File: sigsworthcosmas-oh-gettingstarted_marriage_M.mp3
Speakers:
CS – Cosmas Sigsworth
KP – Curator Ken Perlman
KP: Did you grow up in a musical household?
CS: Not really. My mother was musical; she played the organ; but there was nobody in the immediate family that played the fiddle. But I always had a great longing to be able to play the fiddle.
KP: Why was that?
CS: I don't know. I just loved it. I just wanted that. I started when I was 12 years old. Jack Webster was my idol, and I tried to copy him as much as I could: go to a dance and if I could get a little bit of a tune, I'd go home and whistle it. My Mom would teach me the rest of it, and then I'd put it on the fiddle.
KP: How did your Mom teach you the rest of tunes?
CS: I just hummed the tune.
KP: She knew the tunes?
CS: Yes, she was full of music. Then when I got to be a little bit better, played a few tunes. My girlfriend, my wife now, she used to play the guitar. So, me playing the fiddle and her playing the guitar, I decided that I needed a lot of practice. In fact, we both needed a lot of practice, together. So it gave an excuse. Sometimes we wouldn't take the fiddle out of the case (laughter) . Anyway, it got me to where I was going. And finally I got her persuaded to marry me.
KP: How old were you when you married?
CS: I was 26, and she was 24.
KP: How did you meet?
CS: That way. We only lived two miles apart. At dances now, we'd play the music together. As I said, I figured we needed more practice. "How about Wednesday night, meet for practice?" "OK" All and all I was working on this "I wish she was mine, I wish I could take her home and keep her." So finally, I got her persuaded. We got married and that was the beginning of a long happy life. We'll be celebrating forty nine years of wedlock next month. So we hope to make it to the fify.
