RESOUND A Quarterly of the Archives of Traditional Music

Volume 22, Number 3/4 July/October 2003 A Journey through Time and Tradition: Laura Boulton's Discovery of Cape Breton Fiddler Sandy MacLean Kathleen Elizabeth Lavengood While searching for examples of early Celtic fiddlers performing the same tunes over a period of recordings at Indiana University's Archives of sixty years. Allister MacGillivray's monograph, Cape Traditional Music in January of.2002, I came across Breton Fiddler, and Ian Francis McKinnon's Masters an exceptional field recording of Cape Breton fiddler Thesis, Fiddling to Fortune, provided biographical Sandy MacLean recorded by Laura Boulton in 1941. information about Sandy MacLean. I turned to the Boulton's field notes for this particular recording were National Film Board of Canada's mission statement incomplete and at times mislabeled; further research led to learn the historical·context surrounding the me to find that although.Sandy MacLean was admired funding project that allowed Laura Boulton to record in Cape Breton as a fine fiddler, there was no written in Cape Breton. A trip to Cape Breton, , account of why and how Laura Boulton came to record . in 2003 helped to fill in the remaining pieces of the MacLean. In fact, MacLean had previously denied all puzzle. At the Gaelic College of Arts and Crafts requests to be recorded in a studio setting, and Boulton's located in St. Ann's, Cape Breton, faculty member recording remains the only archival-quality recording Stan Chapman remembered Sandy MacLean's playing ofSandy MacLean today. I Funded by the 2002-2003 and was able to help identify the unnamed pianist in Laura Boulton Research Fellowship, I was able to the 1941 recording as Lila Macisaac by her unique explore four unanswered questions surrounding this and well-known accompanimental style. recording: 1) How did Laura Boulton come to record My aim in this essay is not only to answer Sandy MacLean? 2) from whom did Sandy MacLean lingering questions surrounding this recording, but learn to play the fiddle and what contributions did he also to highlight the unique role archival recordings make to the Cape Breton fiddle tradition? 3) what can can serve in documenting the changes musical be learned about the Cape Breton fiddle tradition from traditions endure over time. Using Laura Boulton's the repertoire and performance practices exhibited in short documentary New Scotland (accession number the 1941 recording? and finally, 4) what function do 92-497-F ATL) and -to-reel audio recordings old field recordings serve in contemporary Cape Breton of fiddler Sandy MacLean (accession number 92- fiddle performance practices? 326-F ALT) as a case-study of one fiddler's tempo's In an effort to answer these questions, I transcribed ornamentation, and repertoire during the 1940s, each fiddle tune from the recording and conferred with Sandy MacLean's recording can be juxtaposed against Cape Breton music-publisher Paul Cranford to learn the contemporary recordings in order to provide the names of each tune, which then allowed me to compare space in which to evaluate changes that have taken MacLean's repertoire and style to recordings of other {continued on page two} place between fiddlers, recordings; transcriptions, tourists, the film board stood to gain from both and dance practices over the past sixty years in governmental funding and commercial revenues. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The NFB's abstract of Boulton's documentary New Scotland reads; "this brief tour shows Nova Laura Boulton Expedition to Canada Scotians at home, at work, and at leisure while In 1941, Laura Boulton embarked on a giving a panoramic view of the province's coasts, North American expedition to collect the folk farms, and forests."5 These films are now for sale music of Canada, where she came to record via the NFB website, with online stills of the fiddler Sandy MacLean. Commissioned by the films acting as postcards promoting Gaelic Cape Canadian government and the National Film Breton culture. Board of Canada (NFBC), her goals were to produce twelve films on various cultural groups in Cape Breton ~idd1er Sandy MacLean Canada, record their music, and present the films Sandy MacLean was a valued member of and recordings to lecture audiences and university the Cape Breton fiddle community during the groups throughout the United States. Mter 1940's. While touring Cape Breton, Boulton's returning from the expedition, Laura Boulton 'Gaelic contact,' M.R. MacLeod, took her recounted Nova Scotian's strong reflection of straight to MacLean, claiming him to be "the their Scots-Gaelic heritage: "In Cape Breton, I best fiddler in Cape .Breton."6 Sandy had been found Gaelic songs so old they had been lost and asked repeatedly to be recorded commercially, forgotten in Scotland but they were preserved in but he always refused. He was, however, their original purity in the New World to which persuaded to perform for Laura Boulton. they had been transplanted."2 On Cape Breton Either for posterity's sake, or possibly under the Island, Boulton recorded fiddle and bagpipe influence of Boulton's charm, he performed for performances, songs, and sermons delivered in Scots-Gaelic. Selection$ from these recordings, including fiddler Sandy MacLean's performance of the titled "President GraJ:u," were used in the subsequent soundtrack for the 11- RESOUND A Quarterly of the Archives of Traditional Music minute documentary titled New Scotland. Laura Boulton's 1941 commission was Marilyn Graf, Editor one of the first awarded by the newly formed We are pleased to accept comments, letters, and submissions. Please address your correspondence National Film Board of Canada (NFB). The to RESOUND at: establishment of the NFB circa 1940 was, Archives of Traditional Music in part, a response to World War II; the film Morrison Hall 117 commissioner, John Grierson, was known as a Indiana University Bloomington, IN 47405 specialist in the psychology of propaganda, and [email protected] the film board concentrated on the production www.indiana.edU/~libarchm of patriotic films during its formative years.3 Daniel B. Reed, Director Marilyn B. Graf, Archivist Governmen t funding was endowed to the NF B Suzanne Mudge, Librarian under the agreement that they were to "make Mike Casey, Coordinator of Recording Services Megan Glass, Office Services Assistant and distribute films designed to help all parts of Canada to understand the ways of living and ISSN 0749-2472 the problems of Canadians in other parts of the world."4 With the goal of producing films that would both educate and advertise to potential 2 her on solo fiddle a full dance set, including two MacIsaac's Favorite," "Palace Theatre Clog," Scotch airs, several , two strathspeys, and the "Dismissal Reel." 9 and both a slow and a fast "Scottish Dance." His local representation of the traditional dance The Skye and MacQuarrie Thne Collections tempos, dotted rhythms, and use of Sandy MacLean's 1941 recording paints ornamentation exhibit many of the musical a candid picture of choices fiddlers were characteristics associated today with Cape Breton making in regard to repertoire during this fiddling. MacLean learned to play period. Tune collections published in America, style from family members who had immigrated to like Ryans Mammoth Collection (1883), were the island from the Scottish Hebrides, and from popular during this period, as well as Irish and childhood friends well versed in the Scottish Scottish manuscripts, but MacLean choose the fiddle repertoire. Born in 1893 in Foot Cape, majority of his tunes from Scottish collections. MacLean was known for his sense of humor as Out of the twenty tunes MacLean performed well as fiddle playing. When telling how he came for Boulton, half can be found in the 1887 S~e to play the fiddle he adds; "My grandfather played Collection, a manuscript compilation of Scottish a little, and my father played fair. My uncle was a tunes for violin recently reprinted by publisher good player-Charles William MacLean. There Paul Cranford. The original editor, Keith was lots of music in the family, even the sewing N orman MacDonald, drew from extant machine was a Singer."7 . Scottish violin compositions, including "The MacLean's great-grandfather, Donald Ban Gows" (Vol. 1, 1784), Davies' "Caledonian (1794-1874), settled in Foot Cape after the Repository," and the tunes of James Scott family's land on the Isle of Rum was sold to a Skinner, who MacDonald refers to as "the best mo game farm. Sandy first began on the bagpipes, but living composer of Scottish music. The S ~e later picked up the fiddle. Early on he began to Collection was compiled to reflect in repertoire play with Allan Gillis, a championship boxer, step­ and performance practices, "all the fire and dancer, and childhood friend. Their grade school vigor of [Scottish] National Music.m1 This teacher, Mr. Laughlin, allowed the two boys to compilation gives the tune title, the tune's play for the class, clearing room for the rest of the dance form, a melodic transcription and a children to dance. The pair later befriended a third bass-line accompaniment in western classical party, Lila MacIsaac, who accompanied the pair notation. Although no ornamentation for on piano, forming a lifelong bond while either the piano or violin is indicated; the performing as a trio. editor prefaced the general dance tempos to be Sandy MacLean has proven to be one of adhe~ed to in performance: Cape Breton's more talented fiddlers and composers of the twentieth century. MacLean One word of caution may here be given won a fiddling contest in Boston in 1929; out of against the tendency that exists at the present twenty-one fiddlers, he took top prize of twenty day to play this class of music a great deal dollars, and 'Big' Dan Hughie MacEachern took too fast. Some are possessed of the idea that, in order to dance a Highland reel well, one second with fifteen dollars.8 MacLean's talent for must jump and shout like a maniac. It is only composing fiddle tunes gained early recognition, on very festive occasions that this sort of and several of them are published in Gordon capering should be tolerated ... 12 MacQuarrie's, The Cape Breton Collection of Scottish Melodies for the Violin (1940), the first collection of MacLean himself was a notable tune fiddle tunes dedicated specifically to the Cape composer of his generation. He performed his Breton tradition. MacLean's published tunes original tune, "Lila MacIsaac's Favourite" for . include "Sandy MacLean's Dream," "Lila Boulton in ~ 941, which had been published

3 along with three other tunes the prior year in in Cape Breton; this may reflect subtle changes in Gordon MacQuarrie's The Cape Breton Collection of dance styles that have taken place since the 1941 Scottish Melodies ]or the Violin. 14 MacQuarrie's recording. In the preface to the 5 ~e Collection, collection is also written in western classical MacDonald's gives advice against rushing the notation, with sparse ornamentation transcribed : as a classical trill, and without piano accompaniment. As with the S~e Collection, The strathspey, especially, should be played with tempos are only given in terms of the dance grace and in measured time, giving the dancer style, leaving the fiddler to interpret the an "opportunity of moving his limbs gracefully. appropriate speed in performance. When this is not done, the thing degenerates into the railway speed performance of a clog _ MacLean may have referred to collections dance in a pantomime ... 15 such as these to avoid straying melodically from the original manuscripts of the traditional MacLean's performan"ce appears to follow suit, Scottish repertoire. Tune collections became a taking much more conservative tempos than one reference to tune names, as well as for note­ would find today in Cape Breton. According to a checking, and were often referred to as the recent survey of forty-seven recorded "correct" versions of the tune. Buddy MacMaster performances of contemporary fiddlers, today's advises that new players stick to the original fast strathspey averages a tempo of 164 beats per transcriptions in performance in order to minute, whereas MacLean's performance tempos maintain a tune's original integrity: of the fast strathspey averag~ at 110 beats per minute.16 By contributing his own compositions It's true that every player maybe changes tunes to the MacQuarrie Collection and performing the slightly. You can hear just about any player and they might playa note here or there a little majority of his tunes from the Skye Collec~ion, differently, but if you change the -tune to take MacLean helped to reinforce the Scotch­ away from it musically, it's not a good thing to influenced performance ptactices within the do, so if you try to play it the way it was Cape Breton fiddle tradition. written, you're us~ally pretty safe-musically correct, you knOw. 14 Recordings as Teaching Tools and Cultural Commemoration MacLean's recording provides a. window Sandy MacLean's influence within the Cape into the performance practices of 1941 in Cape Breton fiddle tradition extends well beyond his Breton in relation to these two collections. The days of playing for dances along the Ceilidh Trail. tunes "O'r the Muir Amang the Heather" and MacLean's original tune compositions have "Dainty Davie," both found in the S~e Collection, become Cape Breton standards, and have been show MacLean's melodic faithfulness to written recorded by the island's international recording notation. Except for the tendency to leave out " artists. Most recently, the "Dismissal Reel" has the occasional accidental, MacLean follows the been recorded by Natalie MacMaster (My Roots melodic contour of the transcription to the note. are Showing, Rounder: 2000) and by Wendy Both tunes are transcribed as strathspeys, where MacIsaac (That's What You Get, Klub Records: their stately character is fashioned rhythmically 1998). "Lila MacIsaac's Favourite" was recorded on the Scottish snap-it is here that MacLean's by the MacLellan Trio on their self-titled album. faithfulrtess dwindles', as he often employed a Commercial and home recordings have great deal of variation in regard to the dotted played a significant role in the revival of the eighth-note rhythms, Cape Breton fiddle tradition. Commercial MacLean's performance tempos are recording of Cape Breton fiddlers began in the considerably slower than contemporary practices late 1920s, with the recordings of Angus

4 Chisholm and Allan Gillis (MacLean's mentor), Ca~e Breton natives now living in Ontario enjoy and now represents a substantial voice within the taplng local ceilidhs to remind them of home: Celtic music industry.17 While co~ercial recordings are popular among tourists visiting for They relish the opportunity to explain the events the summer, commercial recordings of Cape which allowed them to record the 'music of Sandy MacLean or Buddy MacMaster, for Breton fiddlers have also ~een used as authoritative teaching tools. example, two of Cape Breton's finest Scottish fiddlers. 19 Commercial Cape Breton fiddle recordings are affordable, transportable, and repeatable, The homemade ceilidh tape became a cultural making them a perfect teaching tool in the icon on the island during the 1960s for its ability absence of a patient mentor. Commercial t~ c~ndidly capture performances as they happen: recordings were useful especially to fiddlers on Plarust Estwood Davidson remembers: the island when the tradition fell into decline d·unng the 1960s. 18 Buddy MacMaster remembers There'd be times when we'd be playing in ' learning tunes from popular 78-rpm discs: Glenville, I bet you there'd be seventy-five tape recorders on the bloody stage. And an awful About the time the first records came out place to try to tape anything with the noise of Colin J. Boyd ~s and Angus Chisholm, An~s the dancers and the prompter. But they seemed Allan Gillis and Dan Campbell, I was sort of J. t~ be satisfied with that music because many a starting out then and there weren't too many t1me they've come and told me, "Now we'll players around here, you know, to learn, to pick nurse this and play this all winter and it will up tunes from. Whatever players there were, I bring us right back in this hall.mo wasn't hearing them. .. So I depended on records to pick up tunes and that helped me a Recording the fiddle tunes among the commotion lot. 19 , of dancers and the caller captures sonically the recorder's experience of that time and place, Natalie MacMaster and Wendy MacIsaac's allowing him or her to relive the experience many contemporary recordings might serve as a years and miles away. Either as a teaching tool, teaching tool for generations to come. Their or as a musical postcard, both commercial and performances of MacLean's "Dismissal Reel" home recordings have helped to sustain the Cape provide an invaluable example of performance Breton style through the thin years, and provided practices not indicated in print. Where the an acoustic guide to a new gen'eration of Cape manuscripts leave off in prescribing Breton fiddlers. ornamentation, tempo, bowing and phrasing, Contemporary fiddlers refer to historical recordings make it possible to emulate the recordings and tune collections as authoriatative fiddling styles of Cape Breton's top recorded source texts. Printed collections, like the 5 k:Je musicians through imitation. Collection, Macf2uarrie j Cape Breton Collection, and While fiddlers were using commercial early recordings serve as invaluable teaching recordings to learn the tradition, audiences were tools in the absence of apprenticeship using ad hoc recordings to capture the experience opportunities. Recordings allow fiddlers to of the live ceilidh. Home recordings have accoustically link transcriptions with become popular artifacts of the island as music performance practices in order to maintain enthusiasts on the island and expatriates from stylistically true to past generations of Cape abroad satisfy their zeal for the Cape Breton Breton fiddlers . . ce~dh by taping the event with home recording MacLean's legacy survived the decline of eqUIpment. Sheldon MacInnes recounts how as a local tradition in the 1950s and 1960s. Through his original 5 compositions and lively ceilidh performances,. the 3 "History of the NFB: The 1940's." 2002. island's top performers recognize his National Film Board of Canada: www.onf.ca. contributions today. Sandy MacLean's recordings 4"1939: Creation of a'National Film are an important link to the island's Scottish Commission." 2002. National Film Board of ancestry and to the early development of the Canada: www.on£ca. Cape Breton fiddle tradition during its formative 5 "New Scotland." 2002. National Film Board of years. They allow fiddlers and enthusiasts to Canada: www.onf.ca bring together his published compositions and his 6Boulton, Laura. 1941. "Explanatory Notes" to Scottish-influenced performance practices to Folk Songs of Peoples oj Canada. From the Laura serve as an acoustic bridge to the past. The Boulton Collection, 92-326-F. phenomenon of decline and revival within the 7 MacGillivray, Allister. 1997. The Cape Breton Cape Breton fiddle tradition over the past fifty Fiddler. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia: Sea-Cape years has elevated the status of older recordings Music. in hopes of reflecting with authority the Scots 8 McKinnon, Ian Francis. 1989. "Fiddling to Gaelic heritage of past generations. As one of Fortune: The Role of Commercial Recordings the finest quality recordings ever made of Sandy Made By Cape Breton Fiddlers in the Fiddling MacLean performing his own compositions, Music Tradition of ." Masters Laura Boulton's 1941 session will remain an Thesis: Memorial University of Newfoundland. invaluable resource for generations to come. 9 MacQuarrie, Gordon F. 1940. The Cape Breton Collection of Scottish Melodies for the Violin. CD and Information Booklet Medford, Massachusetts: J. Beaton. [Noted: With the help of Mike Casey, coordinator "consisting of Marches, Slow Airs, Strathspeys, of recording services at the Archives of Reels, , and Hornpipes. Mostly Original, and Traditional.Music, an edited CD has been Containing 152 Selections] compiled from Laura Boulton's recordings of 10 MacDonald, Keith Norman. 1887. The Sge Sandy MacLean. A booklet co~taining tune Collection of the Best Reels and Strathsprys Extant. names, a biographical profile of MacLean, and Fife: Marathon House, p. iii. recording information has been prepared by the 11 Ibid author to supply contextual background for the 12 Ibid recording. The CD and booklet are now on file 13 MacQuarrie, The Cape Breton Collection. at the Archives of Traditional Music. 14 Marten, Peter. W 2000. "Buddy MacMaster: Cape Breton's Living Legend." Fiddler Magazine Cape Breton Edition 2000 (Special Issue): 5. Special thanks to Mike Casry for digital editing, Paul , 15 MacDonald, The Sge Collection, p. iv. Cranford for supplying tune names, Sheldon MacInnes 16 Dunlay, Kate, and David Greenberg. 1996. for sharing Beaton Archives holdings, and Stan Traditional Celtic Violin Music of Cape Breton. Chapman for sharing personal memories of S ancfy Toronto, Ontario, Canada: DunGreen Music. MacLean splqying. 17 McI