20
Sc"" h (;, Chwnann Cheol Tt re h reann
Newsletter of ~he Folk Musi c Society of Ira l and Sarnhain November o , , s , , s FO r aome documentary and r "necUv" notes on the fire t ten y "" I' S of t he life of the Society, s ee pp. '2 & 19
'1/ " t r 0 S P e c t' Page '2 Recent nleetlnga: ''I'he Irish wllrPiP" e ' 6 ' F"stivlll of tra ditional singin g' Po rtrus h 8 'Songs from Irish islands' 9 Annu"l General JlJeetingl II Songs from Tom Lenill.. n More on islands: ' The g r s.rno phone in Aran 1917' "11 '/Il~ire Bhruinne"ll' a Tory frllglnent 12 'Singing in IIl1tblin 1837' 13 • The dewy dens of Yarrow': Clare 19I&nd 15 Baill a g Bao t hru, Recent publica tion" by member.. 16 " • o }' . vol . 5 no '2 11 'lIel1g io\J8 f olk eong: .. seminar' Mee tings and confe rence s . Droghede and Durham " Fol k muBie on c88sette, '2 "19 Re vival Or survival: a ten-year record 19 Subecription r ates ,tlO't meetin,9: " "WELSH F 0 L K M U SIC" A lecture "itb sound recordings fro:>m t raditional sources, by W. R 0 Y S a e r, of tbe Welsh Folk .IIuseum, Csrd1ff Roy Seer has worked profesaionally in .... ny brllnches of folk 11fe studi"". His eepecial interest in music is evident in bis publi cations, whicb inolude " collection of' 'Songs from Oral Tradi tion ' and articles on carol singing He 1s "" experienced and cri tiCal guide to an are" of Celtic " rai art unfll.ll'.1liar in Ire land
Sat urday I ~ No:>v ember i t 8 p . .. , " I., HenneUa St , Dublin 1 , 'Re troePect'
R E T B 0 S P BeT
The Folk Mu sic Soeiety b., just completed 1t8 tenth full year of eriatence . IIlId w, Ollll look back on a fine lIucc8al!ion of interesting m,etings, punctually held on tile date. appoint. ed ( ..ith 0118 I;,:ception ..bieb 5Ba.n Coreoran 8epeci&11y '11'111 re member). in a variety of venU88 lDOetly 11'1 Dublin, w1th e di versity of Participants often in numbers few but never 11'1
diecuBlion dilatory. To remind our lon~tBrm members, inform our recent 01'188 , and document our early hietary before 1t be
camel blurred, _, give a 11et of tbe ~eetlng8 held during thoee ten years.
191~1
Initi.l dlscul810n end appointment of a provisional co~ltt'8 ( 1) JW18)
Consideration of B draft constitution (7 Nov.) Formal inauguration - SIGil'se Bodley: 'Thl Irish harp' (24 Apr.) Annual General Meeting and o!cbe Cbeoil (19 June) 191 1- 2 Se~ 6 Baoi 111 'Al;lhr~in Tbir Cbonaill' (23 Oet . ) Alf Mac I..ochlainnl 'The broadeide tradit1on' (20 Nov.) Caitl!n ut hgeartaighl 'The Joyce collection' (18 Dec . ) ProlnSiae /it Dborcba{ 1 ' Ambraln an Achraldb' (29 Jan . ) Breand~n Breathnacbl 'The inetru;aental tradition' (76 Feb.) Otche Mhor Cheoil (13 Ap r. ) A. G, ~. , and O{cbe Cbeoll (20 Way) 1977-3 D. K. Wilgusl 'Rose ConnollY: an Iriob ballad' (73 Sept.) ProineiaS 6 Conlualn: 'A two-way traffiol lIome lIongll tbat croaoed tbe language barrier between Irieb and Engliob' (2B Oct . ) 'Dusty bluebello' TV film of Belfallt ehildren's aonge and C e 0 1 T ! r e 3
games, by David Hammond (25 Nov . ) James Porterl ' P!bbai r eacbd, the Scot tieh Highland pipe tradition of tbe ceol mo r ' (27 Jan . ) John Blaclting: 'Tbeory and methods in ethnomusicolcgical re- searcb' (24 Feb.) Breandan Breat!mscbl ' Local styles in dance mudc ' (31 Ifarcb) o{che Ifhor Cb e oil (14 APr.) A. O. If . (29 June) 1973- 4 Fr Emmanuel Giblin: 'Some Oriental styles and traits in s co11eo Hon of Irish music' (29 Oct . ) Alf Idac Lochlainn : ' Bunting and songa in Irisb' . Revd Chria Warren: 'Harp lIlus1c in the Bunting collection ' (24 Nov.) John Teeham 'Musica l instruments in the National Museum ' (2 Feb.) Richard Hllwldns: 'Bluegrass, a professional traditional music' ( 2) Feb. ) Tom J.!unnellYI 'Songs of the travelling people' ()O L!arch) T. Gwynn J onesl ' Penillion, a traditional Welsh style of singing' ( 21 Apr. ) A. G. M. (VId O!che Cheoil (24 JWle)
1 97 ~5 ' Teaching f olk music? A di soussion', 1 (26 Oc tober) W. H. A. williams : 'Folk SOllg as vernacular culture' 00 Nov. ) Leslie ShePard: 'The broadside ballad: tbo printed tradition i n folk music' (14 Dec .) 'Collecting folk music. A panel discussion' with Breand~n Breatlt nach, Dians Hamilton, Tom Uunnelly, Proinsias 6 Conluain, Hugh Shielde (25 Jan.) Revd Tercnce NcC aUE(hey: 'Scottish GaeliC folk song and literary culture' (22 Feh.) Miscellany ::: Linda Leet- Howe: 'Keening'. Pat lIitchell: 'Teaohing the pipes'. ciarin Dalton: 'Irish and Au stralian song'. Lee MaoCurtain: 'Playford dancing'. Ian !.!ac Loohlainn: 'Playing the ivy lea f ' (22 March) 'Teaching f olk mus ic ? A discussion', 2 (19 Apr,) A, 0 , II!, and Oicbs Cbe01\. 197r 6 Eddie Bu tcher: A recital of Ulahr e.ongtl (6 Sept. ) SeaClua 6 Cath;in, 'Lappa and Lapphb singing' (4 Get . ) Ho11a1g 6 hUMllolta1gb, 'Songs in Iriah from Tory, Donegal' ( I Hov . ) Ann BuckleYI '~hat was the medieval Irish ti omp~?' (l3 Dec.) )! lcbe;l 6 S\.111eabh~in ' ' Tbe manuscript aou rees of Bunting 's 18~O collection ' (LO Jan . ) ·Miacellany - till s Hi Bb radaigb' 'Dublin children' . gamee' . Ciaran 6 Coigll.gb, 'Ambrain Raifte1r{' . Alt iliac LochIainn, 'Printed versions of Caoineadh n. dtr! Mhuire'. Hugh Shield" 'Songs from Newfoundland: Irish parallels'. (2IFeb.) An Canonach CO$llllett 6 Cuinn: ' senll-amhrain Ulsdb sgue Oi r ghialla' (20 March) An Uth. Padraig 6 Hesla!: 'An ceol all bbealoideau ' (1 !tay) A. G. 11 . and Olche Cbeoil (2~ JWlII) 1916-1 Virginia Blankenhorn: 'N a tive and foreign elemente in the "aean-nos" tradition ' (23 Get , ) Proinsia9 6 Gon1ua1n: 'Folk- song collecting in Tory, 00. Done- 8a1 ' (27 Nov.) Sean CorcorlllH 'Polk. aongs of county Louth' (15 Jan . ) Sean O'D1qer, 'The concertina in Ireland' (26 Feh.) Miscellany - Hugh Shields, 'Ballad and chantefable in Ireland'. Angela h rtridge, 'Cnoineadh na eStr! Muire'. Nicbolas Caro1an: ,.,i111am Bsauford and Irish music'. 'M. H. A. \H111ams, ' Iriah folk. muaic in Amedca ' (reed by Alf l! ac Lochl ainn) . (26 March) Seoirse Rodley, 'Polk. lIIusic end cOIllPositiOll : a pareons l vie ... C e 0 1 T { r e 5
pOint' (30 Apr.) A. O. M. and O{ene CneoH (~ June) 1917- 8 Oeorge&-llenis Zimmermann: "Wnat is an "Irisn ballad"?' (10 Sept . ) Charlea Lennon: 'Traditiona l Irish fiddling' (5 Nov.) Breand~ Breathnach: ' James CaodlDan , piper and music collector' (10 Dec.) Seamue Mac MathUna : ' Songs of lIiuscral> (28 Jan.) Cathal Ooanl 'CeoHa Hai11{ H{ Dnolllbnei 11 , (25 Feb.) Miscellany - Breand~n Breathnach: 'The Church and Irish tradi tional dancing' . Sr Cora Oafiney: ' Irish music in the clss& room' , 1l0uglas Sealy: 'P!obaireachd, the classical music of the Highland plpes ' . Tom Uunnelly. 'Some recently collected songs'. (1 Apr. ) A. O. M. and O{che Cheoil (10 J\llle) I9?&-9 John Mouldenl 'The Sam Henry collection ' (30 Sept . ) 'Irish traditional music in the marke~pIace' wi t h Breand~ Breathnach, Riobard Mac Ooraln , Ciaran Mac Ma t hUna {ll Nov . } Allen Feldmaru 'Fiddling and fiddlers in southwest Donegal' (9 Dec,) LiOlD 6 Dochartaigh: 'N orth Ulster music and songs on film ' videotape of Edd1e Butcber, Joe Holmes, Sammy ~ade (20 Jan.) lain ~ontague. 'Ireland and the historic dances of Europs ' (24 Fsb. ) Pat Mitcbelll 'The piPing of Patsy Touhey' (7 APr. ) Oeorge Hroder iekl 'Tradi Uonal muaic and aongs of the Isle of Man ' (12 May) A, C, w, (23 June) 191 Mieheal 6 hAllllhai.n: ' Traditional flu t llll and nut~pl aying' (2 Dec.) Hugh sbidds: 'Folk singing in North De rry' (26 JILll.) lo\ lIrl an De asy: ' Tbe Fetr1e eollection. sources and methods of edi ting' (2) Feb.) ltl ecelle,."'JY - PT oinsias 6 Conlutlin. 'Ballade In D'l gliBb in tbe Gaelh,eht' . N1cbo1 88 Carola.n : 'Sbak.eepeate ' s " uilleann" Pipe"' " Alf l4ac Lochlai.nn: 'lo\uaic of the Pon tine Cr eeks' . (12 AP r.) C!lthel Go&n : 'The RTE a rchives of Irish traditiona l mustc' (10 May) A. G. M. an d Otolle Cbeoll (28 June ) 198~1 Breandan 6 W.adasain: 'The music of Irish bar dic poetry' (20 Sf!Pt. ) Malte Ainll Ni Dbo nncbadba ' • Sr::;>ointe f aotn allan-noB i gCona me ra' ( 1 Nov . ) '~'iko Russell on vl.deotape' _blat1a , Clute and songs from co. Cltt.re (6 Dec . ) Jobn Kelly: Fiddle and concertin. reeitel (31 Januar y) Johnny O'Leary, Button accol'd.ion r ecital (28 February) - A(\d , Ronnie \\'a t hen , ' The Cretan lyre and NePalese Sa rangi' T H , I R I SH ·",t,R P IPES Wo at cultures , eapecially outdoor or no~adio, bave a need f or a loud and arres ting mueioal inetrument . Conches , horne . drums, trumpets are widely ueed for c ommun ication, entertainmen t, intimi4atl Oll, ritual . For centuriee t he Iris h inst rument C e 0 1 T { r e ,0 7 of tbia type waa e now e%tinct form of tbe moutb-blown bagpipe, uaually r eferrsd to, from its cbter runction, aa tbe warpipea. Seen Donnelly, a player on both war and uilleann pipea wbo i e making a etudy of tbe history of tbe wa r pipee in Ireland, pre sented a a~ary of bis reaaarcb to date at tbe f iret meating of t be Soc1ety after Jonnny O' Lesry, in Henrietta St on 4 April. Tbere are ~an1 Old lrieb and medieval referencea to an in strument called tbe cuiele, ' pipe', trequently mistranslated aa 'bagpipe' tbougb ite music 1a charac t eri~ed .s quiet , eweet and sleep-inducing. Part of tbe difficulty is tbat by tbe si%teentb centur y the word bed .h1fted i t a meaning to 'bagpipe' 1n tbe phraae cuiele catha ' battle pipe'. Thia inatrument .aa tuned before playing and playad in concerti an undoub tad t erm for it, which firat appeared in the eleventh centur y, i .~ . It 8 ee ~a to hsve heen the inatrum.nt or a low caata of enterteiner', It i s not mentioned in any bardic poem before 1600, whether out of d1edein or beceuee the bardic vocabulary wa. a et by 1250 end the ins trument doe. not a.em to heve become common until tbe sixteenth and eeventeenth centuriee. Thsee are certainly tbe centuries which bave given uS the bulk of r efer encee to t he wa r pipae , usually in a military con text . Iri ab pipere played to .ar even on the c on t inent and were prominent et tbe elege of Boulogne 1n 15dd . At home they led tbe war partie. end cattle reids of tbeir chiere , e~et~ea to the sccompani.ent of drum.. Derricke'e Image of Ireland. , oon t aining tbe engraving on p. 6, dat e. from 1561. A eerie. ot Elitehetban Pardon, to piper, involved i n war indicste, tbat there W8. not an beredttar.y family element in piPing. Pipes continued in .ilitar y u.a during tbe inaurrection ot 1641 and tba Cramwellien end Williami t e •• re, and .ere even ua.d in the Wh i teboy di.turbancee of the 116Oe. 8 "T h a I r i a h war p 1 pes" The w~rpi pes were also ueed in these centuries to accompany the dead to the grave, to provide music for dances and 'casher lngs'. and t o play foo t ball and hurling t eams on t o the field . From about 1750 it is difficult t o kno~ whether writers SI'S referring to the ..a r pipes or uilleann pipes . The native warpipe tradi t ion seems to hav e petered out sbout 1800. For the remai n der of the century the Highland pipes became more common here as they were increasingl y used by Br i tish regimen t s . The "a r pipe revi val of the 1880s and the present-day use of t he instr ument in I relan d proper'_y belong to the hist ory of Highland piping . Music"l illustrations for Sean's t alk. were provided by Dav td Rickard of the Fint~ La I oI' Pipe Bnnd . Da vid Is i nterested in identifying and PJaying Irish v. arpi. pe pi eces thst still survive , somet i r.l e s in v r r .sions " J: p ~nded by uill eann pipers. He pl ayed 'The king of Laois' , ' 'l' ~e r,,;lcn;' ::: ... r ch ' and the Jacobite ' The ki ng e n j oys de o,,·n a gain·. FE S T IV AL OF TRADITIO N A L S I NGING Our first ou t- of-Dublin meetine for some time took placa alllong the orn,,1.8 l"1.e-'/ictori",, 8plendours of the Nort hern Counties Hotel , Fo rtr u3~ , co. An trim , on the weeke nd 24-26 April . The occasion ~a c n festival organi sed by the Arts Council of North ern Ireland 1\ nd corr. ... emorating the Ulster ei nger s Joe Holmes a nd Eddia Butcher. The emphnsis was on Ulster ainging , but performers came from ell the provinces a nd even en occasional song i n Irish WeS beard. Specil1.1 gues t !! were Belle, Cathy end SheHa Ste~art h om Blairgowrie, Perthnhire . Singers a re often swamp"d in sessions by musicians and get s hearing only when the music flags. Bu t t he aim of this ~ eeken d ~a 8 to protect the endangered apecies. Arriving in the Shangri- La of Portrusb a fter five bours dri ...... C e 0 1 T , . 9 ing through a freaki~h Easter snowstorm induced a mild f eeling of hallucination wbicb persisted t hroughout tbe weekend, aided by late nights, high ootane conversation, and the incongruity of listening to songs of pastoral dalliance amon g tbe bulky s ofa9 and armchairs of the oak-Panelled hotel lounge. The main formal activities were thr ee etage conoerts but ths heart of the weekend wa s in the late-night singing sessions con ducted by Paddy Tunney in accordance with some arcans etiquette. Some people were asked to sing , othere broke 1nto song from a standing start, the whole taking plsce 1n a semi-rel1gious at moephere. A personal melllory 1s the flawless, crystalline Andrew ~ from Sheils Stewart . SON G ::; FRO J4 I R I SH ISLANDS On )0 May in Henrietta St , short contributions on this eubject were presented by three members . Protns1aa 6 Conluain introduced aongs be recorded in Cape Cl ear island , 00. Cork, in 1975. The pre-Famine population of over ?COO has ahrunk to about 200 and only the remains of a music tradition are now t o be heard. A few aocordione are played but no fiddles or Pipes . "ren boys still perform. Msny of the songs now sung were introduced by t he Gaelic League , and the so-called Set Chleire now danoed followed the same routes. But some traditional Munster songs are remembered by the older ielanders, Raca brea mo chinn (eung by Sean 6 Driaceoil), ~ real tan leanbaoh and the locally composed 011e~n beas is ea Cleire (both auns by Maire Bhreatbnach) . Traditional solo step dancing is also r em embered and we heard Donnchs Sneamais 6 Dris ceoil dancing to his own ainging of T~id na baid gO doimhin as bhfarraise . No songs in Irish seem to have survived among the 160 inhabi- 1 0 "5 0 n g s fr o ," I r 1 B h i s 1 and s" tan t s of Cl a re island, co. ~ayo. When Tom Munnally recorded there i n 1973 he found plenty of modern sentimental songs in Engli sh s mone the s ingers (al l men) , There were no striking stylists . The older singers did not use deeor a tion or sny er tensive melodic de velopment in t heir tunes . The beet of t hem and the one .. 1 th the largest repertory was J ame s Murray. t hen in his seventies. All t he songs presented "'ere his. :Ballls~ ~ described an inciden t which befell an islander walking the ninety miles to Sligo to embark for s easonal work . The Clare i sland eagle commemorated t he killing by an ol d island woman , around 1903. of a golden eagle now preser ved in the ~useum of Na tural History . The True lovers' disc ussion was , as usual, a f ea t of endu r ance . The ballads of t he Stewar d in the laurel tree and the Dowy dens of Ya rrow were both probably brought home by migratory workers. See page 15. No el Hamilton dealt with the Irish-speaking i'llllJ\d of Tory, eigbt miles off the Donegal coast , where he recorded in 1968. Th e 200 or so inhabitants included ~any singers who sang ma inly in Iri sh and in a well- marked style . Their s on gs are foun d also on t hA mainland and in other Ga eltacbts: AS gabbail go Eaile Atha Cliat h damh (Jimmy Dougan), An cail!n OAelach (Hiudal Pbaid{ Hi udal) , which t he To ry people claim as their own SaYing tha t t he Ilanafest peopl e took it and that its correct title ia ~ cailin laoh . The naticnally-known Baidfn Fheidhl imidh is neith er traditional nor a Tory eong dllspi t e its references to the is land . On tbe other hand tradl tional style was well preserved 1n Jhl1TlY Dougan' s Maidrtn rue, sung a t a wedding. After ea cb verse he danced as a n accordion played the tune. Dancing at ceil1s ia COlf.mon , but t he instl"urnental tradi tion is not etrong in To ry and the dance tradition is less vigorous than 1t ls remembered as h~v in g b een in the f orties and f i fties . See pege 12. Recent meeting91 continued on psce 1) C 11 0 I T { r 11 1 1 nIl:. GrU', t, ~ Ol'limIE There i s a little vIllDp.c in the 1 ~ 1 dd l e Islend culled ' '!'he l.. oor' , snd , bec ause of its (comparatively ) r, recter si7,e, it is repar ded by the Islanders as a l most up to ds.te e nd c onsenu ently 5S thc capita l. " 'l'be peaceful serenity of this old- world villar;e wa s unexpectedl y dis t u r 'ted one nellow a fternoon in the au tumn ~','hen our 'T'!nop!'lOl'lo:'! ar-r i v ed, It had been no~iced that a box hed been c.eooslted \'Iith ur.u::lUo l e 3. re on t he slip, so well secur ed thllt the bOlltnen ~ .'h o surveyed it exchfln~ed r.lances, ';}ondering what it could contain, I somet1m.cs visit th i s l s ndln/l; - plOce , pnrticulnrly on fine dc!,s , I",'hen t. here 15 n r, r ound s",1e11, to I"!ateh the d1f"'icult~· expe rienced by the men in la:ld1.n ~ , On this particular occasion t!'ley called me for\"l:;. r d , and :i: at O:lce ass uned I'Jondrous i!':cortance as the person to 'lI hom this unusunl pa.ckar.e \': 8S ad dressed . .ii.S s oon 85 i t 1'JE\3 flnn ou.nced that t he hox conteined a I::runophone the scene "hecllne one of ex citement end ';IO:lUCr , The news sprea d like e prairie ('ire, A crcmd Fflthered round peeping over each other's Shoulders to see I','hat \'Ias r-oinr, on , end by the t i me the oontf'nts were unpacked fully a hundred people were s Cllatting round , sittiDf." on the bar e c: round . to n itness the openinr: ceremony. 'i'he parts \"tere cc.rerully exor:11ned to sec if we coul d or ranre to piece them tor-ether. Bu t, s l as ! Yle hed no rJH,.,lledr:e of' the mc ch!lnism , nor \'Ias t here any t rr,dcsmnn 11'1 the place \'Ih o "; t6S an~' ';!is cr , liowcver , for tunately for us, ther e 1"/a S a youn~ .c::r adulite f rom Oxf'ord vls l t1nr the lsle.ncs, and he <'u ickl y consented to see whet he could do. i.ventually he suooeeded. and suddenly the muSic star ted. The ex pression on t he ("a ces of the o:llookers wa s indeed Il s i rht to r ernern't-er - the children in r8otu r e s , the old \'Iome n enchllnted , the men hnr dly bellevll1(; their ea rs, end for t: f ew minutes a::'l other thour:hts we r e laid aside, 'J.'he M.lesti on no one coul d &ns','.>e r was, I·~h ere \"I er e the men and women hid 1n(t ....thos e voices sounded so s';le etl~'? They cO\llc not be seen, One \'I onan su~r; est cd the spirits of the Firbolrs - Par:an a ncestors - I','hieh tradition associa t es \'Iith the lhins forts to be found in Inishlllaln. In the l"\lsh and r enera.l bustle r:.oinn on , the men f or cot to prepare the nets, a.nd all work vIes t enpor arily suspended. Th ey cO!ltinued ex_ cla imlnf: in Gaelic that I Somel'lhere there ruSt be e. person or there oould not be a voice' and the eff ect on them was r ea l l y \'~ ondcrrul. 1 , "T h e era m a p h 0 n en The d::,\' foll MAJRI: l>HRl1!NNEA LL WW"EJ iJ ) I n ! 'If ! , Mh';··· t . eh t ~;··n n • • 11 'bhlUI>. bl>.ul ._ n .. ·oo•• ~ :j ~[l • I J J l- J I) , od!.; After 3. MO!lt nrrCCll.hle sail. 1 l anded on T,he. i:Jland . 'lI:!d VlIlS escorted to th(' puhllc- house in Church hay . ','here I 1'/aS inforr.tcd hy n.v boat~cn I should ret ;,ood c ccommodat ion, ,:' 1 t hou r:h not exactl y c orr esponding ~'Ii t ;h the char acter hestO':led on it . I endeavour ed t o :n'l!{e nysel !' c om~or t e. b l e, The houtnen , after their pull across the chenncl, had no ob,1ection to drink m,.v health, and they ecr.ordinrly r e tired to the l arr.e roon llhov e thllt i n which I \'IllS s e:!. t ed , The .10ke and l nu(::h noYl circul ated , end heing nrus i colly i nclined , e. son!; I'ms commenced , The pecullari t y of the tune a ttra cted my notice, and one of' t.'rJe !':len hav inr, k indly re m ested m ~' precence , if I wished to heer El Rorhery sonr; . I rladl y .ioi ned the porty , A new son!,: wes now heeun - it \'IOS '1 duet, to which e. c hOrus ';/aS ettached, 5Un~ hy the ~'Ihole porty. The t wo pr ir.cip:l l performers too}: hold of eBch othe r hy the r i .... h t hand, e nd kept time with the tune by str1Jdnn: t heir hands thus en t'llined , on the tnble , 'l'he son" l nst ed e t l east fif teen minutes, and vias sunt! in their n a t i ve. lanc;uer;e , "lith "rent er spirit And varnth o~ feelinf'; the n i s UtlU clly displ ayed by more fashionable vocalist s , I r e t ired t o my room , hir.!'!ly c l ec.s ed ':!it h this my f irs t i ntroduct i on t o the inh ~ bi t ants of Hgthlin. - J . D, lI a r aball 'No tea on t b a s tatistics a nd natur al bi s t or y ot t he i sland of Ra t hlin' in Tr an sactions or t he Royd Irish ACt!. dem.,y XVII (1837 ) 5A. I SLANDS ANNUAL GENERAL M E ETIN O Tbs An nUa l Gen eral lo1 eeUng wa a beld on ;>0 J lme 1981 i n HenrieHa St , El ectsd t o t be c ommi Hee .ere . Seoirae BOdl ey Chairman , Ca l tl!n U{ b geart ai~ Hon . Tru e urer , Nichollle Cllrolan Hon . Secre tary , B rean d ~n Breat hna ch, Frank Harte , AI! Mac Lochlalnn, Tom Nunnelly, Proinsiae 6 Conluain, Hugb Shie lda . John Mouldon ( Port- 1 , Son 8 B fro ID T , m Lenibsn rush ) and Nollsig 6 hUrmol tsigb (Belfast) were ca-opted to the eommittee a t & aubesquant meeting. After the adoption of the Treasurer' s report and the Secre tary' ~ repo rt, it was decided that Bubscription rates be kept et their present levels (see Page 20) . A guarantee a gainst 10B8 1n the xounning of the Society's progrB~~e of talks and recitals, which wsa made this year by the Arts Council, wa a welcomed by the meeting . To comply .itb e requirement of the Council, it WBS agreed that B small charge be made in future to non-members attending meetings receiving this support . The premisss of Ne P{oba1.r! Uilleann, 15 Henrietta st. a re to provide a permanent hom e and a mailing address for the Society . The commi ttee has agreed .. ith NPU on a rental. The meeting congretulated NPU on t heir progress ..ith the rehabilitation of the building aince last JW'le. s tepa have been taken by the Society to·.. arda archival re cording of traditional music . During Jollnny O' Leary's February visit (aee Ceol T!re 19) several houra of music ..ere tapsd from him by Breandan Breathnach . Du ring Tom Lenihan's viait (ese belo.. ) a colour videotape of him ..as made in a ge9sion ..ith 'l'0llI Munnelly. It ia intended to take advantage similarly of future opportunities . Son g s r r 0 m T , • Lenihan Afte r the A. C. M., Tom Lenihan sang and talked to Tom Munnelly ebout his songs and sin~ng experience. Now in his seventiea, he continues to farm near Miltown Walbsy ss he hss dons all hie 11fe. He is a true fireside singer, subtle and Varied in an intimate , undramatic style. Tom learfled from his Parants, from 10cl'1 singers, and frO Tom'e repertory, all in English, ranges from the local , Rinaen ambush , to the international, Sinking of the ' Lusitan ~ I from love songa ssrious, Cail{n deas cruite na mbo, ~ don't you love the old love?, to love songs comic , Ninsteen years oldl and it contains such disparate itslll$ as. Lady Dufferin'a The Irish emigrant (learn t traditionally from USI ss a milking song), the English ballada Fair London town (Silk merchant' s daughter, a aong of his grea~grandfather), St Jemes' s hoapital , snd the Holland handkerchief (Suffolk miracle) , a word leas keening tune besrd at a funerel in bis youth, and bia national an t hem the comic Stick to the cray tur. Nicholas Carolan 5. - Oh- e j drr(]lJ1t it ill i !l . 1 6 B ail 1 , g a .. 0 t b r l.l B AIL L , G SAOTHR(r RECE NT PUBLICATIO NS , y MEIIBERS Wit hin the la~t year, two symphonies by Seoira8 Bodley have received their firat performance, both aho"ing the lnfluance of Irish folk .. uBi". No 2 ..as performed at the Royal nublin Society on 9 Janua ry, no 3 at tn\'l inauguration of tha new National Concert Hall, Earle fort Terrace, Dublin, on 9 September. Nan"y Ca1thor pe haa made a ne.. collection of $0108 arranged f o r t he harp: A tribute to Moo re. Published by Wal ton , £2. 7 5. Shamrock rose and thistle le a etudy of folk sing ing In lIagilli gan. North De rry, by Hugh Shields 1I'ho bas worked lnt8,",,1 ttently In this district since 1953 . The book oontains 74 Bonga, nearly half of tbe~ eontributed by Eddie Butcher (t 1980) , .... hose personality and experience is the lI'uljor focl.ls . Published by Blacketarr Press, L 9 . 25 stg. For accompanying cassettes Bee p. 19. Hugh Shi elds has also PUblished the songs or the bl ind riddler Jirnmy ~. cCl.lrry or Wyroe. N, De rry: ' A einger of poems' in Ulater- folklHs XXVII (1981 ) 1- 18. A lectura by Tom ~ unnBll y t o the Folklore Society of Ireland has been 61 ven definitive form in 'Songs of the sea . A ganeral deser t ption ""1 th special reference t o recent oral trndi tion in Irel and ' in Bealoideas XL'llII-XLIX (1980- 1 ) 3()..58, Ta al t le P. fanna !tIlC C.;b ll , 'Cotll" asus cur c hun cinn an hear'!" nots amhranS10cllta' Ball iris Scath:.n 1981 ( le fail 0 Cholaiste C e 0 1 T { r e 1 7 Phadraig, Droim Chonrach , Bath Atha CHath) . Is ' Ceo1 Ur chnoc Chain ~hic Cainte' tsideal aguialn l eie an mBr . Liam P. 6 Caithnie ata in A. 6 Caarr a agua s. Ceit i nn Peadar 6 Dubhdn ' a shaol agus a shaothar . Ceol an Ph{ohaire ed. Terry )loylan, NPU Dublin 1981, is a col lection of 8} tunes , almost all notated from the playing of pipers, .hich have aPPeared aince 1969 i n An P{obaire , the newslett er of Na Plobai r{ Uil1earm . (2 +54p by post f r om NFU, 15 Hen r ietta St , Dublin 1. R'eandan Breathnach has an accoWlt of ' Pipers and pipes in Louth' in tbe Co. Louth archaeological and historical journsl XIX ii (1918 , pub!. 1980) 131- 9, and some deflating Pages on ' The nomenclature of Irish music' in Sins ear. The folklore jou~al III (1981) 1:?-16. For Breandan Breathnach, Hicbolas Ca r olan, Saan Donnelly snd Padraig de BrUrt , see also "Ceol" balo•• "C E 0 L" V, 1 PUblication of Ceol accelerates with the appearance of two numbers within one calendar year. Tbe lates t introduces some nice design by Sid Bluett and contains articles by some of our members: Breandan Breathnach ' Tbe first Iri sh aong published' (with a facaimile c. 1114) and ' The man and his music - Johnny O' Leary'; Nicholas Carolan 'Shakespear e ' s u111eann pipes'; Sesn Donnelly ' Tbe warpipes in Ireland'; Padraig de BrUn ' /lugh Beirne , piper '. A second set of children's game songs i9 contributed by Maev U{ Ghallchoir. )lembera "ill recognize topics of some of our mee t ings here; we are plaaaed that Ceol can serve a$ Rn outlet for our cont ributors, com plementing the all too rar e tiese cbeol t{ra, no ) of Which should have ap- 1 8 "R e 1 i g i 0 u e f 0 1 le B 0 n g" PBRred by tne time this newsletter is dist ributed. Ceol eoste 75?, t- 29 by post , from 47 Frall cati Park, B1scKrock, co, Dublin. "RELIGI OUS F 0 L K SON G" A SEMlNAR A one-day selllinsr on this Bubject, to include Papers, die cussions and performance, is being planned by the Committee t o take place in the Ne .... Yesr, probably on B Saturday ln Feb ruary. Dehils will be circulated soon. l.F. M. C. CONFERENCE A T D U R H A III The annual U. K. conferenoe of the International Folk ~ u 9 ic Counoil (U . K. COJIWlll ttee) ... ill be held on 1- 4 April 1982 e t t he Uni versi ty of Durham . Them es will be ' Cu rrent r esearch, methods and problems' snd 'Reses rch ln ethnocboreology' . The secretar y is Dr John Baily, Dept of Socls1 An thropology, Queen's universi ty, Bel fast (enquiries by 15 December if posa ible) . OHI ENTAL II U S IC A T DUHHAM Tb e third threa-yearly Oriental Music Festival will be held by the Durham Schocl of Ori ental Studies on 1~23 July 1982, and wilJ be devoted to the traditional musio and dance ot Asia. Enquiries to: Durham Orien t al lIuaic F(lstival, School of Orient al Studies, El vet Hill, Durham DHl 3TH . FEILE N A B61NNE 981 Dro8"heda ",ill once again have a folk music ..eekend , ren(lll'ing tho ~e of some years ago, on 30 October - 1 November . C e 0 1 T { r e 20 1 9 F 0 L K M U SIC ON CASSETTE: 2 Tbe last newaletter outlined a project and invited responses from membe r s. Wbeels ars moVing slowly and we bope soon to begin producing recordings, ths first of wbich will be: " Song!:! of Irish travellers" collected and edited by Tom Wunnelly "Ada.m i n Paradise" recordsd end edited by Hugh Shields Songs of Eddie Butcher (re-issue of en EP disc publ. 1969 , other casaettes of N. Derry einging to follow) REVIVAL OR SURVIVALl , TEN-YEAR RECORD Some lI'Iight saY thll. t 1970-71 was a favourable mOll'lant to start a folk-ll'I usic sooisty, ..i th the folk-music revival in full swing. Others might SSy it wss ths .. or at possible moment, with cash beginning to lose value so fast that it was hard to know whether getting it or keeping it wae ll'Iore difficult. And caah is ths lubrication of eocieties. Wisely or foolishly, the virginal Folk Vusio Society choss that time to tune her harp with shoestrings. Somehow, she haS succeeded in resching the ter.- year mark .1 thout fslling bankrupt, losing her honour, or going into e deliCate decline. She has , indsed, brought forth constantlYI aJl abundance of mestings (see 'Retrospeot'), a scors of newsletters, and even a trisd of journsls. Sha has exerted some small beneficial influence. How can ber spher es of aotion be sustsined, en hanced, Perhaps enlarged, in tus ten years ahead? Treasurer's meseage It may seem Pal try to BIlswer tirstl)': . By paying our subsori~ tion8 punctually'. But tbie is the Treasurer' every firlll and · ~ : " .. A L. " " from p 19 evel' rather des perate reply . So the rat ... s of ~ ubsc ription li re ~epeated bel o", Wlalt ... red from last year, a iliad decia ion . The Secret ary, too, haa unear thed a Sbavian tir ade against the dilatory in sucb situations. It makes euch goOd re ading that it "ill occupy t his sPace in the next ne"sletter, by "hich t lroe all its readers "ill, no doub t, be able to chortle .ithout uneaSY feelings. C 0 m m 1 t tee's message Looking beyond flnance, secondly, "e announce a great and t.ofold platitude. Th e Society needs both the general par ticipation of all its m~mbers and the sort of increase in membership that "Ill help i t to operate more effecti vely in its undertakinga, actual and unraalized. This year .e "Ill be trying through the newsletter etc to promote fuller par ticipation. To begin with, "e sre asking fcr help in an ef fort to increase membership. We have lIIembe r s in both Parts of Ireland, in Bri tain and in many parts of the world. E:r tra copies of this newsletter a re being rWl off, to send to prospe ctive ne,. membera, t ~ getber "ith an information sheet about the Society. Can you please try and help by a l ine to the Secretary· or a phone call t o me ( 9 8 ~27l) s uggesting reoipien t s of these, new ways of introducing the Socie ty to the public, e tc ' We feel there are many wh o would welcom e an introduc t ion t o t he vi r g i n no,. a m8tron . Therefore, to a ll non- member s who have r8ad t hi s , W B L C 0 14 E '. · a t t he ad dress on p . l~ Hugb Shields Subsc ri pti.on r a t es, Ind ividual s £3. 50 I r. Two membe r a of one family .l. OO Full- time s t udents 2. 00 Co r porate members 10. 00 Hon Prea3urer' Ca i tl fn Ut ~ige a rt a i gh ;;i t e 12. I)reenmount ROad , Terenure. DUB LIN Ii