, N. School-teacher, Ballcorr, Ballyclare, Ballymena, Observer, [1917?], p. 5.
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9. See Pádraigín Ní Uallacáin, A Hidden Ulster: People, Songs and Traditions of Oriel, Dublin, Four Courts, 2003. 10. See Jeanne Favret-Saada, Les mots, la mort, les sorts, Paris, Gallimard, 1977. 11. Archibald McIlroy, The Auld Meetin’-Hoose Green, Belfast, McCaw, Stevenson & Orr Ltd. 1898, p. 213-217. The Ullans Press produced a reprint of this text in 2011 as part of the “Ulster-Scots Classics” series. The new edition includes a Foreword by Derek Rowlinson, an Introduction by Dr Crawford Gribben, and a linguistic analysis by the editor, Anne Smyth. 12. Archibald McIlroy, The Humour of Druid’s Island, Dublin, Hodges, Figgis & Co. Ltd.; Belfast W. Mullan & Son, 1902, p. 32-33. This passage appeared in the first issue of Ullans, Spring 1993, p. 23, under the title “Dolly McQuoit”. 13. This story was originally published in Ullans, N° 9 & 10, Wunter 2004, p. 138-140. The author has changed some of the spellings and has also made some minor alterations to the text. 14. Hugh Robinson, Across the Fields of Yesterday, Belfast, The Ullans Press, 1999. 15. W. F. Marshall, Livin’ in Drumlister: The Collected Ballads and Verses of W.F. Marshall, ‘The Bard of Tyrone’ [1983], Belfast, The Blackstaff Press, 1996, p. 33. 16. Fergie an Freens oan tha Fairm, Belfast, Ulster-Scots Community Network, 2011. Text by Matthew Warwick, Illustrations by Louis Humphrey. The complete text, with accompanying translation, is available as a free download at : http://www.ulster- scots.com/uploads/USCNFergieanFreens.pdf 17. Willie Drennan, “Andy Blair”, Wee Book, The Ullans Press, 2004, p. 50-52. 18. James Fenton, On Slaimish, n.p., The Ullans Press, 2009, p. 26 & p. 27. 19. See James Fenton, The Hamely Tongue: A Personal Record of Ulster-Scots in County Antrim [1995], The Ullans Press, 2006. 20. Dan Gordon, The Boat Factory, Belfast, The Ulster-Scots Agency, 2009, p. 28-31. 21. See http://www.ulsterscotsagency.com/news/article/79/pat-and-plain-drama- project-wins-uk-wide-cultural-diversity-award/ 22. Philip Robinson, “Ayont the knowes”, Alang tha Shore, The Ullans Press, 2005, p. 16-17. 23. Wake the Tribe o Dan (1998), The Back Streets o the Claw (2000), The Man Frae the Ministry (2005) and The Old Orange Tree (2009), all published by the Ullans Press. 24. Alang tha Shore, Ulster-Scots Living Writers Series, Vol. 5, n.p., The Ullans Press, 2005, and Oul Licht, New Licht, n.p., The Ullans Press, 2009. 25. John Erskine, “Tha Merle bi Lagan’s Loch”, Ullans, N°12, Wunter 2011, p. 19. 26. For the text of the poem in the original Irish and English, see “An Lon Dubh” (trans. David Greene and Frank O’Connor), in Malcolm Maclean and Theo Dorgan (eds.), An Leabhar Mòr, The Great Book of Gaelic, Edinburgh, Canongate Books, 2002, p. 36-37.
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AUTHOR
WESLEY HUTCHINSON
Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3
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Comptes rendus de lecture Book Reviews
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(Lecture de) Synge and Edwardian Ireland
Hélène Lecossois
RÉFÉRENCE
Brian Cliff and Nicholas Grene (eds.), Synge and Edwardian Ireland, Oxford, New York, Oxford University Press, 2012, 257 p., ISBN 978-0-19-960988-8.
1 L’ouvrage codirigé par Brian Cliff et Nicholas Grene met en relation l’œuvre de J. M. Synge avec des aspects souvent peu étudiés de la vie culturelle irlandaise de l’époque edwardienne : musique, music hall, mouvement « arts and crafts », naissance du vedettariat… Le choix du contexte historique et culturel (1901-1910) est intéressant en ce qu’il met en lumière une période souvent ignorée : l’ère edwardienne est en effet fréquemment présentée comme transitoire du côté britannique et généralement occultée par la lutte pour l’indépendance du côté irlandais. Le choix du contexte est intéressant aussi parce qu’il coïncide avec la courte carrière de Synge et sa mort prématurée en 1909.
2 Synge and Edwardian Ireland est préfacé par Roy Foster. L’ouvrage comprend une introduction par Brian Cliff et Nicholas Grene, treize chapitres répartis en deux parties, une bibliographie générale et un index. À noter également la présence de nombreuses illustrations, en particulier la reproduction de photographies prises par J. M. Synge ou John Joseph Clarke et d’illustrations signées par Harry Clarke ou Jack B. Yeats. La première partie de l’ouvrage se concentre sur divers aspects de la vie culturelle irlandaise de l’époque edwardienne : technologie, vedettariat, théâtre, musique. La seconde partie met davantage l’accent sur l’œuvre de Synge elle-même. Le livre s’ouvre par une mise en relation de l’œuvre avec les écrits de G. Moore, W. B. Yeats ou J. Joyce (Terence Brown) et se clôt par une réflexion sur les traces qu’elle a laissées dans celle de Joyce (Anne Fogarty).
3 On peut regretter la place relativement réduite consacrée à l’analyse de l’œuvre de Synge à proprement parler. Le titre de l’ouvrage est en cela légèrement trompeur. Il
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s’agit en effet plus d’une histoire culturelle de l’Irlande edwardienne que d’une lecture de l’œuvre syngienne. On regrette surtout la quasi-absence d’étude sur le genre dans lequel Synge excella : le théâtre. Seul l’article d’Adrien Frazier lui est véritablement dédié et propose une histoire richement documentée du théâtre edwardien. Parmi les chapitres portant sur l’œuvre de Synge, signalons celui que signe Justin Carville, « With His Mind-Guided Camera ». Carville se penche sur un aspect assez peu connu de l’œuvre : la photographie. Il analyse brillamment le rôle que Synge joua dans l’émergence d’une culture visuelle typique de la modernité. Le chapitre entre en résonance avec celui que consacre David Fitzpatrick au rapport ambigu que Synge entretenait avec la modernité, qu’il étudie à travers une lecture détaillée de The Aran Islands. P. J. Mathews met en lumière l’influence des sciences sociales, de l’école française de géographie en particulier, sur l’écriture de Synge. Anne Markey se livre, à la suite de Declan Kiberd et d’autres, à une comparaison de Synge et de Patrick Pearse et de leur intérêt pour le folklore. Elle insiste sur leurs divergences qu’elle resitue dans le débat faisant rage à l’époque quant à la nature et à la signification du folklore et des croyances populaires. Nicholas Allen trace les contours d’une géographie textuelle reliant l’écriture syngienne à la presse populaire, au roman anglais du XVIIIe siècle, à la littérature européenne et voit l’écriture et la lecture (souvent occultées par l’oralité) comme des piliers de l’œuvre de Synge.
4 Dans la première partie de l’ouvrage, Lucy McDiarmid propose une réflexion pétillante sur la naissance du culte des célébrités dans le Dublin du tournant du siècle. Chris Morash se penche sur l’impact des nouvelles technologies de l’époque (machine à écrire, télégraphe, etc.) sur la perception, et la traduction en termes littéraires et théâtraux de la temporalité, devenue plus fluide que linéaire. Nicola Gordon Bowe met l’accent sur les arts visuels et livre les fruits d’une recherche très fouillée sur le rôle clé que joua la Société irlandaise des Arts et de l’Artisanat dans la construction de l’identité irlandaise durant les deux décennies précédant l’indépendance. Harry White dresse un panorama du paysage musical dublinois du début de l’époque edwardienne pour faire la lumière sur la formation artistique de Synge et les raisons qui l’ont poussé à délaisser la musique et à se tourner vers la littérature et le théâtre. Julie Anne Stevens propose une étude comparée originale des nouvelles d’Edith Somerville et Martin Ross et des chansons de Percy French. Elle lit, de façon très convaincante, leur recours à la métaphore animale comme une critique satirique de l’hypocrisie de la nouvelle élite catholique.
5 L’ouvrage est d’excellente facture et propose une lecture pluridisciplinaire de l’histoire culturelle de l’Irlande edwardienne qui permet de jeter un éclairage nouveau sur le contexte dans lequel est née l’œuvre de J. M. Synge. Les articles sont richement documentés et représentent une précieuse source d’information pour les chercheurs travaillant sur l’Irlande du début du XXe siècle.
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AUTEURS
HÉLÈNE LECOSSOIS
Université du Mans
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(Lecture de) Community Politics and the Peace Process in Contemporary Northern Irish Drama
Hélène Alfaro-Hamayon
RÉFÉRENCE
Eva Urban, Community Politics and the Peace Process in Contemporary Northern Irish Drama, Oxford, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt am Main, New York, Wien, Peter Lang, 2011, ISBN 978-3-0343-0143-5.
1 Eva Urban, spécialiste en études théâtrales, a choisi de s’intéresser plus particulièrement au théâtre politique et à l’espace théâtral en tant qu’espace utopique – laboratoire d’idées et de formes où peut surgir une infinité de possibles. Auteur d’une thèse sur identité et communauté dans le théâtre nord-irlandais contemporain (2008), elle entreprend ici, dans un ouvrage solidement étayé d’un point de vue théorique et critique, de mettre en lumière le regard politique que portent sur le conflit et le processus de paix un ensemble de dramaturges nord-irlandais contemporains.
2 À travers l’analyse détaillée d’un corpus constitué d’une quinzaine de pièces, des années 1970 à nos jours, elle décortique la manière dont ce regard se traduit artistiquement. Appréhendé dans sa dimension politique dans un contexte nord- irlandais souvent tendu et violent, le théâtre est envisagé comme « force à l’œuvre » capable de nourrir et de renouveler le débat. Un des apports de cet ouvrage est sans nul doute la manière dont l’auteur met en relief la richesse des stratégies déployées : déconstruction des mythes fabriqués (voir le chapitre 3 consacré aux Ulster Plays de Frank McGuinness), dénonciation du caractère anti-démocratique de la lutte (analyse des pièces de Tim Loane chapitre 4), mise en scène de l’instrumentalisation du discours communautaire à des fins personnelles.
3 Convaincue du lien ontologique entre changement et imagination, Urban explore les pièces du corpus à travers le prisme de l’utopie qu’elle définit ainsi : « The term ‘utopia’ is
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not used in the present study as an idea of perfection, but as an aspiration to change […] » (p. 14). Fil conducteur de l’étude proposée, ce parti pris permet à l’auteur de rassembler des pièces reflétant des choix divers et des pratiques variées (tradition du théâtre épique et distanciation brechtienne [chapitre 1]), théâtre de la cruauté, farce et satire politique (chapitre 4), ateliers interactifs de la compagnie Sole Purpose, théâtre communautaire participatif (The Wedding Community Play). Il faut noter que certaines pièces (We Do It for Love de Patrick Galvin (1975), Translations de Brian Friel (1980) ou encore Northern Star de Stewart Parker (1984)) furent écrites bien avant que ne débute le processus de paix politique. Ainsi, l’ambition de l’auteur, annoncée dans l’introduction (p. 31), est-elle de démontrer l’existence, dès les années 70, d’une communauté de dramaturges dont la capacité à bousculer le « prêt-à-penser communautaire » et à transcender une vision binaire de la société nord-irlandaise constitue le dénominateur commun.
4 Composé de six chapitres organisés selon un mode thématique, l’ouvrage dresse un tableau vivant de la scène théâtrale nord-irlandaise. Chaque chapitre se déroule selon un schéma identique: présentation rapide du contexte de production, analyse textuelle fouillée, décryptage précis des procédés théâtraux mis en œuvre. Outre qu’elle témoigne d’une connaissance fine du corpus, l’abondance des exemples tirés des pièces – loin d’alourdir la lecture de l’ouvrage – la rend plus agréable, offrant un contrepoint dynamique aux développements plus théoriques sur la méta-théâtralité. Si l’auteur prend soin de présenter le contexte immédiat de production des pièces, le lecteur regrettera parfois, puisque le projet initial est de mettre en relief la manière dont le théâtre participe à l’émergence d’une société pluraliste, que davantage d’espace ne soit consacré aux stratégies de construction de la paix, notamment dans le champ culturel et artistique. Celles-ci furent mises en place par le gouvernement britannique dès la fin des années 1980 et par l’Europe dans le cadre des programmes européens pour la paix au milieu des années 1990. Cette réserve concerne plus précisément la dernière partie de l’ouvrage (chapitres 5 et 6) où une telle mise en perspective permettrait de mieux saisir la complexité des enjeux du processus de paix et les difficultés de sa mise en œuvre. Dans le chapitre 5, par exemple, Eva Urban fait allusion au « processus de négociation entre les identités culturelles » (p. 203) sans mener plus avant la réflexion. De la même manière, l’étude de The Wedding Community Play (1999), aurait gagné à être replacée dans un contexte plus large.
5 Nonobstant ces quelques remarques, le présent ouvrage n’en demeure pas moins riche et stimulant, notamment lorsqu’il traite des aspects les plus subversifs de ce théâtre politique : mise à nu du cynisme des « jusqu’aux-boutistes » et de leur opportunisme, dénonciation du contrôle qu’exercent au sein des communautés des maîtres « auto- proclamés ».
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AUTEURS
HÉLÈNE ALFARO-HAMAYON UPEC
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(Lecture de) Art in Ireland since 1910
Alexandra Slaby
RÉFÉRENCE
Fionna Barber, Art in Ireland since 1910, London, Reaktion Books, 2013, ISBN 978-1-78023-036-8.
1 The first history spanning the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st, this richly illustrated (266 ill., 222 in colour), indeed superb volume is a very welcome, long- awaited contribution to Irish art historiography. It is also the first substantial attempt at contextualizing developments in Irish artistic practice against a background of political and social change in relation to issues of nation-building and modernization. So far, Irish art histories had offered either a formalist appreciation of art disconnected from its context, or a contextualized but selective survey; or they stopped mid-century, concentrated on the Republic, or did not take into account the Irish Diaspora. To those first endeavours, Fionna Barber, Principal Lecturer in Contextual Studies at Manchester Metropolitan University, has not only added a few decades of art history, but has also brought her own approach combining pedagogically presented elements of context with an elegant, meticulous yet highly readable style. The result is an illuminating overview which makes the history of Irish art fully intelligible not only by Irish Studies scholars but also by a general readership wishing to familiarize itself better with Irish culture.
2 Situating her project within debates arising in art criticism and Irish Studies at the turn of the new millennium and calling on Irish art historiography to further explore the political and social underpinnings of Irish culture, Fionna Barber sets out to analyse the forces informing subject and representational choices in Irish art across the century: nation-building and modernity and their impact on the relationship to time and space, the awakening to body and gender issues, and the experience of emigration.
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3 She takes us from London artists Paul and Grace Henry’s painting holiday on Achill Island in the summer of 1910 through the creation of a new imagery in the independent state combining visual constructions of a archaic ethnicity and attempts at socialist realism Irish style, through nostalgic expressionism, the exposure to continental influences during the Emergency, the increasing concern with the urban, down to the neo-expressionist representation of gender politics, the interrogation of the nationalist narrative and the latest postmodernist experimentations of artists in post-Tiger Ireland or hailing from Diasporic shores.
4 Throughout her eleven chronological chapters, the author compares visual constructions of identity in the Republic and in Northern Ireland. What form can art take in a conflict-ridden society concerned for the almost the whole century with its mere physical survival? To what extent are artists compelled to represent the conflict and its effects on individuals and communities, or on the contrary are moved to escape with their easels to an idealized arcadia? What differences between North and South in the engagement with modernism? The answers are in this book which can also be read as a visual chronicle of British-Irish relations.
5 While readers are initiated to the works of famous and lesser-known artists and taken through epoch-defining exhibitions, they are also constantly reminded of the social issues at work in artistic practice – the differing backgrounds of Anglo-Irish and Irish painters, urbanization and the changing perception of the west, a highly gendered artistic practice and its stylistic repercussions.
6 We all wished this book existed, and here it is. It will no doubt encourage further research on the critical power of art in times of moral and political crisis, or the visual politics of commemoration as we enter a decade of historic anniversaries. More work needs to be carried out in the field of sculpture and architecture using Fionna Barber’s contextual approach. This book could also provide an opportunity to engage in a comparative study of the way art, music and literature have engaged with modernism and postmodernism in Ireland. For the time being however, as the most important contribution to date to the understanding and appreciation of Irish art, it will no doubt soon find its place among the reference books on the shelves of all Irish Studies scholars.
AUTEURS
ALEXANDRA SLABY
Université de Caen-Basse Normandie
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(Lecture de) Your Place or Mine ?
Marjorie Deleuze
RÉFÉRENCE
Ethel Crowley, Your Place or Mine? Community and Belonging in 21st Century Ireland, Dublin, Orpen Press, 2013, 307 p., ISBN 978-1-871305-98-2.
1 “A very inebriated young male student was curled up in a foetal ball of Mammy-knit jumper and raggedy-arsed jeans on the footpath outside Cork’s famous Lennox’s chip shop. To test his lucidity, and to check whether I needed to call him an ambulance, I crouched down and asked him the question, “Where are you from?’” From his compromised position on the pavement, and from the depths of his drunken consciousness, he answered, “Well, I’m from Clare originally, actually, but I’m staying with my friend on College Road.”
2 Sur cette note anecdotique, caractérisant à vrai dire l’ensemble de l’ouvrage, s’ouvre Your place or Mine? Community and Belonging in 21st century Ireland d’Ethel Crowley. Entre expériences personnelles empreintes d’humour et analyses sociologiques, l’auteure nous emmène à la rencontre de la société irlandaise du XXIe siècle. Afin d’explorer les sens d’appartenance et d’identité, elle aborde tout d’abord les concepts de comfort zone, de home sweet home, remis en question par la crise immobilière, mais aussi la ‘redécouverte du rustique’ et la dichotomie culchies/townies. La communauté, en tant que lieu d’attachement, mais aussi en tant que groupe social d’appartenance, est examinée dans son second chapitre. La nécessité de se connecter aux autres, à travers sa religion, son orientation sexuelle, son appartenance ethnique ou simplement la pratique d’un sport, contribue à tisser des liens identitaires forts et à créer un cadre rassurant. L’hypothèse d’E. Crowley défie en quelque sorte l’idée reçue de la montée de l’individualisme annihilant le ‘sens de communauté’. Elle perçoit ici davantage la communauté comme un processus renouvelé en permanence qu’un état ‘statique et idéalisé’ fixé dans un cadre immuable. Sa troisième partie est consacrée à la mondialisation et sa conséquente homogénéisation des cultures. Elle y analyse leurs effets sur la perception d’appartenance au monde et notamment sur le sentiment d’aliénation engendré par les nouvelles technologies bouleversant nos rapports à
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l’Autre. Le processus de formation identitaire, d’‘identification’, est également abordé. Il s’agit ici de comprendre de quelle manière nous mettons en scène notre identité, à travers le langage que nous choisissons d’employer, les vêtements que nous portons, notre comportement en société… La sociologue pose à cette occasion la question de l’influence de la sécularisation sur la vie et les comportements sexuels de la population irlandaise. Elle insiste dans son cinquième chapitre sur les formes d’hybridité culturelle, conséquence directe des schémas de migrations remodelant la société actuelle. Le multiculturalisme est perçu comme vecteur de nouvelles opportunités et d’ouverture au monde. Les roots dont nous sommes issus doivent s’accommoder des routes que nous choisissons d’emprunter. Aussi défend-elle dans un dernier point l’idée que le cosmopolitisme n’est pas une notion élitiste, mais un choix de vie à la portée de tous. Portrait d’une Irlande en transition toujours ancrée dans des traditions communautaires fortes et pourtant résolument moderne, ce livre, en dépit de son ton parfois léger, dépasse l’évidence et analyse en profondeur les interactions entre le ‘local’ et le ‘global’. Si le genre peut surprendre, Ethel Crowley signe là un ouvrage habilement illustré qui comble un vide évident dans le domaine de la recherche sociologique contemporaine en Irlande.
AUTEURS
MARJORIE DELEUZE
Trinity College Dublin
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(Lecture de) Ireland Through European Eyes : Western Europe, the EEC and Ireland, 1945-1973
Marjorie Deleuze
RÉFÉRENCE
Mervyn O’Driscoll, Dermot Keogh et Jérôme Aan de Wiel (eds.), Ireland Through European Eyes: Western Europe, the EEC and Ireland, 1945-1973, Cork, Cork University Press, 2013, 478 p., ISBN 978-1-85918-464-6.
1 À la croisée des sciences politiques et de l’histoire européenne, Ireland Through European Eyes offre une perspective unique sur l’Irlande de la période 1945-1973. Cet ouvrage remarquable décrypte les regards portés par les six acteurs des politiques fondatrices d’une Europe en construction sur une Irlande neutre et indépendante en quête d’intégration et de reconnaissance internationale. Les archives officielles et diplomatiques d’Irlande, de France, d’Italie, de RFA et du Bénélux ont été épluchées minutieusement pour aboutir à une synthèse de 478 pages, un travail d’équipe impressionnant et extrêmement renseigné. Prenant toujours soin de souligner les interactions historiques entre pays, les auteurs nous invitent dans les coulisses d’une Europe d’après-guerre, au cœur de laquelle se fomentent des alliances politiques stratégiques.
2 Qu’il soit ici question de l’héritage chrétien laissé par les moines irlandais sur le continent, de l’accueil qui fut dispensé à Rome à Hugh O’Neill en fuite, des poèmes de Thomas Moore mis en musique par Beethoven, ou encore du rôle essentiel que jouèrent les érudits allemands dans le développement et la promotion des études celtiques, les liens transnationaux et interculturels établis entre l’Irlande et ses futurs partenaires européens au fil des siècles ont souvent été mis en avant pour justifier son accession à la CEE. Ces « relations privilégiées » se ternirent cependant au tournant de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale.
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3 La neutralité irlandaise lui valut la réputation d’être pro-allemande, une idée accentuée par la bévue diplomatique de de Valera présentant à Hempel ses condoléances à l’occasion de la mort d’Hitler en mai 1945. Bonn exprima ses divergences à l’égard du conservatisme politico-religieux irlandais dans les années qui suivirent, la comparaison entre la partition allemande et la partition irlandaise l’embarrassait également car il ne s’agissait surtout pas de froisser le partenaire économique britannique. De son côté, l’Irlande percevait les échanges commerciaux avec la RFA comme peu favorables à son égard et exprimait son total désaccord avec la politique nucléaire française. L’entraînement militaire de pilotes de la marine néerlandaise sur le territoire nord- irlandais, sous les auspices de l’OTAN, fut également au cœur d’une crise diplomatique. Non-adhésion à l’OTAN, irrédentisme, introversion, protectionnisme économique ainsi qu’une trop grande dépendance vis-à-vis de la Grande Bretagne, lui valurent les vétos de de Gaulle en dépit du soutien indéfectible de la RFA et du Bénélux. Les années 1960 changèrent la donne et ouvrirent la voie à l’intégration européenne: un boom économique sans précédent, l’implantation d’entreprises étrangères, un tourisme émergent avec la Lufthansa et ses vols transatlantiques passant par Shannon…
4 Cet ouvrage collectif, dédiant un chapitre à chaque pays, passionnera les chercheurs en études irlandaises et européennes qui s’adonneront aux jeux des connexions et des rapprochements sur fond d’intrigues diplomatiques aujourd’hui dévoilées.
AUTEURS
MARJORIE DELEUZE
Trinity College Dublin
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(Lecture de) A History of Ireland in 100 Objects
Marjorie Deleuze
RÉFÉRENCE
Fintan O’Toole, A History of Ireland in 100 Objects, Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 2013, 238 p., ISBN 978-1-908996-15-2.
1 Sous le parrainage de la Royal Irish Academy et du National Museum of Ireland, l’éditeur littéraire et polémiste de l’Irish Times a rassemblé dans cet ouvrage 100 objets sélectionnés pour leur capacité à « illuminer des instants de changement, de développement ou de crise ». La culture matérielle prend ici vie, chaque objet renait sous l’œil contemporain, conte ses tribulations, ainsi que les gloires et malheurs des hommes qui l’ont côtoyé. Au risque d’exposer une histoire mythifiée, figée et fantasmée par la représentation qu’en reflète l’objet, Fintan O’Toole a voulu offrir à ses lecteurs la possibilité de « s’immerger dans des expériences ». Ces quelques « tout petits fragments de vie » fournissent de concrètes illustrations au passé et nous projettent dans des dimensions culturelles, phénoménologiques ou encore spirituelles à redécouvrir.
2 Message de réconciliation implicite, ce livre s’ouvre sur un piège à poissons du Mésolithique symbolisant l’émergence d’un peuple, sa survie, mais aussi la nécessité d’une cohésion communautaire, et s’achève sur cette AK47, une kalachnikov bien silencieuse sur sa page blanche, déposée par l’IRA en 2005 pour une promesse de paix et d’entente entre communautés. Il met en lumière le raffinement, la dextérité et la complexité des arts ornementaux à l’irlandaise, depuis les sublimes bijoux en or de l’Age de Bronze, en passant par l’enluminure médiévale, jusqu’aux majestueux objets d’art de la chrétienté. Illustrant l’imagerie populaire d’une île aux contrastes marqués, le chaudron « d’abondance » des festins gaéliques est confronté plus loin à ce « talisman de survie » qu’est l’imposante marmite dans laquelle une soupe de fortune était confectionnée pendant la Grande Famine. L’auteur réussit ce tour de force qui est de donner à l’objet toute l’émotion de l’instant : la chemise portée par James Connolly
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lors du siège du GPO en 1916, encore tâchée de son sang, le mouchoir blanc du père Daly, agité courageusement ce dimanche sanglant de 1972 pour permettre l’évacuation du jeune Jackie Duddy abattu dans le dos… la matière parle ici d’elle-même. Si le Tigre Celtique, décrié par F. O’Toole dans ses précédents ouvrages (Ship Of Fools, How Stupidity And Corruption Sank The Celtic Tiger, 2009 et Enough is Enough: How to Build a New Republic, 2010), n’est que vague présence fantomatique évoquée par la chute du sigle de l’Anglo- Irish Bank en 2011, l’ère du pratique et de la consommation n’est point oubliée avec « l’amie des femmes au foyer, plus fiable qu’un mari » que fut la première machine à laver, et surtout ce microprocesseur Intel de 1994, incarnant à lui seul le succès d’un secteur phare dont l’Irlande, havre d’accueil pour les firmes multinationales, peut aujourd’hui encore se féliciter. Des événements dramatiques modifiant le cours de l’histoire comme la bataille de la Boyne évoquée par les précieux gantelets de Guillaume d’Orange, aux joies nationales incarnées ici par une médaille de la GAA de 1887, cet ouvrage, mêlant plaisir des yeux et réflexion historiographique, a le mérite d’animer des objets insolites et de rendre ainsi accessible l’histoire dans sa multiplicité événementielle.
AUTEURS
MARJORIE DELEUZE
Trinity College Dublin
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Étude critique Critical Study
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(Critique de) Être là (Grennan), Sans titre (Squires) et L’Observatoire des Oiseaux/The Bird-Haunt (Clifton)
Clíona Ní Ríordáin
RÉFÉRENCE
Eamon Grennan, Être là, poèmes traduits et présentés par Michèle Duclos, dessins de Kira Grennan, (Éd. bilingue), Paris, Caractères, 2013, ISBN 978-2-85446-511-2. Geoffrey Squires, Sans titre, traduit de l’anglais (Irlande) et préfacé par François Heusbourg, Draguignan, Éditions Unes, 2013, ISBN 978-2-87704-150-8. Harry Clifton, L’Observatoire des Oiseaux/The Bird-Haunt, Poèmes traduits de l’anglais (Irlande) par Michèle Duclos, Magdelaine Gibson, Françoise Loppenthien et Sylvaine Marandon, Thonon-les-Bains, Alidades, 2013, coll. « Irlande ; 21 », ISBN 978-2-919376-22-3.
1 « And I have fears that poems may cease to be », ce vers saisissant de Seamus Heaney, extrait du poème « On the Gift of a Fountain Pen », a été lu par le poète dans la cour du Centre culturel irlandais au mois de juin 2013. Cette soirée de lecture marquait le point culminant du 31e Marché de la poésie où l’Irlande était l’invitée d’honneur. La disparition du poète au 30 août 2013 nous renvoie donc avec encore plus de force vers l’intertexte keatsien « When I have fears that I may cease to be », mais ce soir-là à Paris Heaney a conjuré la mort et nous a rappelé la force transcendante du verbe. Nous étions émerveillés par la haeccitas poétique d’un maître qui n’avait rien perdu de son pouvoir.
2 Hormis des lectures publiques parisiennes, le Marché de la poésie 2013 a aussi été marqué par la publication de trois ouvrages de traduction de poètes individuels et par l’édition de deux anthologies. La présente étude sera consacrée aux recueils de poésie.
3 Issus de trois maisons d’éditions différentes (Eamon Grennan est publié chez Caractères, Harry Clifton chez Alidades et Geoffrey Squires aux Editions Unes), les
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volumes ont en commun le souci du bel ouvrage, du livre objet et de la présentation bilingue des poèmes. Il s’agit dans les trois cas de traductions de poésie contemporaine. Eamon Grennan et Geoffrey Squires sont nés à un an d’écart (1941 et 1942) et ont quitté l’Irlande afin de poursuivre leurs études à l’étranger (Harvard dans un cas, Cambridge et Edinbourg dans l’autre). Ils ont, par la suite, enseigné à l’université. E. Grennan, dorénavant retraité, a passé de nombreuses années à Vassar aux États-Unis, alors que Geoffrey Squires a mené une existence plus vagabonde entre l’Iran, la France, les Etats Unis, et le Royaume-Uni, où il a officié à l’Université de Sussex puis de Hull. Ils partagent avec leur confrère Harry Clifton, de dix ans leur cadet, un goût pour l’ailleurs, un intérêt pour la traduction. Grennan est un traducteur chevronné, notamment de l’italien ; Squires travaille en ce moment à une traduction du Divân de Hafez. Harry Clifton a aussi mené une vie de poète voyageur ; après l’Asie, l’Afrique et l’Italie, il a longtemps vécu à Paris où il a côtoyé des poètes français (Emmanuel Moses entre autres). Mais on retient surtout de son séjour parisien l’influence de Benjamin Fondane dont l’esprit hante le merveilleux « Benjamin Fondane departs for the East ».
4 Sur le plan poétique, la pratique de ces poètes diffère grandement. La poésie de Geoffrey Squires s’inscrit dans la tradition moderniste, à la manière d’un Brian Coffey ou d’un Denis Devlin. Caractérisée par une recherche de l’abstraction, par une focalisation sur la perception, elle s’interroge sur la nature même du langage. Celle de Grennan porte l’empreinte de la poésie américaine : longiligne, filiforme, elle s’ancre dans les lieux, s’imprègne des choses. Clifton fait montre d’une approche poétique plus classique, sa poésie séduit par une grande maîtrise technique, doublée d’une sensibilité que l’on pourrait qualifier d’européenne. L’œuvre de ces trois poètes esquisse donc un heureux jeu de contrepoint avec les anthologies publiées au moment du Marché, désireuses, elles, d’incarner une version plus canonique de la poésie irlandaise contemporaine.
5 Cette singularité poétique est relayée par des choix éditoriaux et traductifs variés. Michèle Duclos nous présente une sélection des poèmes d’Eamon Grennan puisant dans des recueils publiés entre 1998 et 2010. Augmenté d’un avant-propos critique, et des notices biographiques du poète et de sa traductrice, l’ouvrage s’approche d’une édition universitaire. Michèle Duclos connaît intimement le travail de Grennan, comme en témoigne son essai liminaire. Elle y retrace l’influence de la poésie américaine, évoque un sens de la responsabilité proche de celui de Seamus Heaney, à qui Grennan dédie le très beau « Men Roofing ». M. Duclos énumère aussi les éléments de syntaxe et de lexique qui caractérisent le dynamisme poétique de Grennan : les phrases qui « claquent », le vers qui « crépite » (p. 17). On reconnaît ici le travail d’une traductrice qui milite pour faire mieux connaître « son » poète. En témoigne la liste des revues où certaines de ces traductions ont paru pour la première fois (Temporels, Friches, Études Irlandaises…). Ce souci de clarté trouve son écho dans une approche traductive qui tend vers l’explicitation « Steamy mushroom weather » (p. 30) devient « Temps mou, comme des champignons » (p. 31), alors que « Bright burnished day » (p. 34) est rendu par « Par une éclatante journée » (p. 35). Ces mêmes scrupules se retrouvent dans les notes de bas de page qui illuminent tantôt une référence géographique obscure, tantôt citent une strophe de Yeats dont il est question dans le poème (p. 109). Cela représente tout l’attirail critique indispensable pour se plonger dans l’œuvre d’Eamon Grennan dont le visage souriant illumine l’une des premières pages de ce livre.
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6 Michèle Duclos est également une des chevilles ouvrières du projet traductif L’Observatoire des oiseaux/The Bird-Haunt, qui a produit, aux éditions Alidades, des traductions de la poésie de Harry Clifton. D’un format compact, 12,5 x 22,5 cm, cet élégant volume, proche du poem pamphlet, illustré par des dessins d’oiseaux, est une entreprise collective. Les traductions sont attribuées à quatre traducteurs, le fruit d’un travail commun. Alors que la démarche dans la traduction de Grennan correspondait à un désir de fournir une vision d’ensemble de l’œuvre, ici les poèmes sont, à une exception près, extraits de Secular Eden, paru chez Wake Forest Press en 2007. L’appareil critique est réduit à son strict minimum : une petite biographie, résumant en quelques lignes la vie de Harry Clifton, et des notes, apposées en fin de volume, qui élucident des références géographiques ou historiques. Les traductions sont lisses et fidèles et permettent au lecteur d’appréhender le monde de Clifton. Le livre a une tonalité française, les poèmes datant du séjour parisien de Clifton. Se glisse dans cet ensemble un poème politique féroce, « The Crystalline Heaven », mettant en scène le poète serviteur de l’État, accompagné d’un fonctionnaire confirmé dans un cynisme routinier, le tout correspondant à un croquis sans compromis du système législatif sous Charles Haughey. Que Clifton soit un poète engagé ne fait pas de doute ; les discours prononcés alors qu’il occupait la chaire de poésie en Irlande (Ireland Professorship of Poetry) ne laissent pas d’illusion à ce sujet. Le poème figure, à sa juste place, dans le plus récent recueil de Clifton, le très engagé The Winter Sleep of Captain Lemass. D’emblée, par la référence dans le titre à Seán Lemass, ancien premier ministre et père du premier boom économique irlandais dans les années 1960. Mais le personnage éponyme n’est pas l’homme politique mais un fantôme, Noel Lemass, mort dans la guerre civile, son cadavre ayant été retrouvé dans les montagnes dublinoises en 1923. La politique de Harry Clifton est celle des marges et des marginalisés. Bien que le lecteur savoure la jubilation dantesque de « The Crystalline Heaven », son inclusion dans le présent volume nous semble moins heureuse.
7 Le dernier volume, consacré à Geoffrey Squires, correspond à un autre choix éditorial. Traduit par le poète et galeriste François Heusbourg, l’avant-propos nous informe que nous avons à faire à une seule séquence traduite dans sa totalité. Le choix est métonymique, car cette séquence est extraite de Untitled & Other Poems 1975-2002, publié par Squires en 2004 chez Wild Honey Press. Pour des raisons de cohérence, le titre en français de ces traductions de Heusbourg est Sans titre, mais le livre correspond à la troisième séquence d’une série (Untitled I, II, III). Celle retenue est la plus complète et la plus accomplie, d’après le traducteur. Des trois volumes étudiés dans cette étude critique, ce livre incarne le livre objet. Publié sur du papier lourd, il laisse assez de place pour un poème par page. La poésie respire. Poèmes, traductions et moyens de production créent un ensemble harmonieux, caractérisés par l’élégance et la discrétion. La poésie abstraite de Squires correspond bien à la création poétique de François Heusbourg lui-même, telle qu’on la trouve notamment dans son recueil Oragie, publiée aux éditions Mémoire Vivante. Néanmoins, si ressemblance il y a entre la poésie de Heusbourg et celle de Squires, les traductions ne sont pas mobilisées pour un exercice de ventriloquie. Elles sont sobres dans leur virtuosité.
8 Les trois ouvrages témoignent de l’intérêt soutenu pour la poésie irlandaise en France ; ils sont la preuve, tout comme le Marché de la poésie lui-même, de la vivacité et de la passion des petites maisons d’édition pour la poésie, et de la ténacité des traducteurs qui veulent faire entendre la bonne parole poétique.
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AUTEURS
CLÍONA NÍ RÍORDÁIN
Université Sorbonne Nouvelle
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