Irish Music & Dance Association Deireadh Fómhair...the Celtic Junction, 836 Prior Avenue, Saint...

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www.IMDAwww.IMDAwww.IMDAwww.IMDA----MN.orgMN.orgMN.orgMN.org

Irish Music &

Dance Association 31th Year, Issue No. 10

October

2013

Deireadh Fómhair

The mission of the Irish Music and Dance Association is to Support and promote Irish music, dance, and other cultural traditions

to insure their continuation.

Brian Miller & Randy Gosa Traditional Music from the Northwoods

Duo releases new CD exploring the Irish roots of “Northwoods Music”

Over a million people emigrated from Ireland to North America during the famine years of the mid-1800s. Their influence on the culture of American cities like Chicago, Boston and St. Paul is well-known. But what about the tens of thousands of Irish who made their way in the rural parts of 19th century North America? Many settled in the forests of New England and eastern Canada in the midst of a booming lumber industry. Irishmen went to work, alongside men of other ethnic backgrounds, in lumber camps where their rich stores of traditional songs and dance tunes were valued as bunkhouse entertainment. By the time the lumber boom had moved

westward into the Great Lakes region, Irish musical styles had come to dominate a new tradition of northwoods music. Northern Minnesota-native Brian Miller and Wisconsinite Randy Gosa will celebrate the release of their new CD of this music, “The Falling of the Pine,” with a concert on Saturday, October 12th at the Celtic Junction, 836 Prior Avenue, Saint Paul. The music starts at 7:30 PM and the cost is $13 in advance, $15 at the door. For tickets, email [email protected]. Brian Miller (Bua) sings and plays guitar, bouzouki and harmonium in duet with Randy Gosa (Myserk) on mandolin, tenor banjo, guitar and harmony vocals. The music will be complemented by a slideshow of historical photos from the lumbering era. Brian Miller and Randy Gosa have been featured on Minnesota Public Radio and on TPT TV’s Minnesota Original and they have toured nationally to festivals including The University of Chicago Folk Fest, Milwaukee Irish Fest and the Arizona Highland Celtic Fest. This CD was made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts

Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

Inside this issue:

Tune of the Month 2

Gaelic Corner 3

IMDA Grant Winner 7

October Calendar 8-9

Northwoods Songs 10

Ceili Corner 14

Smidirini 15

Annual IMDA Membership Meeting

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Dubliner Pub, 1 p.m.

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

�une of �he on�h by Amy Shaw Charlie Heymann may have given up a career in teaching to pursue a career in music, but he’s been busy teaching ever since! He always seems to be travelling somewhere interesting to teach or perform. He must be a welcome addition to any festival faculty. Where else could you find a multi-instrumentalist with such a rich repertoire of tunes and songs who can lead a mixed ensemble class, assist harp students with building their own wire-strung harp, and make early Gaelic lyrics come alive? Closer to home, Charlie teaches at the Center for Irish Music, and his lesson schedule often makes it convenient for him to play at Keegan’s on Sunday evenings, which is always a nice thing for the other session musicians. Equally at home in Irish and Scottish traditional music, Charlie meets lots of musicians and is able to tap into a great variety of tune sources. He learned this lovely waltz from Ontario highland piper Bob Worrall, who composed it for the wedding of Iain and Keeley Wilson. (Iain Wilson is the son of Bob’s friend John Wilson, a former Strathclyde, Scotland police officer and pipe sergeant of the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band.) Bob Worrall is one of North America’s foremost pipers, a winner of numerous competitions and now a respected teacher, adjudicator, and recitalist. His compositions appear in several contemporary piping collections, including his two-volume International Collection of Highland Bagpipe Music (volume 3 is in the works). I definitely think this waltz is worth stealing, but Bob did give us permission to use it in this column! A special thanks to Bob, and to Charlie for bringing it to our attention. Usual disclaimers: Any transcription errors are my own. The notation here is not meant to be a substitute for listening. It is simply an aid to learning the tune.

The IMDA Board is:

President: Lisa Conway

Vice President: Jan Casey

Treasurer: Mark Malone

Secretary: Juli Acton

Board Members: John Concannon Paul McCluskey Joan Portel Kathie Luby Editor: John Burns

IMDA Board Meetings are open to the membership.

The Board meets regularly on the First Tuesday of each month at 6:30 pm at the Dubliner Pub in St. Paul. Members are encouraged to verify the time and location shortly before, as meet-ing times and locations can change.

Contact Information Write to:

Irish Music and Dance Association 236 Norfolk Ave NW Elk River, MN 55330

Call: 612-990-3122 E-mail: [email protected]

Newsletter Submissions We welcome our readers to submit articles of interest, news, and notices of events to be published in the newsletter. The deadline is the 20th of the preceding month. Send to: [email protected]

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

Irish is certainly an interesting tongue, bewildering and fascinating. No wonder we're obsessed with it at Gaeltacht Minnesota.

The Irish word for "tongue" is teanga, and just as we do in English, we can refer to the physical tongue in your mouth and to the tongue you speak. Gaeilge is the teanga we love, of course. Béarla (English) is the tongue most of us grew up speaking.

Irish is, to be sure, very much a teanga bheo ("living language") rather than a teanga mharbh ("dead language"), although we are constantly working to make that point when we talk to the public at community events.

Every once in a while we meet someone for whom Gaeilge is their teanga dúchais, their "hereditary language" or their "language of origin." In other words, that person is a native speaker of the language, and that is rather rare.

Of course, most Irish speakers are at least dátheangach, "two-tongued" or "bilingual." Of some more versatile individuals it can be said, Tá na seacht dteangacha ag an duine sin. Literally, this means, "That person has the seven languages," but it simply means the person is "multilingual." This use of "seven" (seacht) in Irish is common and it is more of a general multiplier or intensifier rather than a specific number.

Of course, we don't want to forget "tongue" as an actual body part. Perhaps when you were a kid, Chuirteá do theanga amach ar dhaoine, "You used to stick your tongue out at people." When we use the same expression with a raven instead of a person -- Bheadh an fiach dubh ag cur amach a theanga inniu, "The (black) raven would be putting out his tongue today" -- the raven isn't being rude to you. It simply means that it is an exceptionally hot day.

Instead of sticking out your tongue, you can put it in your cheek. In Irish, you might put your tongue in your leathbhéal, your "half mouth". (In Irish,

when things come in pairs, like two eyes, the two sides of a road, or the two cheeks at the sides of your mouth, referring to just one of the pair is often done by referring to "half" of whatever it is. So, leathshúil

looks like it means "half an eye," but it actually means "one eye.") Another way to refer to "tongue in cheek" utterances doesn't involve the tongue at all, in Irish. Mhol sé ó na fiacla amach uirthi, "He praised her

from the teeth out," means that his praise was, indeed, tongue in cheek.

Actually, you have more than one "tongue" in your mouth, in Irish. An teanga bheag, "the little tongue," refers to that little thing that dangles from the back of your mouth, what we call the uvula.

In English, we use "tongue" not for only living things, a language or a part of the mouth. We use it for inanimate items like the "tongue" of a shoe. Irish uses exactly the same expression (teanga bróige). But that thing that swings in the middle of a bell, what we call the "clapper," is also a "tongue" in Irish, teanga cloig.

Another inanimate "tongue" is the teanga trumpa, that middle vibrating piece of metal that you hit with your finger when playing a Jew's harp or jaw harp. Naturally, a Jew's harp without a tongue is not very useful. So when we say, Ní fiú trumpa gan teanga é, "It isn't worth a Jew's harp without a tongue," we are telling you that something is worthless.

We love An Teanga Ghaeilge at Gaeltacht Minnesota, and we're welcoming a new group of students, "graduates" of our Community Education course, this month with confidence that they will love it, too. For more about our love affair with the Irish language, visit our web site at www.gaelminn.org.

Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam A country without a language is a country without

a soul -- Will

�he �aelic �orner By Will Kenny

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

“Walking Encyclopedia Of Irish Traditional Music” Presents Concert With Apprentices

Irish traditional button accordion master Paddy O’Brien will present the work of his year-long apprenticeship program with local musicians on Friday, October 4 at Celtic Junction in Saint Paul. The concert will take place at 7:30 pm.

The event will showcase and celebrate O’Brien’s work with his apprentices, one group made up of students and teachers from Saint Paul’s Center for Irish Music, who will play in the evening’s first set. The second musical set will feature a group of apprentices, known as O’Rourke’s Feast, who have gathered weekly to play and learn from Paddy O’Brien since 2008.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children and seniors, and are available in advance by calling (651) 698-2258 or visiting www.paddyobrien.net. Tickets will also be available at the door.

The evening will also celebrate the digital release of the landmark documentary recording project, the Paddy O’Brien Tune Collection, which features the first 1,000 recorded pieces in the vast repertoire of a legendary Irish traditional musician. Over the course of the last 20 years, O’Brien has set about recording a huge number of tunes from his own repertoire, stored entirely in his memory. For the very first time, the tunes O’Brien has so far recorded are now available for download, either singly or by album. There are also printed books or downloadable texts containing background notes for each volume.

O’Brien is currently at work on a

third volume of his collection, which

will include another 500 tunes. He

will embark on a Kickstarter

campaign October 1 to help defray

production costs and digitizing for

Volume Three.

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

At tribute to Seamus Heaney

The University of St Thomas Center for Irish Studies will host a program in memory of the late Seamus Heaney on Saturday, October 5, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. in the auditorium of Terence Murphy Hall (room TMH 260) in the university’s Minneapolis campus at 1000 LaSalle Avenue.

Titled “When a Poet Dies: A Tribute to Seamus Heaney,” the program will feature readings and reflections by area literary figures. Traditional piper Andrew Ratelle will also play laments on the Irish uillean pipes. The event is free and open to the public.

Heaney, who died in Ireland on August 31, was the preeminent literary figure in modern Ireland, and is acknowledged as the most important Irish poet since W. B. Yeats. The event is to be held on the anniversary of the announcement that he had won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995.

Dr. Thomas Dillon Redshaw, the retired director of the Center for Irish Studies, will open the program with a brief overview of Heaney’s career and achievement. Four local poets will then speak on the topic of how best to honor a poet’s memory, and offer short readings. The poets are:

• Joyce Sutphen, Chaska, poet laureate of Minnesota and professor of English at Gustavus Adolphus College;

• Jim Lenfestey, Minneapolis, the author of four books of poetry and chair of the Literary Witnesses series at Plymouth Congregational Church;

• Ethna McKiernan, Minneapolis, the author of three books of poetry who has strong Irish connections; and

• Ed Bok-Lee, Minneapolis, winner of the 2012 American Book Award, and associate professor of English at Metropolitan State University.

The program will last approximately one hour. After the program, attendees are invited to The Local Irish Pub, 931 Nicollet Ave., for an informal “open mic” where they can read a favorite poem by Heaney.

For information, e-mail the Center for Irish Studies at [email protected] or phone 651-962-5662.

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

The Mission, Vision and Values of the Irish Music and Dance Association

At the annual planning retreat of the IMDA Board, the mission, vision and values of the organization were reviewed and revised. The mission statement appears every month at the top of the front page of this newsletter. It is a concise description of the our purpose—our “reason to be”. The mission of the Irish Music and Dance Association is:

To support and promote Irish cultural traditions and to ensure their continuation.

Our vision—that is, what the IMDA hopes to accomplish if we are successful in our mission is: A greater awareness, understanding and appreciation of and participation in

the traditional arts of Ireland.

The values of the IMDA are our guiding principles and they are non-negotiable. As we pursue our mission, the Irish Music and Dance Association is and will continue to be:

♣ Fiscally responsible. ♣ Respectful of others. ♣ Managed by a working board. ♣ Relevant, responsive, and inclusive. ♣ Role models and leaders. ♣ Promoters of ongoing education ♣ Committed to fostering a social and fun environment. ♣ Committed to preserving Irish cultural traditions. ♣ And we honor those who came before us.

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

Irish Music becomes a Family Affair By Jan Casey

The Padden Family of Elk River (Ella on harp and whistle, Connor on fiddle, mandolin and harmonica and dad Greg on guitar, banjo and vocals) is receiving an IMDA Educational Grant to pursue an interest in playing together as a family ensemble. They are studying with Norah Rendell and Brian Miller to learn about playing together as an ensemble, rather than as individual players. Their lessons focus on arranging and pairing songs and tunes, techniques for playing accompaniment and understanding how to complement each other’s strengths. The Paddens came together as a group when they were asked to perform traditional Irish music for a small dinner party as part of a fundraiser. They choose a name for the band - “the Knotted Clover” – and realized that they enjoyed playing together. Ella (13), Connor (16) and Greg have travelled different musical paths and have found those paths converging in their shared passion for Irish music and the musical education they all enjoy at the Center for Irish Music. Both Ella and Connor began studying music very young: Connor began with Suzuki method for violin at 5 years old and Ella expressed an interest in playing harp as a 5 year old, studying piano for three years before beginning her study of harp. Greg has played guitar since high school, playing bluegrass and folk music, and more recently learning the DADGAD tuning favored by Dáithí Sproule and Brian Miller. Dad Greg tells us that the inspiration for their study of Irish music comes from a family tradition of loving Irish music. He also says that he is inspired daily by his children’s dedication to traditional Irish music. When Connor had studied violin for several years, he expressed his strong interest in wanting to play “fun music” – his words for old time and Irish music. Connor switched to studying fiddle, later began taking mandolin lessons as well, and now studies fiddle, mandolin and harmonica at CIM. Connor plays with the Advanced Youth Ensemble and competed with the Ensemble at the Midwest Fleadh Cheoil in St. Louis last May. Ella has added tin whistle to her studies of harp at the Center. Her instructor tells us that she has great potential as a harpist – she is “bright, hard working and is able to maintain a sense of humor while tackling one of the toughest of Irish instruments to play.” Both Connor and Ella have performed at IMDA’s St. Patrick’s Day Celebration as well as the St. Mathias Celtic Festival. And Greg studies guitar and traditional song at the Center. The Irish Music and Dance Association is delighted to help these dedicated musicians continue and expand their study of traditional Irish music.

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

IMD

A C

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1 5:30pm Irish Hou

r Merlins Pub

7:30pm Pub Quiz

Keegan’s Pub, M

pls

9:30pm Irish Brigad

e Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

St. Dom

inic’s Trio

Nye’s, Mpls

2 7pm Traditional Irish Session

Rueb ‘n’ Stein, Northfield

7:30pm Pub Quiz

Merlins Rest, Mpls

7:30pm Irish Soc

ial D

ance

9:30pm Patsy O’Brien

Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

7:30pm Steerag

e Son

g

Theater Lattte Da, Mpls

9:30pm Tradition

al Irish

Session

Morrissey’s Irish Pub, M

pls

3 6:30pm Pub Quiz

8pm Pub Quiz

Keegan’s Pub, M

pls

7:30pm Steerag

e Son

g


9:30pm Sco

ttie Devlin

$

Shan

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4 7:30pm Steerag

e Son

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8pm Celtic

Session

M7:30pm Pad

dy O’Brien

& his

Tune Collection Appren

tices w/

O’Rou

rke’s Feast

The Celtic Junction, St. Paul

erlins Rest, Mpls



9:30pm Irish Brigad

e Kieran’s Pub, Mpls

9:30pm W

ild Colon

ial B

hoy

s Morrissey’s Irish Pub, M

pls

5 Rince na Chroi w/ 4

0 Shad

es of

Green

: St. Toh

omas M

ore’s

MoreF

est

St. Thomas More Church, St. Paul

2pm Tribute to Seamus Heaney

University of St. Thomas, Mpls

2pm First Saturday Ceili


7:30pm Steerag

e Son

g


7:30pm Pad

dy O’Brien

& his

Tune Collection Appren

tices w/

O’Rou

rke’s Feast


7:30pm Tan

nah

ill W

eavers

Crossings @

Carnegie, Zum

brota

9:30pm Irish Brigad

e Kieran’s Pub, M

pls

9:30pm Adam

Stemple & Joh

n

Sjogren


pls

6 Noon

: Tradition

al Session

Kieran’s Pub, M

pls

2pm Steerag

e Son

g


4pm Learners Irish Session

6p

m Advanced Irish Music

Session

Keegan’s Pub, M

pls

7:30pm Pub Quiz

Merlins Rest, Mpls

8pm Pub Quiz


7 7pm O

pen

Mic Night


8 5:30pm Irish Hou

r Merlins Pub

7:30pm Pub Quiz

Keegan’s Pub, M

pls

7:30pm Irish Set Dan

cing


St. Dom

inic’s Trio

Nye’s, Mpls

9 7pm Traditional Irish Session


7:30pm Pub Quiz

Merlins Rest, Mpls

7:30pm Irish Soc

ial D

ance



7:30pm Steerag

e Son

g


9:30pm Tradition

al Irish

Session


pls

10

6:30pm Pub Quiz

8pm Pub Quiz

Keegan’s Pub, M

pls

7:30pm Steerag

e Son

g


9:30pm Sco

ttie Devlin

$

Shan

e Akers


11

7:30pm Steerag

e Son

g


8pm Celtic

Session

Merlins Rest, Mpls

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7:30pm Steerag

e Son

g


9:30pm Irish Brigad


7:30pm “Fallin

g of the Pine” CD

Release: Brian

Miller & Ran

dy

Gos

a The Celtic Junction, St. Paul

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

13

Noon

: Tradition

al Session

Kieran’s Pub, M

pls

2pm Steerag

e Son

g



6p


Session

Keegan’s Pub, M

pls

7:30pm Pub Quiz

Merlins Rest, Mpls

8pm Pub Quiz



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7:30pm 2

nd M

onday

Shan

ty Sing


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5:30pm Irish Hou

r Merlins Pub

7:30pm Pub Quiz

Keegan’s Pub, M

pls

9:30pm Irish Brigad

e Dubliners Pub, St. Paul

St. Dom

inic’s Trio

Nye’s, Mpls

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7pm Traditional Irish Session


7:30pm Pub Quiz

Merlins Rest, Mpls

7:30pm Irish Soc

ial D

ance

9:30pm Two Tap

Trio


7:30pm Pub Quiz

Kieran’s Pub, M

pls

7:30pm Steerag

e Son

g


9:30pm Tradition

al Irish

Session


pls

17

6:30pm Pub Quiz

8pm Pub Quiz

Keegan’s Pub, M

pls

7:30pm Steerag

e Son

g


9:30pm Sco

ttie Devlin

$

Shan

e Akers


9:30pm Leslie Rich


pls

18

7:30pm Hou

nds of Finn

Charlie’s Pub, Stillwater

7:30pm Steerag

e Son

g


8pm Celtic

Session

Merlins Rest, Mpls

9:30pm W

ild Colon

ial B

hoy

s Kieran’s Pub, M

pls

9:30pm Tom

Dah

ill & Ginny

Johnso

n


9:30pm St. Dom

inic’s Trio


pls

19

7pm Harvest Ceili

The Celtic Junction , St. Paul

7:30pm Hou

nds of Finn


7:30pm Steerag

e Son

g


9:30pm W

ild Colon

ial B

hoy

s Kieran’s Pub, M

pls

9:30pm Belfast Cow

boy

s Whiskey Junction, Mpls

9:30pm Tom

Dah

ill & Ginny

Johnso

n


Third Saturday Night Ceili Dan

ce


20

Noon

: Tradition

al Session

Kieran’s Pub, M

pls


6p


Session

Keegan’s Pub, M

pls

2pm Third Sunday Pub Sing

7:30pm Pub Quiz

Merlins Rest, Mpls

8pm Pub Quiz


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22

5:30pm Irish Hou

r Merlins Pub

7:30pm Irish Set

Dan

cing


7:30pm Pub Quiz

Keegan’s Pub, M

pls

9:pm The Tim

Malloys

The Amsterdam, St. Paul

St. Dom

inic’s Trio

Nye’s, Mpls

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7:30pm Pub Quiz

Merlins Rest, Mpls

7:30pm Irish Soc

ial D

ance

9:30pm Irish Brigad


9:30pm Tradition

al Irish

Session


pls

24

6:30pm Pub Quiz

8pm Pub Quiz

Keegan’s Pub, M

pls

9:30pm Sco

ttie Devlin

&

Shan

e Akers


25

8pm Celtic

Session

Merlins Rest, Mpls

9:30pm Hou

nds of Finn


pls

9:30pm Irish Brigad


9:30pm St. Dom

inic’s Trio

Kieran’s Pub, M

pls

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1pm Loc

klin Roa

d

Cannon River Winery, Cannon

River

9:30pm St. Dom

inic’s Trio

Kieran’s Pub, M

pls

9:30pm Pad

dyw

agon


27

Noon

: Tradition

al Session

Kieran’s Pub, M

pls


6p


Session

Keegan’s Pub, M

pls

7pm Skara Brae in Con

cert


7:30pm Pub Quiz

Merlins Rest, Mpls

8pm Pub Quiz


28

7pm 4th M

onday Pub

Singing

Merlins Rest, Mpls

29

5:30pm Irish Hou

r Merlins Pub

7:30pm Pub Quiz

Keegan’s Pub, M

pls

9:30pm Irish Brigad

e Dubliners Pub, St. Paul

St. Dom

inic’s Trio

Nye’s, Mpls

30



7:30pm Pub Quiz

Merlins Rest, Mpls

7:30pm Irish Soc

ial D

ance

9:30pm Two Tap

Trio


7:30pm Pub Quiz

Kieran’s Pub, M

pls

9:30pm Tradition

al Irish

Session


pls

31

6:30pm Pub Quiz

8pm Pub Quiz

Keegan’s Pub, M

pls

9:30pm Sco

ttie Devlin

&

Shan

e Akers


Nov

1

Samhain-The New Year

7:30pm Tom

Dah

ill & Ginny

Johnso

n


8pm Celtic

Session

Merlins Rest, Mpls

9:30pm Irish Brigad

e Kieran’s Pub, M

pls

9:30pm Tod

d Men

ton


2 7:30pm Natalie MacMaster &

Don

nell L

eahy: Cradle of Hop

e Ben

efit Con

cert

Thomas Mann Hall, Mpls

8pm Celtic

Session

Merlins Rest, Mpls

7:30pm Tom

Dah

ill & Ginny

Johnso

n


9:30pm Irish Brigad

e Kieran’s Pub, M

pls

9:30pm Belfast Cow

boy

s Lee’s Liquor Lounge, Mpls

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

Northwoods Songs: Irish Songs from Lumberjacks and Great Lakes Sailors By Brian Miller

My research has been primarily in songs that were collected from men (and some women) who lived in the

white pine region that stretched from New Brunswick, Canada west through northern Minnesota/northern

Ontario. There was a whole culture of singing in lumber camps and on Great Lakes ships throughout the

1800s that was hugely influenced by the Irish ballad tradition and celebrated much of the Irish ballad

repertoire while also adding new North American songs based on the old ones. Lots of the singers were Irish

too. In the Midwest it was mainly second-generation guys - children of famine immigrants in many cases.

That's the stuff I plan on drawing on for the series. And there's a lot of it! Once you include Wisconsin,

Ontario, Michigan, Upstate New York, Maine and New Brunswick there are piles of great songs out there.

WHAT A TIME ON THE WAY

Neddy he’s a splendid cook, Always stops beside some brook, Scrambled eggs three times a day, Lotsa bread and a big cuppa tay, And a fol-da-lee-dle-o, fol-da-lee-dle-ay, Hi-fol-da-lo, what a time on the way. Now that the harvest days are through, To old D-kotey we will bid you adieu, Back to the jack pines we will go, To haul these saw logs in the snow. And a fol-da-lee-dle-o, fol-da-lee-dle-ay, Hi-fol-da-lo, what a time on the way.

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

Folklorist Robert Winslow Gordon could not resist making a few song-collecting detours as he traveled from Berkeley, California to a new job at Harvard in 1924. He later recalled that he had spent “too much time on the way, especially in Northern Minnesota, where I got a number of good things.” The good things he got were several recordings of songs sung by of members of the Phillips family of Akeley, Minnesota. Gordon recorded the above song fragment from Israel Lawrence Phillips (1883-1967). It is quite similar in content and, to some extent, melody to another song called “How We Got Up to the Woods Last Year” that was collected in Ontario and Michigan. (SELF PROMOTION ALERT: Randy Gosa and I recorded our take on the Ontario version for our CD The Falling of the Pine which we will release officially on October 12th with a concert at the Celtic Junction in St. Paul). “What a Time on the Way” references the common practice among itinerant young men to work the harvest in the Dakotas (here referred to as “old D-kotey”) before returning to a winter job in a Minnesota logging camp. This song’s chorus also brings to mind one of the earliest accounts I have found of lumber camp singing in Minnesota. Any aficionado of traditional folk song will be familiar with the type of nonsense syllables (“fol-da-lee-dle-o,” etc.) here. Perhaps it was a similar chorus that confused J. M. Tuttle of Harpers New Monthly Magazine who witnessed the evening activities in “Moses’s Camp” near the East Branch of the Rum River in March 1867:

Thirty fine-looking, healthy, robust, well-behaved men sat down at the supper-table, and who, when their appetites were sated, broke up the evening in various ways. Some mended their clothes, some darned their socks, some, using the sinews of the deer, obtained of the Indians, for thread, repaired their moccasins, while others employed their time in reading. The hours were relieved, too, by a little entertainment in the shape of music and dancing. One young man, who had swung the axe all day, rosined up his bow and gave us few lively airs on his fiddle, while two other logmen, who had tramped in twelve inches of snow since the early morn, engaged in a “double shuffle,” or something of the kind, on one of the planks of the floor. A pleasant-voiced son of Erin sang two or three songs, substituting simple musical sounds where he was unable to recall the words. Others still filled the intervals between the music with conversation on a variety of topics, breaking out now and then in loud, hearty laughter.

(J. M. Tuttle, Harpers New Monthly Magazine Vol 36 Issue 214“Minnesota Pineries” edited by Henry Mills Alden, March 1868)

You can read Northwoods Songs online at www.evergreentrad.com/northwoods-songs

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

An LeabhragánAn LeabhragánAn LeabhragánAn Leabhragán (The Bookcase)

A Seamus Heaney Retrospective

The greatest known Irish poet of our time, Seamus Heaney, died in a Dublin hospital August 30, 2013, following a short illness. I would like to spend this month's column honoring the life of this prolific, profoundly spiritual poet, and one of the most widely-read poets of this age, or perhaps of any age. To call Seamus Heaney an "Irish" poet is at once a limitation and an all-encompassing description. He described the experience of being Irish, of the land and its heritage, in the very roots of his poetry. He also limned the human condition in a manner so universal and powerful that millions of readers he never met were deeply moved and inspired by him, from ordinary people to prime ministers, rock stars, human rights workers, former presidents (Irish, American, and others), bishops and fellow authors, many of whom attended his funeral in the Dublin church near the neighborhood he and his wife Marie lived in. At least a thousand people came to pay their respects, including the present and past presidents of Ireland, rock star Bono, bishops and archbishops, traditional musicians, teachers and writers. His funeral was presided over by Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, who praised Heaney: "Greatness and graciousness belonged together in him." His long-time friend and associate Liam O'Flynn, master of the uillean pipes, played the lament Port na Pucai as one of Heaney's most famous poems, "The Given Note", was read. And millions of his fans and followers all over the world Born on the family farm in rural Derry on April 13, 1939, his earliest poems spoke eloquently of the land, of connection to the land, the long continuance of identity in the Irish soil. His forefathers used a spade; Seamus Heaney dug with his pen. Educated on scholarship, Seamus Heaney taught for years while simultaneously writing poetrysimultaneously writing poetry, translating classics such as Beowulf, and writing plays; for the last forty years he was a full time writer who garnered numerous awards, the most prestigious being the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995. He wrote often of the conflicted and dark side of Irish politics and violence, and sought to bring the moral issues of the heart to the attention of politicians, peacemakers, and those of us with more unremarkable lives. He could see the humanity and the possibility of redemption in hardened souls; he could see beauty in a clod of turf. He knew the power of his own work, remaining all the while humble and philosophical in the face of illness ("blessed are the pacemakers," he famously said after a heart operation) and adversities. His collection of poems, The Human Chain, was published in 2010 after a stroke, and he never stopped being productive and courageous. His last text to his wife, shortly before he died, was "Noli temere"---don't be Here's my favorite Seamus Heaney poem:

The Given Note

On the most westerly Blasket in a dry stone hut he got this air out of the night. Strange noises were heard by others who followed, bits of a tune coming in on loud weather though nothing like melody. He blamed their fingers and ear as unpractised, their fiddling easy.

For he had gone alone into the island and brought back the whole thing. The house throbbed like his full violin. So whether he calls it spirit music or not, I don't care. He took it out of wind off mid-Atlantic. Still he maintains, from nowhere it comes off the bow gravely, rephrases itself into the air.

Seamus Heaney April 13, 1939---August 30, 2013. Rest in Peace. Recommended reading: Seamus Heaney Collected Poems, The Haw Lantern, Field Work. Recommended listening: The Poet and the Piper CD (Liam O'Flynn plays uillean pipes musical selections, alternating with Seamus Heaney reading his poems)

Sherry Ladig, frequent contributor to this column, is a former reviewer for the Hungry Mind Bookstore's column

Fodder and a current Irish trad musician based in Saint Paul, MN. Sherry welcomes suggestions for books to review---

or, write a review yourself. Sherry may be reached at [email protected]. Happy autumn reading!

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

�eili �orner By Bhloscaidh O’Keane First Saturday Afternoon Céilí - Dubliner Pub, 2162 University Avenue in Saint Paul, from 2:00 to 5:00. The suggested

donation is $2.00 per person. The dances are taught and called by Paul McCluskey.

Third Saturday Night Céilí - The Celtic Junction, 836 Prior Ave., No, St. Paul.

Irish Dance Classes:

Céilí Dancing - Wednesday Nights

Dubliner Irish Pub - 2162 University Avenue in Saint Paul. Learn Irish dancing in a genuine Irish pub with a wooden floor that has known a whole lot of dancing feet. Steps and dances are taught by Paul McCluskey, Súin Swann, and Kirsten Koehler. Basic beginning steps are taught beginning at 7:30, with advanced lessons and dancing continuing

until 9:30 PM. Year-round; no children, and must be of legal drinking age. Free.

Set Dancing - Tuesday Nights

Dubliner Irish Pub - 2162 University Avenue in Saint Paul. Set Dancing at 7:00 pm on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month, music by the Twin Cities Ceili Band. The cost is $5 for the band, beginners welcome, for more

information call Geri at the Dubliner (651)646-5551.

Check www.lomamor.org for all up-to-date Irish folk dancing information.

The Center for Irish Music

Come check us out at

The Celtic Junction 836 Prior Avenue, St Paul MN

Please check the website for information on

our full range of instruction in traditional Irish music, language , culture and fun.

For class schedule and other information call or email 651-815-0083 [email protected]

Or visit our website

www.centerforirishmusic.org

Dedicated to Handing Down the Tradition

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

Just tear out the above form and send it with a check made out to “IMDA” to: The IMDA Membership Coordinator c/o Jan Casey 400 Macalester St. St. Paul, MN 55105

Name: Today’s Date:

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(Mark all that apply)

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Smidirini* By Copper Shannon (*Irish for ‘Bits and Pieces’)

♣ Comhghairdeas léi (Congratulations) and Best Wishes to Shari O’Meara of Locklin Road, who is engaged to be married! May joy & peace surround you, contentment latch your door; and happiness be with you now, and bless you evermore.

♣ Check out the photos of the wonderful young musicians who were part of the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2013 (All-Ireland Fleadh) in Derry City, Northern Ireland recently. They’re featured in the Center for Irish Music’s September newsletter at http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs135/1102340966284/archive/1114690937354.html.

♣ Comhghairdeas le (Congratulations to) Ann and Charlie Heymann of Clairseach, who recently received a Minnesota State Arts Board Learning Grant to promote the study and playing of the Celtic harp in five Minnesota communities.

♣ The wonderful Laura MacKenzie has a busy Autumn planned. Laura will be performing wind-powered music in “Steerage Song” at Theatre Latte Da in Minneapolis from Sept. 25 through most of October and with Billy McLaughlin and Simple Gifts during the holiday season beginning in late November. This production of “Steerage Song” builds on the concert version presented at the Fitzgerald Theatre in 2011. Simple Gifts is a very popular holiday musical tradition. Details for both are on the calendar on the IMDA website - http://www.irishmusicanddanceassociation.org/events/calendar.html.

♣ Tooting our own horn. The IMDA Facebook Page has 978 fans – many from around the world! Will you help us get to 1000 fans? If you’re a fan, please invite your friends. If you’re not yet a fan, check it out. It’s a great way to keep up with all the great Irish music and

dance events in the Twin Cities – and beyond!

♣ Good on ya! The Mooncoin Ceili Dancers and Norah Rendell and Brian Miller were on hand to bring a bit of Irish culture to RBC Wealth Management’s own Festival of Nations celebration in September in Minneapolis.

♣ If you’re a SmartPhone user, you may want to try this out. It’s a shortcut to the IMDA calendar – giving you up to date events info right at

your fingertips! http://www.appgadget.com/bcsupgpbdh34/main.php?view=month

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

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