File: morrisonrita-oh--womanfiddling_M.mp3
Speakers:
RM – Rita Morrison
KP – Curator Ken Perlman
RM But they weren't encouraged as much maybe, were they?
KP I don't know! What do you think?
RM Well, it's like everything else now. There's women's lib it's on now, and I think probably that's got something to do with it. You don't feel so, well, so different to be taking up your fiddle now and playing, trying to learn to play. Can you imagine, at my age years ago I wouldn't even think of picking up the fiddle to learn, and now I don't seem to mind. I can pick up a fiddle and try to learn a piece, you know.
KP So, you think women would have felt funny picking up a fiddle?
RM Well, I don't think they got as much encouragement. I don't know what you'd say about that.
KP Because it didn't seem like ...
RM It didn't seem the thing to do.
KP ... the men got encouragement either, they just did it.
RM They just did it, that's right, yeah. It was very few women played, very few. If they played, they took music and took classical music. I would never think of picking up a fiddle and playing it years ago, never think of it.
KP But you picked up the piano.
RM Yeah, I loved the piano, and kept at it.
KP Did you get a lot of encouragement then, to play the piano?
RM Oh, yes. Well everybody would always be glad to have you to play with them, you played with them. And accompaniment's always good help to a fiddler.
KP What about in your family; was anyone encouraged to take up…
RM … the fiddle? No, there was no talk of fiddles for girls in my family, you know.
KP Were the boys encouraged to take up the fiddle?
RM Well, my oldest brother used to play some fiddle. No, they just took it and played themselves. There was no question of whether they should do it or whatever. They just took the violin and played. I think it's a bit different now. There's more people at it, you know. If you can do it, do it. That's the attitude today. If you can do it, go ahead and do it; if you want to try it, try it. If you don't make a go of it, well, that's fine too. And if you do, that's great.
KP What do you think changed it? Do you think it was women's lib, or was it something else?
RM I don't know. I think it was just the organization of the Prince Edward Island Fiddlers that started it all again, that got more into it. I think that's it. And they probably encouraged each other, as they went along, to come into it.