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Date: Mon, 4 Jun 2001 18:28:41 -0400
From: Keith W Dunn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [scots-l] Trad Scots?
[Keith wrote:]I was wondering about the opinions or factual information of
list
members concerning the difference in traditional Scottish fiddle music
and the other genre's of what's now-a-day's called traditional "Celtic"
music. I suppose that would mean Irish ( and it's all inclusive
geographical styles ), Welch, Northern English, etc., etc.
I understand that the Scots have "Strathspeys" but the others all have
reels, jigs, airs, etc. as well.
Just what would be the deciding factor that would make it Scots Fiddle
music if you didn't know the origin or author? <
Dear Keith
A considered opinion on this all too often misconstrued subject:
Tradition (like all historical subjects) needs dates to function properly.
The "Scottish Tradition" has five sectors dating from before (say) 1700:
Hebridean & west highland (Gaelic) vocal (and Instrumental) music
Scots Songs from mainland (highland, northeast, central & border) regions
Bagpipe Music ("ceol mor" or "piobaireachd" and some dance/social music)
The (mainly) instrumental music of the North Isles (Shetland & Orkney)
The instrumental ("fiddle") music of mainland Scotland (regions as in song)
By the 19th century, influences outwith these sectors were at work (in the
ballroom and the concert hall) making precise definition more difficult.
Skinner was brought up in a world that still remembered the Gows and
William Marshall, but when the great compilers of the 1870-1900 period
- Kerr, Robertson (Athole Collection) and others - published the work
of
those older traditional composers, they did so anonymously, as if the
music had no past in the proper sense. Hence the tag "traditional"
took on a second meaning, generically "old" and (latterly) "out of
copyright". We weren't told much about the older composers and were
destined to hear less and less.
How many people interested in the fiddle music collections (my subject)
know that there are more than 350 volumes (publised by at least 150
different editors, collectors and fiddler-composers) from that "Golden
Age" (c 1750-1830) ? How many wouldbe fiddlers and other musicians
are aware that about 60% of that music has NEVER been re-published
and is now only present in the original editions ? These are now in the
Rare Book category and in the care of half a doxen of the principal
libraries of Scotland, England and N. America.
I'm working on a plan to get them "on-line" and accessible to the whole
(world-wide) musical community. It takes time to persuade the money
men to part with "our"money, but it will happen, I'm sure.
It's small wonder perhaps that the folk players of the 60s and 70s found
"Scottish Dance Band" music dull and not going anywhere. The Irish
Ceilidh movement was much more exciting. So, what happens ?
The spin doctors of the folk movement think up "Celtic" (borrowed from
myth and football) as a generic term to cover anything that vaguely drops
into that category (including Shetland and Cajun music which don't).
The rest is not exactly history, but it's often entertaining (when it's
not
boringly repetitive or too much like Pop Music to be entirely on the
level).
The Scottish Tradition is still The Scottish Tradition. It lives
(quietly)
in Scotland, as does Irish Music (in Ireland, not quite so quietly) and
Shetland music in Shetland and Cape Breton Music in Cape Breton.
I'll try anything once, but the old Scottish tradition is what I return
to.
I hope I'm not being too dogmatic about this. But dates , in my view,
are what make sense of history. What is history ? It's what is left when
all the people who knew what really happened are dead !
Charlie Gore ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
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