There's Gaelic in the fiddle and there's Gaelic in the pipes.

[Nathan]

300 years ago, fiddling was popular throughout the Gaidhealtachd. John Morrison of Bragar, the father of An Clarsair Dall (The blind harper and poet) was a well-known fiddler and by 1703, there were at least 18 fiddlers reported on the Isle of Lewis.

The popularity of the fiddle declined with the Kirk’s disapproval of dancing after the Reformation as the old Highland style was primarily developed to encourage dancing. This may have led to the destruction of instruments and the loss of this style in the Hebrides. In addition to the active discouragement by the contemporary Church, the impact of the Clearances cannot be overestimated as many people left Scotland taking their traditions with them. Yet another factor that contributed to the decline of local traditions was the educational policy of taking young people away from the more remote areas of the Highlands and Islands for English education in the larger centres.

Ironically, the Clearances may have been partially responsible for the survival of the fiddle tradition abroad since the emigrants arrived in Atlantic Canada (in particular, Cape Breton) and continued fiddling from generation to generation.

Religion played a role in how this played itself out. The Highlanders that arrived in Pictou County and settled around New Glasgow were mostly Presbyterian. As a result of the establishment of the Protestant Church, this area attracted many lowlanders and United Empire Loyalists. In this community, you see a strong entrepreneurial spirit and a solid pipe band tradition but far less fiddling and dancing.

In contrast, the immigrants to Antigonish County, which contains areas like Arisaig and Eigg Mountain, were predominantly Roman Catholic and the fiddling and dancing tradition was preserved there.

Cape Breton Island was split roughly 50/50 between Roman Catholics and Presbyterians and each community of Highlanders preserved their own aspect of Gaelic culture.

The Catholics in Inverness County (Mabou, Creignish, Inverness etc...) are well-known for their instrumentalists, especially their fiddlers, step dancers and piano players. By contrast, the North Shore of Cape Breton is primarily known for its Gaelic singers but does not have a lot of fiddlers or dancers. This stands to reason when you consider that most of the original settlers along the North Shore came from the historically Protestant Isles of Lewis and Harris. The North Shore people are known for their “Milling Frolicks” which have preserved many songs that the Scots refer to as “waulking songs” although in Cape Breton, these working songs are sung my both men and women whereas in Scotland this is primarily a female tradition. The distinctive dialect of Gaelic on the North Shore is reminicent of that which is spoken on Lewis.

The area of Iona, Grand Narrows, Little Narrows, Christmas Island and Barra Glen along the Bras D’or lakes was mostly settled by Roman Catholic MacNeils from the Isle of Barra. Here we have a strong fiddle and dancing tradition as well as Gaelic singing and, in particular, piurt a beul or mouth music.

With this backdrop in mind, it is fitting to look at the relationship between the Gaelic language and our Celtic music. It is difficult to discuss this ancient music without reference to the language, culture and lifestyle of the Gaelic people. Ethno-musicologists and locals agree that there exists a strong bond between the rhythm and sound of the Gaelic language and the instrumental music of the Gael.

The music we enjoy today has been passed down orally and aurally through the generations by Gaelic speakers and Gaelic musicians. If such a strong bond does exist between language and music, than our Scottish Gaelic instrumental music has the tongue of the Gael woven into the notes. Gaelic speakers have kept our instrumental music alive through the practice of puirt a beul or 'mouth music', which may be generally described as dance music tunes sung with nonsense Gaelic syllables or words which are closen for their sound rather than their deeper meaning. There are a wealth of fiddle standards that are actually either Gaelic songs in themselves which became instrumental pieces or melodies which are sung as puirt a beul.

If one looks at the older music collections such as The Skye Collection or The Athole Collection, the relationship between Gaelic and the music is obvious as many of these old tunes (slow airs, strathspeys, marches, jigs and reels) are printed with their original Gaelic titles. Thus, many of these tunes would have have originally been Gaelic songs that later evolved into instrumental pieces. There are also a countless number of tunes which have never been transcribed but that have been passed on aurally as songs or mouth music.

We can safely conclude, then, that our Scottish instrumental tradition embodies a simulation of the driving rhythm, the lilt, the stresses and accents, the phrasing, and the mood of the Gaelic language. Some Cape Breton players don’t just approach these tunes as mere melodies, but rather, know both the puirt a beul versions of tunes and carry over accents and gracing from the puirt text to their bows while younger players among whom fluency in Gaelic is diminished pass on these characteristics unconsciously.

The best link for the modern musician in Scotland or abroad who is interested in rekindling this tradition is to listen to the
puirt a beul which is still sung in the Outer Hebrides and is probably the closest link to the Western Highland style that has been all but lost in the Highlands. In addition, they should listen to fiddle music of Cape Breton where there is an unbroken tradition of Gaelic song, fiddling and dancing that has been passed from parent to child. One need only compare the similarities of Highland piurt a beul to Cape Breton fiddling to know that one is on the right track.

[neloon]

Nathan,
Just a link to add flavour from this side of the pond.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoeQRx3V66E

Ailean

[creagdhubh]

We can safely conclude, then, that our Scottish instrumental tradition embodies a simulation of the driving rhythm, the lilt, the stresses and accents, the phrasing, and the mood of the Gaelic language. Some Cape Breton players don’t just approach these tunes as mere melodies, but rather, know both the puirt a beul versions of tunes and carry over accents and gracing from the puirt text to their bows while younger players among whom fluency in Gaelic is diminished pass on these characteristics unconsciously.

Precisely!!!

[Nathan]

Nathan,
Just a link to add flavour from this side of the pond.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoeQRx3V66E

Ailean

Julie Fowlis is wonderful! I'm a big fan of her music, Ailean. Thanks for sharing.

Here's some piurt a beul and stepdancing from this side of the pond to compliment the flavour you added. You'll recognize Margie Beaton from a previous thread.

http://youtu.be/Oni-gi0bKuA

[tulloch]

That is a nice description of the state of the music Nathan. Thanks. I think that music is an oral expression and that it nearly always mimics the language of the players. I have thought that for years and I talk about the 'accent' of our music to others in my pipe band.

[creagdhubh]

Here's a lovely one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovhNIBnH9es

[Nathan]

Here's a lovely one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovhNIBnH9es

Very nice indeed. Here's one that ran up the charts in Canada a few years back:

http://youtu.be/aoApELfgWcg

One of the tunes is the same as the previous link I posted but this is a more produced rendition.