Next readings and Discussion Ideas

Glassie: Ch. 5 “Late Harvest”

This chapter introduces Michael Boyle, one of Glassie’s principle informants and the leader of the mummers’ play (folk-drama) we will enact later in the semester; he also talks about “talent,” “excellence,” “reciprocity,” and the responsibility of the artist to the community and of members of the community to one another. What are the roles and the responsibilities of those with talents in certain areas? What do they owe to other community members? Why does Glassie use the term “reciprocity” to describe these complex networks of obligation?

Glassie PTT: Ch. 6 “Sacred Beginnings” and Ch. 12 “Plans and Snags” (both short)

In Chapter 6 Glassie transcribes and describes a number of sacred phenomena: stories, biographies, specific places, and specific “cures.” What is the relationship between history and such “sacred lore”? Does a close familiarity with such lore help people in Ballymenone make sense of their own lives and identities? Can you compare the degree of detailed “local knowledge” held by the people of Ballymenone, versus that held by people who live, say in a city apartment building? What else is lost when one loses “local/nature knowledge”? Does this sense of “the sacred in history and in nature” change how Ballymenone people relate to the natural world?

In Chapter 12 Glassie lets the people’s words articulate their own sense of the “meaning of life”: why humans are put on earth and how they can make sense of life’s seeming contradictions. Based on this chapter, how would you summarize Ballymenone’s “cosmology” (understanding of the world)? Be prepared to articulate this in class discussion.

Carson LNF “Hard to Fill” (and, if you wish, going on to the next chapter, “The Steampacket”)

This chapter is (mostly) about Carson’s own instrument, the flute, the various flutes he’s played, how he learned to play, and the whole lore and mystique that surrounds specific instruments. Note the almost obsessive (but wonderfully evocative) description of the flute-maker’s shop and its contents, and likewise the description of the subtle playing differences between various flutes. Why do you think Carson includes such detail? Is there a relationship between description of construction details and the kinds of details that musicians deal with? What is that relationship? Do you think Carson believes that knowing the visual details of the shop will somehow help us-the-reader understand the sonic details of the music? What kind of playing/listening experience might such attention yield? (Hint: ask me in class regarding Tommy Potts’s quote about “the Hidden Note”).

No readings in Ó hAllmhuráin for this section

Butter

I read the chapter that Dr. Smith suggested and I thought it was really interesting.

"Grow enough to do you and a little bit more for the neighbors."
Not only is sharing important through participation, but also through the essentials of food and drink. Sharing and caring for one's neighbor is an obligation in the Irish culture. This resembles the close knit culture within the Irish. It also makes me wonder how we are such hypocrites. We want to help the world and everyone around us, but we can't even kindly gesture to our neighbor and see if they need anything. On the contrary, any extra butter that one family produced was immediately given and passed around among the neighbors.

There and Back Again

Hi All,

I know it seems early, but it seems prudent to begin initial preparations for the trip to DFW. As I said in class, I have friends and family in the area and can readily call upon their aid to house some of us the evening before and the evening after the trip. Also, I think if a group of us goes in on a rental car it will be very affordable. I am happy to drive and have a exemplary 16 year driving record. :)

For those interested, let us start talking now via this blog posting making arrangements. Perhaps some from our class are from the DFW area and can also help house some fellow students for a couple of nights.

So if you think you are interested or can help with housing, please post so we can begin planning with a specific number in mind.

Readings for Thu 1.25 (short)

Ó hAllmhuráin: 25-46 “Music in Early and Mediaeval Ireland” and “Tudor and Stuart Ireland”

These chapters pick up the history of music in Ireland from approximately the time of the Fianna (after 100AD), where our history lecture left off. What aspects of very early Celtic esthetics seem to have been maintained in later periods: about music’s power, about musician’s role, about the treatment of musicians, about music’s job in retaining cultural history and cultural identity? Note the dates and the protagonists of the various English invasions, note the response of the invaders to music and language, and ask yourself why invaders saw music and language as such severe potential threats.

Readings Packet:

Liner notes to the Altramar CDs

rossroads of the Celts (focusing on music of the insular Celtic languages: that is: Welsh, Scots Gaelic, and Irish Gaelic; in other words, primarily pre- and very early-Christian music) and

From Galway to Galicia (focusing on music of the “Atlantic Celtic” coastal culture); these notes roughly parallel the time period covered by Ó hAllmhuráin, above.

What was the role of sound in ancient Celtic society? What were music’s powers? To what categories did the Celts assign music? To what extent did these beliefs about the spoken word, the memory, and “music as sacred sound” carry on into the more recent folk-music tradition?

Ireland and China

Glassie makes an interesting point in Chapter 4 about the connectivity of men to the land, a spatial connection not temporal. I was reminded of my trip to China two summers ago in which I traveled around mountain side rice patties that have been farmed and irrigated in the same manner for many centuries using the same types of implements and labor practices. Although, I was not able to speak to any of the Chinese farmers, I wonder if they hold a special esteem for their connection with their ancestors who farmed the land before them in the same style. In many ways, wandering around those farms was like looking back in time as many of the farming techniques that have been perfected over centuries needed no more improvement and perfectly suited the needs of the farmers.

Enjoy some photos: