Fiddle

Fionnuala Wilson researched fiddle-playing in County Antrim in 1989 while studying music at the University of Ulster and recorded and interviewed fiddle-players.

She has given talks on fiddle playing and traditional music in County Antrim for Queen’s University, Belfast, the University of Ulster and Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool. She is also an experienced music teacher and has adjudicated at music festivals and fleadhs.
She is a broadcast journalist and works freelance for broadcast and print media.

© Fionnuala Wilson

Fiddle Playing in County Antrim - The History & Influences

Introduction
This paper will examine fiddle playing in County Antrim and specifically the influences and history of the fiddle and the County Antrim style of fiddle playing.

The fiddle is supposed to have been introduced into Ireland sometime in the 11th century although there are other references to the arrival of the fiddle. The fiddle or fidula as it was known may have differed in size and description from the fiddles we know today.

At first, fiddles were scarce and it took a while for people to get one. Dancing was a popular activity in houses and the lilters and pipers provided the music until the fiddles became more accessible. This was a good thing as the lilters could now, literally, get a breath. As a result, because the fiddlers could play for longer, dancing to fiddles became more popular and lilting declined.

One example of where lilting preceded the fiddle in County Antrim was in Cullybackey where there is a strong weaving tradition. It was not long before fiddles of a sort became commonplace in the area from Cullybackey to Dunmining know as the ‘Craigs,’ and there would have been a fiddle hanging on the wall in every house
 
Due to the proximity of Scotland to County Antrim there already existed a very strong Scottish influence and vice versa. In fact Scotland was given its name from the County Antrim Irish who migrated there to the west coast, to Argyll, known as the Land of the Gaels, in 300/400 AD (ref. 'Blooming Meadows: The world of Irish Traditional Music 1988 by Fintan Vallely). But one of the biggest influences in music occurred as a result of the Plantation of Ulster where English and Scots-speaking lowlanders brought ballads which differed from the non-narrative Gaelic songs.

It is necessary to mention the background and origins of the Scots who were planted in Ulster as their influence can be found in the music. They were mainly Lowland Scots from Aryshire, Lanark and Wigton and the borders. Their prominent religion was Presbyterianism and their faith was outlawed as the main religion at the time was Anglican.

For centuries there was a lot of travel between Scotland and in particular County Antrim for work in the harvest and potato-picking. As a result, many tunes were exchanged and music was influenced.
Then with the inventions of the gramophone and the radio in the 1920s and 30s, people were, for the first time exposed to many different styles of music and the fiddle moved out of the house to a wider audience. 
There is a popular story about a fiddler from Cushendall, Danny O’Loan. He was a boat-builder who famously played down a phone line for an RTE programme in the 1920s.

However it is debatable if recordings and radio were a good thing as the original County Antrim fiddle style was now open to many influences. Perhaps that is one reason why the old County Antrim style is declining. While it is great to hear a lot more different styles, it is questionable if the Antrim style lost some of its original character as a result of other influences. Fiddlers imitating Sligo player like Michael Coleman (1891-1945) or the legendary Scottish fiddler, Scotts Skinner (1843-1927) was very popular and some players would say necessary because these players were really able to get a tune from the fiddle because of their technique.

Despite this, preservation of the tunes and the style was strongly strengthened by the fact that dance tunes were frequently played in Orange as well as Hibernian halls in the 1940s.

Traditional music was not necessarily taught; it was rather an unconscious process where the tunes were simply learned by ear. As well as the strong Scottish influence, there was also a huge Irish influence. Alec Crawford, a fiddler from Monkstown remembers his mother humming tunes to him she would have heard on the ceilidh house programme in Athlone, broadcast in the 1920s. Alec would have written down the tunes in tonic-solfa which was a very common way of writing music then.

Traditional music was seriously threatened after World War II as dance bands and other music became more popular but the music continued to be played and enjoyed in the home. And then in the 1950s at least two organisations became established which played a huge part in preserving the music and giving it recognition. The first was Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann and the second was the Counties Antrim & Derry Fiddlers’ Association.

Another musical organisation more recently established and where the fiddle is the dominant instrument is the Ulster Scots Folk Orchestra based in Ballymena who play a fusion of Irish and Scottish music.

According to the founder of the Ulster-Scots Folk Orchestra, Willie Drennan, what is perhaps unique to fiddling in County Antrim is that the fiddle has borrowed tunes usually played on the fife and vice-versa. One fiddler interviewed in this research has also suggested that the Ulster-Scots style of playing with little ornamentation is similar to the old County Antrim style of fiddling characterised by short, sharp bows and little ornamentation. However, other fiddle-players interviewed did not agree that the Scots-Ulster style of playing was similar to the County Antrim style.

Influences on the County Antrim style of fiddle-playing
It is impossible to name all the influences that have affected the County Antrim style as it is an amalgamation of several Irish fiddling styles and Scottish fiddle techniques.

However, two fiddle styles that have particularly influenced the County Antrim style are the Sligo style and the Donegal style. The County Antrim style will be described first for reasons of comparison.

The County Antrim style
The County Antrim style is a mixture of different influences but the main influences are the Sligo style and the Donegal style. However all fiddlers and especially any who have travelled would have picked up other influences. The late Alex Kerr from Newtowncrumlin for example, would have travelled to New Zealand, San Francisco, Sydney and Liverpool before returning to his native Skerries in Newtowncrumlin

The old County Antrim style of fiddling, according to research with fiddlers in the late 1980s, was becoming extinct (O’Connell 1989). The style consisted of short, sharp bows and little ornamentation in comparison to the Sligo style.

The Sligo Style
The Sligo style of fiddle playing is very decorative with long rolls and triplets played very evenly. The bowing is light and the rhythm is bouncy.

Michael Coleman from Sligo is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest Irish fiddlers of all time. Born in Killavil, South Sligo he lived in New York from the age of twenty-three until he died in 1945. The new gramophone technology which emerged as his career blossomed ensured his music would be heard across the world. He did not invent the Sligo style as it had been played in the Killavil area long before Michael’s time and passed down. But Killavil is seen as the source.

In turn, Michael Coleman (1891-1945) was influenced by Scotts Skinner (1843-1927) a famous Scottish fiddler.

The Donegal Style
The Donegal style is characterised by an emphasis on dexterity of the bow. When looking at the fiddler from a distance, the bowing would look curved as opposed to being straight up and down. The left hand concentrates on the melody with the minimum of decoration. There is also use of a technical and somewhat classical type of bowing called ‘command bowing.’ Scotts Skinner and Michael Coleman who influenced County Antrim fiddlers were also influenced by the Donegal style of fiddling.

As a result of the use of bow triplets there is the minimum of decoration with the fingers. What is perhaps unique to the Donegal style is that it takes the drone of the pipes into it which is one major difference that defines it from other fiddle styles.

Donegal fiddlers were also strongly influenced by Scotland as many Donegal people while working in the mines in Ayrshire and living in Scotland were subsequently influenced by Scottish fiddlers and their music.