The Fiddler's Hearth

All Celtic Traveler guests and veterans know Feargal Mac Amhlaoibh as a matchless traditional fiddler, a historian of Irish music, and publisher. In this spot, Feargal will be sharing his thoughts on a variety of topics.

It is said that the Irish gave the Scots the pipes, but that they haven't got the joke yet.

The first bit is true, whatever about the joke, but of all the Celtic peoples the link is strongest between the Irish and the Scots. Scots Gaelic is just another version or dialect of Irish which is becoming re-understood among Irish speakers due to advances in communication technology.

A similar situation pertained to the various dialects of the language within Ireland until the establishment of Raidio na Gaeltachta, the Irish language radio station, in the 1970s, drawing together the varying dialects of the Gaelic speakers of Ulster, Connacht and Munster. Now there are intercommunications between the Irish and Scots on radio and television with a weekly radio programme co-hosted by BBC Radio na nGael in Scotland and Raidio na Gaeltachta in Ireland, and the broadcasting of exchange TV programmes between the two nations. In June of this year a contingent from West Kerry will travel to the Isle of Skye to take part in an intensive week of Scots Gaelic.

But apart from the language link, the musical traditions of both countries have much in common with each other, particularly their jigs and reels. Most reels in the key of A being commonly played by Irish traditional musicians would be of Scottish origin. Indeed, many of the polkas played in West Kerry today started out as Scottish marches. The harp and the warpipes were common to both peoples, but were outlawed in Elizabethan times because of their nationalistic effects. An account by Galilei following a visit to Ireland writes of the Irish warpipe: "It is much used by the Irish; to its sound this unconquered, fierce, and warlike people march their armies, and encourage each other to deeds of valour. With it they also accompany their dead to the grave, making such mournful sounds as to invite, nay almost force, the bystanders to weep."

And an English visitor, writing in 1584, says, "It is evident that this instrument must be a very good incentive to their courage at the time of battle, for by its tones, the Irish are stirred up to fight in the same manner as the soldiers of other nations by the trumpet."

This led to the development of the Uilleann pipes in Ireland and the Lowland pipes in Scotland as they could be comfortably be played indoors. It was the formal recognition by Queen Victoria of the warpipes in Scotland, or the Highland pipes as they are known now, that they gained the reputation of being solely Scottish. But the warpipes continued to be played in Ireland as a national instrument and continued to have such recognition, not only in Ireland, but in a special way in the U.S. among the Irish-dominated police and fire departments.

Similarly with the kilt, or as it is know in both countries, an fileadh beag (the small wrap-around). This developed from an fileadh mór (the great wrap-around), a long piece of material which could totally clothe a man when necessary, covering his head and upper body and wrapped around his waist, tied with a belt. And it could also be used for sleeping when out over-night, as portrayed in the films Rob Roy with Liam Neeson and Mel Gibson's Braveheart. A description of this can be found in a letter which Nicholas d'Arfelle, ambassador of King Louis XII of France to James V, King of Scotland in the sixteenth century, wrote to his master: "The Scots, like the Irish, wear a large, full shirt coloured saffron, with a great garment also in saffron wrapped around the waist, tied with a belt and hanging to the knees."

After the Battle of Culloden in 1645, the Scots were fined for wearing the kilt; in fact it was eventually forbidden to wear it. In order to keep recruits in the army, King George II allowed the majority of Scottish regiments to wear the kilt and eventually they became known as "the ladies from hell." Around 1820, Sir Walter Scot, the famous writer, defied the powers-that-be and wore a kilt in public. In 1822 King George IV paid a state visit to Edinburgh and Sir Walter persuaded him to wear the Royal Stuart tartan, which he did. Then the nobility all turned up for royal receptions in Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace in their kilts and clan tartans. It was again fashionable and the thing to wear a kilt on every special occasion. Slowly also they came back into fashion in Ireland later during the reign of Queen Victoria and were worn on formal occasions by Gaelic League members and others. Seán Kavanagh, brother of Kruger (of Dún Chaoin fame), wore a kilt, hence his nickname Séan a' Chóta(Seán of the coat, or kilt).

A serious study of Scots-Irish relations shows that that two peoples were one up to the time of Scotland's total defeat by the English, divided only by the sea, with exchange of personnel on various levels from chieftains to monastic foundations. Ireland was known by the Romans as Scotia Major (later Hibernia) and Scotland as Scotia Minor; the Latin term for an Irishman was Scotus and an Irishwoman Scota. But following Cullodan when the Scots succumbed totally to English rule, the Gael were divided and conquered.

The negativities of religion and politics further divided the Gael, ending in the Northern Ireland quagmire of today. But all is not lost. The younger generations are less tied to these divisions and are less concerned about politics and religion and more into what they have in common culturally and linguistically. Exchange visits are frequent now between the young people of the Gaeltacht areas in Ireland and the Scottish Hebrides and they can drink each other’s Sláinte with or without the 'e' in their whisk(e)y or Uisce Beatha!

Two early images of 16th century Irish Pipers from Derrick's Image of Ireland, London (1581), showing (l.) a piper at work, and (r.) a fallen piper. Note the detail of the kilt.