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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: 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: stewartarchie-oh-houseparty.mp3

Speakers

AS – Archie Stewart

AS: Back then in the Depression, we had no entertainment. There was no radios, there was no television, and that was the only entertainment we had. You know in the wintertime probably once a week

File: chappellella06-oh-wintertravel_M.mp3

Speakers:

EC – Ella Thomson Chappell

EC: And then I remember when I went to school, there's no snow plows then, and then we'd go through the field. They'd break a road with the horse and sleigh, and then they'd go and take branches off a

File: mellishreg06-oh-dancenotallowed_gettingstarted_M.mp3

Speakers:

RM – Reg Mellish

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP: Was there music in your house?

RM: No.

KP: Was there music in your community?

RM: Not much, not at that

File: dauschmidtkathryn-oh-rollobayschool_M.mp3

Speaker:

KD – Kathryn Dau Schmidt

KD: Some of those kids that are doing so beautifully now just started right then. They were 5 and 6 years old, some were 7. So they had a little start but they pretty much started with me

File: macdonaldjoe-oh-parishpicnics_M.mp3

Speakers:

JM – Joe MacDonald

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

JM: They were pretty busy in the summer time. There wouldn't be too much - There wouldn't be house parties but there'd be outside things like picnics in the summertime

KP

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: macdonaldfaber-oh-abusingthegift_M.mp3

Speakers:

FM – Rev. FaberMacDonald

FM: Your question brings up another consideration in terms of the gift, you see. I can recall the many different fiddlers who came from the little community where I was brought up, which is just about 10

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: 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: 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: quinnmerlin-oh-gettingstarted_M.mp3

Speaker:

MQ – Merlin Quinn

MQ: It was the thing. It just simply seemed to me to be the thing to be able to do. It was so great! I could whistle and I could jig, and I could sing and so could my father, as I said, was a good

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: 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: 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'

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: 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: cranerobert06-oh-fiddlerspay_M.mp3

Speakers:

RC – Robert Crane

RC: I played with my Dad for a lot of weddings. Oh, the old fashioned weddings was great. One weddin' him and I played when I was only young. And he was rakin' hay with the old horse and rake, and I was kylin' hay in

File: mcpheehugh06-oh-familyorigins_M.mp3

Speakers:

HM – Hughie McPhee

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

HM: I guess it started, probably started when Wolfe was in Quebec. In Wolfe's Army, they had a pipe regiment and my great, great uncle was a piper there with him. His nephew, Archie

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: 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: 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: arsenaultrobert06-oh-professionalization_M.mp3

Speakers:

RA: Robert Arsenault

KP: Ken Perlman

RA: In terms of where's the music going .We were talking last time that traditional music was essentially through kitchen parties in the home, sometimes at the

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: macleanclarence06-oh-learningtunes_M.mp3

Speakers:

CM – Clarence MacLean

KP: How did you go about learning tunes? Did you have them in your head?

CM: Yeah.

KP: Some fiddlers said they'd wake up in the middle of the night…

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: doucettejoe-oh-frolics.mp3

Speakers –

JD: Joe Doucette

KP – curator Ken Perlman

JD: Tell you how they worked. Supposin' that you had a piece of wood to cut and you were alone. Well they'd make what they called a bee. He'd ask a bunch of men or they'd offer themselves.

File: chaissonkenny-oh-baptists_M.mp3

Speakers:

KC – Kenny Chaisson

LC – Lemmy Chaisson

LC If you go east of Souris, then there were – It would be the worst place you could ever play, because it took them all night to get up. And, they were great listeners, but they wouldn't

File: macintyrestewart-oh-origins.mp3

File

SM – Stewart MacIntyre

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

SM: The MacIntyres came to the Island, well around 1800. I haven't been able to find out exactly when – They came around 1800. My grandmother was a Stewart, she was indeed related to

File: chappellella06-oh-womensinsitute_M.mp3

Speakers:

EC – Ella Thomson Chappell

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

EC: There was the Women's Institute. Well you see, the men had to take them in the winter time.

KP: Tell me a little bit about the women's Institute

File: wilsonteresa-oh-lordmacd_M.mp3

Speakers:

TW – Teresa MacPhee Wilson

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

TW Back years ago they used to have fiddlers' contests

KP Yeah.

TW And you had to be able to play Lord MacDonald's Reel before you were

File: arsenaultlouise-oh-twists.wav

LA: So I mean, every fiddler is different, that's for sure, there's not one fiddler that plays the same as you. I would listen to Eddy Arsenault play and I would learn that tune, but I would play it a different way. And then all of a sudden I

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: stewartarchie-oh-playinglively.mp3

Speaker:

AS - Archie Stewart

AS: You get some kind of a message from your music through the people. I've seen this happen. I've seen at a dance hall where the people would be all sittin' around and nobody would be up dancin', and the thing'd

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 Name: albertjoe06-oh-learningtunes.wav

Speaker: Joe Albert

You wake up sometimes in your sleep, and you whistle the tune that you heard before, and they tell you that the right thing to do when you wake up like that if you want to hear a tune is learn it before breakfast. Try and learn it before

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: 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: banksjimmy-oh-help,olderfids.mp3

Speakers:

JB – Jimmy Banks

KP – curator Ken Perlman

KP Would you find that the older fellows would take you aside and help you out?

JB Oh, if you asked them, yes, if you asked them for some information they'd tell you, you know,

File Name: albertjoe06-oh-houseparties_M.mp3

Speakers:

KP: curator Ken Perlman

JA: Joe Albert

IA: Ivan Albert

KP: Did they used to have a lot of house parties and such?

JA: We used to have them all when we were up west, Holy…

KP: What were

File: maccormackfrancis06-oh-familydiscovery.mp3

Speakers:

FM – Francis MacCormack

FM: They came home from the army one time, my three oldest brothers. They came home from the Army. Of course as you probably know, a little bit of moonshine was flowin' around; they got into that. My

File: wilsonteresa-oh-womenfiddling_M.mp3

Speakers:

TW – Teresa MacPhee Wilson

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

TW No women fiddlers at all, then.

KP I was going to ask you about that.

TW My aunt Hilda played. She was the only woman that

File: wedgeclifford-oh-houseparties_M.mp3

Speakers:

CW – Clifford Wedge

CW: People would come over at night. There was no radio then. There was no television. There was nothing. Just people sitting down, they'd play the violin and sing songs. They'd just have an evening.

KP:

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: 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: macdonaldpaul-oh-irishrolls_M.mp3

Speakers:

PM – Paul MacDonald

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP: What are some of the others?

PM: One that's slowly moving its way into Scottish fiddle music which has been prevalent in Irish music is the roll. And that's

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: mackenziesheila06-oh-womanfiddling_M.mp3

Speakers

SM – Sheila MacKenzie

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP: Did you experience any sort of resistance yourself to your wanting to play?

SM: I definitely didn't meet any resistance, just because I think – Around

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: macdonaldward06-oh-professionalopportunities_M.mp3

Speakers:

WM – Ward MacDonald

I think it's a combination of things: just the time right now, the time we're in right now. It's very easy to make a CD, any player that's trying to go anywhere has a website and they put a press kit

File: macdonaldpaul-oh-gracenotes_M.mp3

Speakers:

PM – Paul MacDonald

KP – Ken Perlman

Pm: Grace notes, which you've seen before is just an addition

Demonstrates Grace Notes

KP: So is it just a little cut or is it?

File: princecountyfiddlers-oh-womenfiddling_M.mp3

Speakers:

GB – Glenna Bowness

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP: WE have noticed that women were under-represented in the ranks of. What was your sense growing up about women and fiddling?

GB: I think fiddle was

File Name: hallidayjimmy-oh-houseparties_M.mp3

Speakers:

JH-Jimmy Halliday

KP- Ken Perlman (curator)

JM-Jimmy Martin (accompanist)

KP When you used to play for the old house parties- how did you find out that they wanted you to play at a house party?

JH They'd ask

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