Bowing Down Home Oral History Transcripts

File: mcquaidjenny-oh-musicinhome_M.mp3

Speakers:

JM — Jenny O'Hanley McQuaid

TW — Teresa MacPhee Wilson

JM In those times, I remember — JD MacAdam and Chester played the organ, and JD played the fiddle and Albina stepdanced, she was a real good step dancer: a woman, Albina

File: sigsworthcosmas-oh-mothersrole_M.mp3

Speakers:

CS – Cosmas Sigsworth

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP: You said your mother would sing the rest of the tunes to you. How did she learn the tunes?

CS: Now where she was born, there was fiddlers lived on either side

File: stewartarchie-oh-tiresomeattimes.mp3

Speakers:

AS – Archie Stewart

AS: If you played the first four nights of the week, and a good friend come along and said, "Look, I'm having a house party Friday night, will you come and play," Now what are you gonna say? (laughs). You can't

File: macdonaldfrancis-oh-musicinfamily_M.mp3

Speakers:

FM – Francis MacDonald

FM My father's family, it was his mother that actually taught him how to play. And it was in her side of the family, the MacDonalds on her side of the family that were the musicians more so than my father'

File: cousinsjohn-oh-badinstrument_M.mp3

Speakers:

JC – John Cousins

JC: There was a belief in the community around here that if a man ever became a fiddler, a good fiddler – In order to be a good fiddler, you couldn't be any good for anything else. First of all it implied an addiction

File: arsenaultlouise-oh-gettingstarted_M.wav

Speakers-

LA: Louise Arsenault

KP: Curator Ken Perlman

LA: I was brought up in Mt. Carmel and my parents live in Mt. Carmel. I started playing the violin when I was 7 years old and my father also plays the violin and my

File: macdonaldhilda-oh-gettingstarted_M.mp3

Speakers:

HM – Hilda MacPhee MacDonald

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

GM – George MacPhee (Hilda's nephew)

HM: I guess I was six; as soon as I could hold the fiddle I started to learn.

KP: (to George MacPhee) This was your

File: farrellleo06-oh-gettingstarted_M.mp3

Speakers:

LF – Leo Farrell

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

LF: Well I'll tell you, my mother was a Woods from Miscouche. And after church – we're Catholics, I don't know what you are but it don't make no difference anyhow. After

File: quinnmerlin-oh-farmlife_M.mp3

Speakers:
MQ – Merlin Quinn

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

MQ: I probably remember what happened back in the '30's, that's for sure. Things were tough in the 30's alright but it seemed to be a nice way of living.

KP: What was nice about it?

File: chappellella06-oh-farmlife_M.mp3

Speakers:

EC – Ella Chappell

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

EC: We had no pump in the house; we had it outside and we had to pump the water and take it in. And then we had the old range stove and there was a big tank on the side which holded

File: raffertyervin06-oh-winterfarmwork_M.mp3

Speakers:

ER – Ervan Rafferty

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

ER: Well the people, they would haul marsh hay. They used to get the marsh hay 'cause it was great for milk cows, make them drink water, instead of the the salt cakes that they

File: gaudetdavid06-oh-gettingstarted_M.mp3

Speakers:

DG – David Gaudet

RG – Robert Gallant

KP- Curator Ken Perlman

KP: How did you yourself learn to play?

DG: I learned pretty well on my own.

RG: His brother kicked

File: chaissontimothy06-oh-familyinfluences_M.mp3

Speakers:

TC – Timothy Chaisson

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

TC: I learned a lot from Peter, he actually mentored me quite a bit: using the fourth fingers for example. He doesn't usually play open strings for fiddle I guess; his

File: morrisonrita-oh--musichome_M.mp3

Speakers:

RM – Rita Morrison

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

RM It was a family of ten.

KP Are you related to Joe MacDonald?

RM Not related, no, but we were very close friends over the years. They lived

File: chaissonjj06-oh-familyguidance_M.mp3

Speakers:

JC – JJ Chaisson

KP: Curator Ken Perlman

JC: All of our aunts and uncles and cousins always encouraged each other. But at the end of the day it's what we wanted to do. We had lots of suggestions B I took lots of

File: dockendorffharold06-oh-escapingdance_M.mp3

Speakers:

HD: Harold Dockendorff

HD: One night my brother and I were playing at a school dance. It got pretty wild. So it was time to go home and it was after one o'clock. I had to go outside, pretend I had to go outside

File: smithtony06-oh-steannetwists_M.mp3

Speakers:

TS – Tony Smith

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP: A lot of fiddlers have commented about – That no two fiddlers play…

TS: The same.

KP: They might play the tunes the same way but they all

File: cheveriecharles-oh-rolewithfidsociety_M.mp3

Speakers:

CC - Fr. Charlie Cheverie

CC: Getting back to our friend Joe Chaisson. Joe died in 1981 in Rollo Bay. I went to the funeral, and the pastor at the time knowing my relationship to the Chaisson family asked me if I wanted to

File: macinnisbillysenior06-oh-donmesser_M.mp3

Speakers:

BM – Billy MacInnis, Sr

KP – Curator Ken PerlmanDid you ever meet Don Messer?

KP: Did you ever meet Don Messer?

BM: Yes I met Don Messer when he lived on Belmont St. in Charlottetown. I'd be about 7 or

File: robinsonpeter06-oh-ellerslieschoolprogram_M.mp3

Speakers:

PR – Peter Robinson

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

PR: I got the job as music teacher here in Ellerslie.

KP- I believe that you have started up a fiddle in the schools program?

PR

File: oconnorattwood06-oh-musichome_breakdowns_M.mp3

Speakers:

AO – Attwood O'Connor

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

AO: They used to come in, all the neighbors would come in there, it was a gathering place for all the young people in the community at that time. We used

File: bernardalvin-oh-decline.mp3

Speakers:

ES — Edwin Simmons

AB — Alvin Bernard

KP — Curator Ken Perlman

KP: Why did it start goin down? What would happen if a young fellow ... Let's say it was the 1950s, what would happen if a young fellow wanted to take up

File: cousinsjohn-oh-dealingwithchange_M.mp3

Speakers:

JC – John Cousins

JC: As a folklorist, I've had to sort of ponder the uses of these traditions. and it seems to me that the fiddling tradition served a purpose. People love to continue to play the fiddle; it's a continuance of a

File: huestislowell06-oh-nielsonandbear_M.mp3

Speakers:

LH – Lowell Huestis

LH: They [Messer and the band] stopped somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. There was a bear up in the road ahead, of their station wagon, And Duke [Neilson] told the driver, whoever was drivin' at

File: cheveriecharles06-oh-singingstrings_M.mp3

Speakers:

CC – Fr. Charles Cheverie

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

CC: On PEI in the last 10, 15 years – Was John and Jan Clemmens around when you were here before?

KP: Yes, Singing Strings?

CC:

File: biggarjackie06-oh-tunememory_M.mp3

Speakers:

JB – Jackie Biggar

KP – curator Ken Perlman

And a lot of times when I was learnin' I'd have a dream that I learnt the tune; I'd get up in the morning and play it. I'd be friggin' with it that night, and couldn't

File: mcquaidjenny-oh-consolidation_M.mp3

Speakers

JM — Jenny O'Hanley McQuaid

KP — Curator Ken Perlman

KP: When did they go from the old district schools — And I guess every community is actually a school district — Is that the way it works out?

File: doucettejoe-oh-howlearned.mp3

Speakers:

JD – Joe Doucette

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

JD: I was 6 years old.

KP: How did you go about learning to play the fiddle?

JD: How'd I go about it? Go hide somewheres with the

File: macdonaldpaul-oh-doublestops_M.mp3

Speakers:

PM – Paul MacDonald

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

PM: That's right. The most common one is…

Demonstrates Double Stop on G and B (strings 3 and 2, respectively)

PM There's G right there

File: swensonamy06-oh-donaghschoolprogram_m.mp3

Speakers:

AS – Amy Swenson

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

AS: The Donagh School is a new school, it's only six years old. The Donagh school parents wanted – They fundraised for a playground; they got the playground in and they wanted to

File: cheveriecharles-oh-donmesser_M.mp3

Speakers:

CC – Fr. Charles Cheverie

CC Then in 1939 or 1940, Don Messer came. Don Messer was a big, big name in fiddling. But Don Messer was a fiddler who came from New Bruns-wick, he had some classical training himself, was able to

File: arsenaulteddy-oh-styles_M.wav

Speaker:

EA — Eddy Arsenault

It don't make any difference where you go, you can go up west, you go to Tignish, you can go to Souris, you can go Summerside, everybody got a different style to play. You notice that? Now in New Brunswick they got a

File: cousinsjohn-oh-islandsounds_M.mp3

Speakers:

JC – John Cousins

JC: Speaking of sounds, not only music of course – The sounds of the farm, the traditional farm on PEI will probably never be heard now because they were never really recorded. The sound of a team. This farm never

File: macdonaldfrancis-oh-gettingstarted_M.mp3

Speakers:

FM – Francis MacDonald

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP So how old were you when you began playing?

FM Oh, I suppose around between 9 and 10 years old, somewhere in that range.

KP

File: macpheegeorge-oh-weddings_M.mp3

Speakers:

GM – George MacPhee

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

GM They had a certain tune they used to play for the old wedding dance. They used to tune the fiddle up in high bass, and Dad used to play it all the time. But it's kind of a tricky

File: hughesemmett-oh-doublestops_M.mp3

Speakers

EH – Emmett Hughes

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP I think I heard you use a lot of double strings in your playing, is that true? You try to hit two strings?

EH Yes, and a lot of times you

File: chaissonkevin-oh-pnoruns.mp3

Speakers:

KC — Kevin Chaisson

KC It's always in the background with the fiddle. The fiddle is — Stands out, and the piano is always in the background. But the thing that I like to do is — I don't even know what you call it. It's kinda like maybe a chord

File: stewartarchie-oh-playingforset_M.mp3

Speakers:

AS – Archie Stewart

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

AS There was a certain beat of music for each section [figure] of that set. Like when you started first, you wanted a fairly slow beat, because it was a slow back and forth.

File: quinnmerlin-oh-swingingrhythm_M.mp3

Speakers:
MQ – Merlin Quinn

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

MQ: I can teach you how to swing in about two seconds. You don't have to have a partner. And you don't have to have fast music. The thing about swingin is, music doesn't have to be fast

File: chaissonyoungpeter-oh-fourthfingerdemo_M.mp3

Speakers:

PC – "Young Peter" Chaisson

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

PC: It makes the tune. Remember what we were talking about there today?

KP: Yeah.

PC: Like there's – When it'

File: toolestephen-oh-takingsound_M.mp3

Speakers:

ST – Stephen Toole

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

ST And another thing about a fiddler is – I've heard my father sayin, I've heard a lot of people sayin that they can always tell a person that would never be a fiddler by the sound

File: dauschmidtkathryn06-oh-peerpressureupdate_M.mp3

Speakers:

KD – Kathryn Dau Schmidt

KD: I get the feeling there's not as much peer pressure because there's been enough young people playing that it's not looked at quite as weird as it was, in most places.

banksreg06-oh-changesqdances_M.mp3

Speakers:

RB – Reg Banks

KP – Ken Perlman

RB: Oh there's a lot of changes in the dances. I can hardly explain the dances today. They get up on the floor today, and they're dancin' around and they'd just be scufflin' around. Now, years ago

File: macinnisbillysenior06-oh-declinesqdances_M.mp3

Speakers:

BM – Billy MacInnis Sr.

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

BM:A lot of them dances was just a fiddle and a piano: not even vocalists, and you could in them days put 100 to 150 people in a hall just with a fiddle

File: banksreg06-oh-schooldances_piesocials.mp3

Speakers

RB – Reg Banks

KP – curator Ken Perlman

RB: Years ago they'd have the old-fashioned school houses, befoerr they's have the big high schools and all this. Every settlement had a school house. And they would have dances in

File: gotellwilfred-oh-dancing_M.mp3

Speakers:
WG – Wilfred Gotell

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

WG: But the old time dance, really, the old lancers, they died right out. This modern stuff come in. And it would be nice if it would come back again cause it was really a nice dance,

File: mcpheedan-oh-dances_M.mp3

Speakers:

DM – Dan McPhee

HM – Hughie McPhee (Dan's brother)

DM There'd be dances during the summertime; there'd be dances in the schoolhouses. They'd be trying to raise some money to…

HM Repairs and paintin'

File: dockendorffharold06-oh-playingfordances_M.mp3

Speakers:

HD – Harold Dockendorff

KP: Did your parents play music at all?

HD: No. There was no music in the family, except my youngest brother he learned to play the Hawaiian guitar with the steel bar. And I

File: macdonaldfrancis06-oh-districtdances_M.mp3

Speakers:

FM – Francis MacDonald

KP: Curator Ken Perlman

KP: Did you ever have house parties at your house?

FM: Yes, I remember them having some parties there, some wedding showers and dances in our home there

File: toolestephen-oh-dancesolddays_M.mp3

Speakers:

ST – Stephen Toole

ST: There was a lot of dances, see. The way the dances are today, they're all Saturday night dances, or maybe Thursday night, or maybe Friday night. They have their special night at some halls. Well, years ago

File - farrellleo06-oh-fiddlerpay_M.mp3

Speaker:

LF – Leo Farrell

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

LF: Farmed all my life except a few years. I farmed up through the 1940s. You know, I was pretty lucky. You're not in a hurry are you?

KP: No.

File: gauthierjohn06-oh-houseparties_fights_M.mp3

Speakers:

JG – John Gauthier

ID – Ivan Day

KP: Curator Ken Perlman

KP: Did they have house parties?

JG: Oh very much so, my earliest dances I played were house dances.

File: doironpeter-oh-housedances_M.mp3

Speakers:

PD – Peter Doiron

PD: There'd be house dances back then mostly. And if there were tea parties or picnics, they would have a stage outside where they would, I think,

charge so much to get on the stage. And they would dance

File: macinnisbillysenior06-oh-charlottetowndances_M.mp3

Speakers:

BM – Billy MacInnis Sr

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

BM: Oh, when I was a kid there was dances just about every night of the week.

KP: Where were these dances, what kind of places?

File: chipmangary-oh-roughdances_M.mp3

Speakers:
GC – Gary Chipman

GC: In some cases – There was one out in a place called Harrington, which is out towards Brackley, in that area. The barn's been torn down now, what it was was just a big hay barn. And it had a hay loft in it, and a

File: macdonaldpaul-oh-cutting_M.mp3

Speakers:

PM – Paul MacDonald

KP – Ken Perlman

KP Now what did they show you about cutting?

PM Okay. The first thing - This is a funny story; I don't know if I should say this on tape. I went to Cape Breton when I was

File: cranerobert06-oh-firsttune_M.mp3

Speakers:

RC – Robert Crane

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP: How old were you when you started to play the fiddle?

RC: I was pickin' at it at about 12 year old I guess.

KP: Do your remember how it

File: hughesemmett-oh-houseparties_weddings_M.mp3

Speakers:

EH - Emmett Hughes

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP What were the old house parties like? Did they take place in your house quite often?

EH Yes, they'd go from house to house, usually the

File: westprincefiddlers-oh-olddays_fights_M.mp3

Seated L-R:

JA: Jack Arbing

GO: George O'Connor

ER: Elmer Robinson

DR: Dorothy Dalton Rogers]

KP: Curator Ken Perlman

Speakers:

JA Used to be great fights at the dances.

File: macdonaldpaul-oh-compoundgracenotes_M.mp3

Speakers:

PM – Paul MacDonald

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

PM: Most times what you're actually dealing with is a grace note on a grace note, which is very tricky. That's what you're dealing with there. I've never really actually