Scottish Gaelic Music

Calum & Annie Johnston: songs, stories, and piping from Barra

by Virginia Blankenhorn

‘Cuir Dhachaidh E’ (‘Send It Home’): The Gifts of the Little People, the Bob of Fettercairn and the aesthetics of a tale and a tune

by Tiber Falzett

2012 [Forthcoming]. In Proceedings of Rannsachadh na Gàidhlig 6. Eds. Colm Ó Baoill and Nancy McGuire.

My research on the nature of Scottish Gaelic performance culture has focused mainly around seanchas or discourse on... more My research on the nature of Scottish Gaelic performance culture has focused mainly around seanchas or discourse on tradition and the semiotics of words contained in such discourse (Falzett 2007-2010; 2010; 2012).  However, as John Shaw has argued, much can be learned by applying such contextual knowledge from the field to the analysis of verbal art forms (i.e. songs, stories, etc.) themselves: “Ideally, informants’ perceptions may eventually be correlated with analysis of texts—permitted variants and other materials—to form a coherent description” (1992/1993: 40). Therefore, this paper hopes to provide insights regarding the dynamic relationships between language and music in varied performative contexts of Scottish Gaelic cultural expression. This will be done by examining the role of ‘genre reinforcement’ (Shaw 1992/3: 38-40) in two Scottish Gaelic versions of ATU  503 (The Gifts of the Little People): one from Kate Dix of Berneray, Uist and the other from Donald (Danny) Cameron of Malden, Massachusetts, who grew up in Beaver Meadow, Antigonish County on the Nova Scotia mainland. In turn, the association of these two versions to the dance-tune ‘The Bob of Fettercairn’ and a related port-à-beul  version of it, beginning with the phrase “Cuir dhachaidh e,” will form the basis of our examination here.

The second part of this paper looks more abstractly at the symbolic nature of the narrative and examines the language contained within various Scottish Gaelic recitations of it. The Gifts of the Little People is well attested throughout the Gaelic-speaking regions of Scotland, Ireland and Nova Scotia. Lillis Ó Laoire’s (2009) groundbreaking discussions on the semiotic significance of this popular narrative have elucidated our understanding of its relevance to the inner mechanics of Gaelic aesthetic criteria and modes of transmission. Following Ó Laoire’s approach, the narrative’s aesthetic symbolism will be further explored through the lenses of emerging theoretical trends in the study of metaphor and other tropes from various scholarly disciplines, including cognitive linguistics and anthropology. This will incorporate a discussion concerning embodied understandings of abstract thought as demonstrated by the seemingly intangible nature of the aural and its ability to be made sense of through its associations with more concrete forms of sensory-motor experience, including vision, motion, and taste.

"Brìgh 'Chiùil: Vernacular Ear-Learned Piping in Cape Breton and South Uist Explored through Seanchas-based Narratives"

by Tiber Falzett

In 'Scottish Studies' 35 (2011): 79-91.

"Aspects of Indigenous Instrument Technologies and the Question of the Smallpipe in the Old and New World Gàidhealtachds"

by Tiber Falzett

'Review of Scottish Culture (ROSC)' No. 22 (2010): 176-95.

“Memory and social interaction in Cape Breton Gaelic singing.” Ethnomusicology Forum. 32 pages, forthcoming.

by Stephanie Conn

The Keening of Women and the Roar of the Pipe: From Clàrsach to Bagpipe, 1600-1782

by Michael Newton

Co-authored with Hugh Cheape; in Ars Lyrica 17

The clàrsach (a wire-strung Gaelic harp) was the pre-eminent instrument in musical culture of the Scottish Highland... more The clàrsach (a wire-strung Gaelic harp) was the pre-eminent instrument in musical culture of the Scottish Highland élite during the medieval period until the late seventeenth century.  Yet by the end of the eighteenth century the Highland bagpipe had supplanted the clàrsach. The professional clàrsair (player of the clàrsach) had accompanied the recitation of Classical Gaelic syllabic poetry where this form had drawn its patronage, including many of the noble houses of Scottish Gaeldom. By the end of the eighteenth century the metrical structure of formal bagpipe compositions (ceòl mór) had inspired song forms in Scottish Gaelic and bagpipe music was described as analogous to Gaelic song itself. This paper explores the transition from clàrsach to bagpipe by examining the portrayal of the bagpipe and its proponents in the record of Scottish Gaelic poetry.

REVIEW: J. L. Campbell and Francis Collinson, Hebridean Folksongs III.

by Virginia Blankenhorn

Celtica XV (1982), 181-4.

Verse-structure and performance in Scottish Gaelic vernacular poetry

by Virginia Blankenhorn

Rannsachadh na Gaidhlig 6 (forthcoming 2012).

Following a brief comparison between Scottish Gaelic and Irish accentual metre at the linear level, this essay focuses... more Following a brief comparison between Scottish Gaelic and Irish accentual metre at the linear level, this essay focuses on the unique character of sung performance in Scotland, involving a complex structural matrix of verse-metre, musical structure, and (in the case of waulking songs) refrain patterning and the dance-like interplay of soloist and chorus in the performance ensemble. The essay suggests that the profound differences between Irish and Scottish Gaelic performance practice may ultimately derive from the Scottish Gaels' unique and prolonged experience of the Norse settlement.

Traditional and Bogus Elements in 'MacCrimmon's Lament'

by Virginia Blankenhorn

Scottish Studies, vol. 22 (1978), pp. 45-67.

Illustrates the confusion of traditional materials with products of romanticism in the 19th century. Materials... more Illustrates the confusion of traditional materials with products of romanticism in the 19th century. Materials examined include stories and legends associated with the piper Domhnall Ban MacCruimein; Sir Walter Scott's poem 'MacCrimmon's Lament'; two Gaelic poems in imitation of Scott; 'Cha till mi tuilleadh' a pibroch-song associated with Domhnall Ban; and various musical productions based on the bagpipe air.