By posting the link to the archive, I had hoped to keep the list off the path to "music definition land". Some people went there anyway, and I'm here to direct everyone back.
Being the listmaster, I am going to define "Celtic Music" FOR THIS DISCUSSION as that body of dance music and songs/ballads played by Scottish, Irish, and Cape Breton musicians: jigs, reels, strathspeys, slow airs, etc. I am aware of other "Celtic connections", such as the one to the music of Brittany (such as is played by Kornog), but I'm blithely ignoring them. Whether you agree or disagree with this definition from an ethnomusicological viewpoint is NOT going to be an issue on this list. We're here to discuss hurdy-gurdies, their music, their culture, their players, etc. So we can discuss where or how HG's have been applied to Celtic Music as defined above. If the discussion wanders into examining what Celtic Music is defined as, I'll shut it down. The merits of my working definition have doubtless been discussed at length elsewhere, so we will not discuss them further here: such a discussion is not germane to the focus of the list. For the purposes of the vast majority of the general public who are even aware of Celtic Music, my definition works, so we're going to live with it here for the moment. If you just can't stand it, use your delete key, or discuss it with me OFF LIST. The Listmaster Has Spoken. Alden
