Bowing Down Home Oral History Transcripts

File: macdougalljim06-oh-gettingstarted_M.mp3

Speakers:

JM – Jim MacDougall

KP – Curator Ken Pelman

KP: Now how did you get started playing?

JM: Well again, that's another story (laughs). My father was very strict with the B He had a violin and it wasn't a

File: smithreuben-oh-learningtunes_M.mp3

Speakers:

RS –Reuben Smith

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

RS Learning tunes? Well, I...

KP Did you just get them in your head?

RS Yeah, I just get them in my head. I used to go to the dances and that, and if somebody played

File: smithreuben-oh-gettingstarted_M.mp3

Speakers:

RS – Reuben Smith

RS: My father used to take the fiddle out in the evening after supper and there usually wasn't too much back then to do, only the music and that. And he'd play and I used to watch him, and I decided that I wanted

File: macdonaldpaul-oh-slurs.mp3

Speakers

PM – Paul MacDonald

PM: Recently I was up to Richmond, the Richmond MacKinnon Festival [the Richmond Scottish Music & Dance Festival], and watched Jerry Holland play, of course. I've seen Jerry play many times, and I guess it's getting

File: macdonaldpaul-oh-slowgrace_M.mp3

Speakers:

PM – Paul MacDonald

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

PM: The other type which is considered a grace note in fiddle music but I think in guitar music it's most often referred to as a hammer-on…

KP: Like a slow grace

File: sheehancharlie-oh-parties_organs_M.mp3

Speaker:

CS – Charlie Sheehan

KP: What were the house parties like?

CS: Oh, they were good. Just a bunch would gather, a bunch of boys and girls and get into a house and dance to about twelve or one o'clock at night

File: swensonamy06-oh-gettingestablished_M.mp3

Speakers:

AS – Amy Swenson

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP: So you moved here in

AS: 1998.

KP: So how did you get established, teaching?

AS: I put notices up at the malls,

File: mcquaidjenny-oh-onermschools_M.mp3

Speakers

JM — Jenny O'Hanley McQuaid

KP — Curator Ken Perlman

KP: So in a way, the old school in Monticello and perhaps in other parts of the Island was a community building as well

File: toolestephen-oh-lawnparties_M.mp3

Speakers:

ST – Stephen Toole

KP – Curator Ken perlman

ST: And then there was another type of thing on the island here, was Lawn Parties in the summertime. Now, my father and my brother done a lot of playing at lawn parties. There'd be a

File: macdonaldjoe-oh-nellybanks.mp3

Speakers:
JM – Joe MacDonald

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

JM: It was dry then, dry as could be. But there was a few years later then the rum started to come in. Capt. Dicks used to be up here with the Nellie J. Banks.

KP: I

File: dayivan06-oh-findingthefiddler_M.mp3

ID – Ivan Day

JG – John Gauthier

ID: I remember there was a party back in Frank Murphy's one night up in Norboro, and they come to me, got me out of bed at 10 or 10:30. They want to have a dance back there. A bunch of them got together and

File: rossfamilyband06-oh-bandhistory_M.mp3

Speakers:

JR – Jonathan Ross

JR: This was when Danielle was first learning the fiddle, so she gradually worked her way into this dance show on the fiddle, more than just dancing. And I was already in the show as a side act with piano stuff,

File: robinsonelmer-oh-wmharvey_M.mp3

Speakers:

ER – Elmer Robinson

JC – John Cousins

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

ER: I was 25 or 30 before I had my hands on the fiddle.

JC: You never played at all when you was a kid or anything?

ER: I'm just playin with it. I

File: macdonaldward06-oh-ceilidhs_M.mp3

Speakers:

WM – Ward MacDonald

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

WM: Back around that same time there was those two ceilidhs [at Monticello and Orwell] and the ceilidhs that they were holding at the BIS [Benevolent Irish Society] which were really

File: cheveriecharles06-oh-youngfiddlers_ceilidhs_M.mp3

Speakers:

CC - Fr. Charlie Cheverie

CC: These young people who are now coming along and producing their own CDs, we're finding that they are starting to go at an earlier age to perform in communities. And this is something, as far

File: richardfred06-oh-gettingstarted_M.mp3

Speakers:

FR – Fred Richard

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

FR: And I always wanted to play the violin.

KP: Why was that?

FR: Well I used to like the sound of it. And there was an auction sale and I

File: cheverieomar06-oh-learningtunes_twists_M.mp3

Speakers:
OC – Omar Cheverie

RC – Randy Cheverie

KP: Curator Ken Perlman

OC: When I was young I had an exceptionally good ear for picking up tunes. In fact, some tunes, if it was an easy tune if I heard it once I could play

File: macdonaldhilda-oh-breakdowns_M.mp3

Speakers:

HM – Hilda MacPhee MacDonald

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

GM – George MacPhee (Hilda's nephew)

HM: I forgot all those old tunes: not all of them, but I forgot a lot of them.

KP: Uh-huh.

HM: Can't play

File: raffertyervin06-oh-familyorigins_M.mp3

Speakers:

ER – Ervan Rafferty

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

ER: James, James Rafferty.

KP: Do you know what part of Ireland he came from?

ER: The area he was born in was County Down.

File: raffertyervin06-oh-wedding_M.mp3

Speakers:
ER – Ervan Rafferty

ER: Weddings, there was always music at weddings. And if you were lucky enough to get a violin player that wasn't too far away, he was in great demand, because there wasn't that many violin players like there are today

File: gauthierjohn06-oh-batteryradios_M.mp3

Speakers:

JG – John Gauthier

ID – Ivan Day

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

mid-late 30s).

6:50

JG: That would be around the mid 30s. Until that time we didn't have a radio. And of course with

File: hornbyjim-oh-fiddlersociety_M.mp3

Speakers:

JH – Jim Hornby

JH Yeah. I was around just when they started. At that time they sort of gathered a lot of people who were players and had been for years, and hadn't in some cases been very active, and sort of got them

File: arsenaulteddy-oh-twists_M.wav

Speakers:

EA - Eddy Arsenault

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

EA Some put extra note in them - you know - different --- you know - - - a lot of players ... they put a lot of... It's like buildin a house -- you know, the rough work. But after

File: macdougallherb06-oh-firstfiddleandbow_M.mp3

Speakers:

HM - Herb MacDougall

HM: My Dad [George MacDougall] used to play for dances, before I was born. I found the violin up in the attic; my parents would say I was an inquisitive type and tinkering all the time at something

File: doucettevictor06-oh-puppetmishap_M.mp3

Speakers:

VD – Victor Doucette

KP: curator Ken Perlman

KP: I know your Dad used to make a lot of things out of wood, and puppets, he showed me these dancing dolls he made [a set of dancing dolls operated by the fiddler's

File: chaissonkevin06-oh-fiddlingsurvival_M.mp3

Speakers:

KC – Kevin Chaisson

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP: So looking back at the last 15 years, what's happened ?

KC: When you were here the last time, I would have to say fiddle music was probably at one of

arsenaultrobert06-oh-livingfrommusic_M.mp3

Speakers

RA- Robert Arsenault

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

RA: There's an attachment to traditional music with PEI and when you get visitors from the States or wherever. They come to PEI and they want to listen to PEI music.

File: gauthierjohn06-oh-danceband_M.mp3

Speakers:

JG – John Gauthier

ID – Ivan Day

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP: When did you start playing for dances as a fiddler?

JG: That was probably during the war, when I was working for the phone

File - sonierervan-oh-gettingstarted_M.mp3

Speakers:

ES – Ervan Sonier

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

ES Two pieces of stick, and I used to – I'd take them and go through the motions of tuning the fiddle and all. They used to get a great kick I remember. They'd be back watching me

File: dauschmidtkathryn-oh-peerpressure_M.mp3

Speakers:

KD – Kathryn Dau Schmidt

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KD - My one problem is about Grade 6 with the boys and Grade 8 wityh the girls you lose them -- often yuou lose them unless they're really secure.

KP

File: jayroland-oh-hadtoplay_M.mp3

Speakers

RJ - Roland Jay

AM - Angus McPhee

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP Did you find that if someone could play the fiddle they were pretty much obligated to play at these events?

AM Yeah, I suppose so

File: arsenaultlouise06-oh-keepingmusicalive_M.wav

Speakers

LA: Louise Arsenault

KP: [summary] I understand you are thinking about founding a fiddle camp that focuses on Acadian fiddle, to keep Acadian music and culture alive. Why do you think that's important?

LA:

File: macdougalljim06-oh-playsfirstdance_M.mp3

Speakers:

JM – Jim MacDougall

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

JM: I was 16 years old when I played for my first dance in Grand River Hall.

KP: How did it happen that they asked you to play?

JM: That

File: wightelliott-oh-dances_countryshowers_M.mp3

Speakers:

EW – Elliott Wight

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP And were there house parties in [your area]?

EW A lot. They call 'em around here "country showers". If a girl's getting married, they'd always have

File: princecountyfiddlers-edmathews_M.mp3

Speakers

EM – Ed Mathews

EM: You got my name: Ed Mathews. I was about 18 when I started I suppose. I picked up an old two dollar fiddle I bought from [inaudible]. It had a string on it: no case – just take it up into the barn up at the

File: cranerobert06-oh-homemadebeer_M.mp3

Speakers:

RC – Robert Crane

RC: A cousin of ours was home from the States, a whole bunch at the house, and a couple of jugs, and one feller had an old car he put it in the woods at home, [inaudible]. And he said, "Are you goin' to the dance in

File: gotellhugh-oh-twists_M.mp3

Speakers:

HG – Hugh Gotell

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

HG: My idea's whoever makes the tune sound the best - Hell with the note, play it that way. That's for all those people that put the music on paper, they're only

File: pitredennis06-oh-firstfiddle_M.mp3

Speakers:

DP – Dennis Pitre

DP: The first fiddle I bought, I was 12 years old. And it took me two years to pick up bottles in the road trying to get enough money. It was nineteen dollars and ninety five cents for the fiddle. That'

File: macdonaldward06-oh-youngergeneration_M.mp3

Speakers:

WM – Ward MacDonald

WM: I definitely see people giving too much recognition to some of the younger kids. It's not that the fans of the music mean to do it. But I know they are trying to encourage the kid; they want to see the

File: gotellwilfred-oh-television_M.mp3

Speakers:

WG – Wilfred Gotell

KP – Ken Perlman

WG [When] radio and television started -- came in the houses, that's when they really died down.

KP That was when?

WG 25, 30 years ago, they started to dwindle

File: smithtony06-oh-pauljones_M.mp3

Speakers:

TS – Tony Smith

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP: So the played that for the Paul Jones dances?

TS: Yeah

Mrs. Smith: You're swinging, eh.

TS: And you change your partner, and

File: baglolesidney-oh-olddays_M.mp3

Speakers:

SB – Sid Baglole

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

SB: Oh, it was terrible in them days, terrible in them days. Oh, my goodness! There was no money (laughs). they used to pass the hat around, you know, to pay me,(laughs) Used to pass

File: macdougalljim06-oh-parishpicnics_M.mp3

Speakers:

JM – Jim MacDougall

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

JM: All the country schools used to have dances in the summertime to raise money for to support the schools. I played for quite a few of those.

KP: Who were

File: biggarjackie06-oh-twists_M.mp3

Speakers

JB- Jackie Biggar

KP – Ken Perlman

JB: And You know you're doing a good job when people start playing your tune the way you play it, cause that tells you that people want to listen to your playing. If you play a tune and you put

File: bergeronhelene06-oh-barachoisappeal_M.mp3

Speakers:

HB – Helene Bergeron

PA – Peter Arsenault

KP – curator Ken Perlman

KP: Was there anything in particular about PEI music that you felt the audiences [for Barachois] reacted to?

File: chappellella06-oh-districtschools_M.mp3

Speakers:

EC – Ella Thomson Chappell

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP: Tell me about the schools that you went to.

EC: Well the way it was they had to put the fire on in the morning. So somebody had to go early and

File: lowejudy06-oh-robertweeks_M.mp3

Speakers:

JL – Judy Lowe

JL: My grandfather was Bob Weeks, and Bob was quite a good fiddler back in them times. He lived in Winsloe and he had a big family. He played around at dances in the community and other places. He was a cheese

File: macinnislargus-oh-gaelic_M.mp3

Speakers:

LM – Largus MacInnis

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

LM I remember my two grandmothers; they spoke Gaelic a lot.

KP Yes.

LM There was an old lady; used to live in Munns Road. She'd walk

File: oconnorattwood-oh-weddings_M.mp3

Speakers:

AO – Attwood O'Connor

SB – Stanley Bruce

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP Can you describe how weddings went in this area?

AO It was all square dancing. After they'd get married they'd be comin home, and they'd

File: mackenziesheila06-oh-whymorewomanfiddling_M.mp3

Speakers:

SM –Sheila MacKenzie

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

SM: I guess it had a lot to do with – It was just a changing world. Women progressed in every area with equality. So they were doing more, and it was accepted more. And

File: macdonaldbill-oh-composing_m.mp3

Speakers:

Bm – Bill MacDonald

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

BM: [The] first of this week, Tuesday I think it was, I went out to my daughter's cottage, 25 miles out.

KP: Yes.

BM: Up near Morrell. I was

File: webstercarlandjackie06-oh-newgenerationfiddlers_M.mp3

Speakers:

CW: They play good, they get them yellin' and goin'.

MQ: They actually play real fast. You can put better time on it by slowin' down.

CW: You can put better time and you can get

File: arsenaultrobert06-oh-futureofmusic.mp3

Speakers:
RA-Robert Arsenault

RA:Tthis whole idea of where is it [Island fiddling] going and how far has it come. When you take it out of the kitchen and put it on the stage then you're getting into a whole new set of things. So one of the

File: cheverieomar06-oh-neilcheverie_M.mp3

Speakers:

OC – Omar Cheverie

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

OC: Well, in his time everybody thought he was exceptional because he seemed to be a bit above the rest. He could cut and do things with the bow that most other fiddlers around

File: hallidayjimmy-oh-lazyfiddlers_M.mp3

Speakers:

JH: Jimmy Halliday

EM: Eddie Martin

KP: Curator Ken Perlman

JH At that time a lot of them weren't much good for anything else for some reason or another. They were handy to have around for a house

File: chappellella06-oh-firstcar_M.mp3

Speakers:

EC – Ella Thomson Chappell

EC: Everybody went in a horse and wagon then because there was no cars. And I can remember the first cars when they were around: or pretty near the first, I guess. I must tell you this little story. There's

File: macleandanny-oh-partieshome_M.mp3

Speakers:

DM – Danny MacLean

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP: When you were a kid, or a "young fellow" as they say up here, did you have parties in the house just among yourselves where you were playing music at night?

DM:

File: myersfenner06-oh-gettingstarted_M.mp3

Speakers:

FM – Fenner Myers

JD – Jim Dobson

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP: Was there music in your house when you were growing up?

FM: Yeah

KP : What kind of music was there?

File: poirierzelieanne-oh-musicinhome_M.mp3

Speakers:

ZP – Zélie-Anne Arsenault Poirier

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP There must have been a lot of music around the home

ZP Oh yeah!

KP Can you tell us a little bit about ...

ZP We had an old-fashioned organ

File: arsenaultlouise-oh-musichome_M.wav

Speakers:

LA-Louise Arsenault

KP-Curator Ken Perlman

LA: We never had a television for a while there, so there wasn't very much to do, I guess. So in the evenings we would, we only had the lamp, we never had the