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 tradition. And my theory about it is that this is a very therapeutic exercise. It makes a connection with something that has gone, and something that was valuable in culture. To talk about a way of life that has disappeared is a way of coping with change. Particularly here on the Island. The changes have been so dramatic in the last thirty years, where we've been yanked out of – In thirty to forty years we were yanked out of a horse‑drawn era, which really hadn't changed that much in terms of speed in the previous hundred years. In 1950 nine of ten farms still worked horses. That was 1950 when everybody was driving their Fords and their Chevs and the whole continent was becoming urbanized, people were still using horses on nine out of ten farms. So in the last forty years, that dramatic change has taken place and people need some way to cope with the tremendous pressure on society and on culture. They need some therapy, and very often conversation is therapy. Conversation about the little mare we had. "I had a little mare, she was the fastest thing ever on four legs." That sort of thing, and you hear story after story. Or the other connection is singing the old songs. "Sing us Peter Emberly." If we go to Elmer's, Elmer Robinson's today he'll probably want me to sing Peter Emberly; he always asks me to sing it. Peter Emberly is a song that has been traditional here for a hundred years. Peter Emberly was born on the Dock Road which is about six miles from here and he went to New Brunswick and he was killed [in a lumbering accident], and a song was made about him. People want to talk about the old times and they want to play the fiddle. And all these things I maintain are not conservative nostalgic nonsense. They are therapy for people who are trying to cope with drastic changes in their lives. I consider I've lived in at least two centuries; my wife says three (laughter). I went to see my first movie in a horse and wagon; I suppose I'd be eight years old. It was interesting because it came to Bloomfield Station which is about four or five miles from here. They couldn't bring it to Campbellton because there was no electricity; I don't think there was any electricity in Bloomfield Station either but they had some sort of generator hooked up. But the fiddling has remained the strongest. It's vibrant;. it's just full of life. It's quite nice.
