BELLOWS & BOWS:

HISTORIC RECORDINGS OF TRADITIONAL

FIDDLE & ACCORDION MUSIC FROM ACROSS CANADA

BACK ON TRACK SERIES

Guest Producer: Sherry Johnson, York University

Producers: Beverley Diamond, C. K. Szego

Sound Engineer: Spencer Crewe
Research Centre for the Study of Music, Media & Place (MMaP)
School of Music, Memorial University of Newfoundland
 Contents
Author Key
Introduction 1
History of Accordion in Canada| History of Fiddling in Canada |
Commercial & Field Recordings | Radio & Television |
Relationship with Dance | Contests | Festivals | Transmission |
Research Centre for the Study of Music, Media & Place Tune Composition | Accompaniment
School of Music Newfoundland and Labrador 27
Memorial University of Newfoundland The Maritimes 38
St. John’s, NL Acadian | Downeast | Scottish
Canada A1C 5S7
Nova Scotia 48
© 2012 by Research Centre for the Study of Music, Media & Place
Prince Edward Island 56
New Brunswick 60
International Standard Book Number: 978-8-88901-438-1 Quebec 65
Ontario 76
No part of this book or CD set may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in The Prairies 87
any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, not now or hereafter invented,
Manitoba 91
including photocopying, microfilming and recording, or in any information store or retrieval
system, without written permission from the publishers.
Saskatchewan 96
Alberta 101
Book printed by: Printing Services, Memorial University of Newfoundland British Columbia 109
CDs pressed by: MMS Atlantic, St. John’s, NL, Canada A1C 1M8 The North 116
Graphic Design & Layout: Graham Blair Yukon 121
Northwest Territories 125
Nunavut 127
Endnotes 133
Acknowledgements 150
Author Biographies 152
Selective Glossary 155
Author Key Introduction
AH Andy Hillhouse Fiddle and accordion have long thrived in Canada—among early settlers who
AI Amanda Ironside introduced them to the continent, in Inuit, Métis and First Nations societies that
AL Anne Lederman made them their own, and in recent immigrant communities. Fiddle and ac-
BD Beverley Diamond cordion music has served, at times, as a common “language” binding the nation’s
DM Dan MacDonald diverse populations; more often, however, subtleties of style and approach have
EO Evelyn Osborne been used to mark distinct identities. Differences may be ethnocultural (as in
LO Lisa Ornstein the tempo differences of Scottish-derived and Acadian fiddle music in Maritime
LW Louise Wrazen Canada) or class-related (as in the debates about the merits of competitions).
MFi Mark Finch Fiddle and accordion traditions in Canada have often been represented by the
MFo Meghan Forsyth media, show promoters, and even by the musicians themselves either as a kind
ML Maija Lutz of nostalgic “barn dance” tradition (stereotyped as rural, uneducated and slightly
MO Marcia Ostashewski rough), or else as a virtuosic “show” tradition (in recordings produced by award
MV Mila Volpe winners of the dozens of fiddle competitions that take place annually across the
PM Paul McDonald nation). The sixty-five tracks on this CD set demonstrate the artistry and social
RO Rod Olstad complexity of a number of accordion and fiddle communities and add nuance to
SJ Sherry Johnson the historical representations of these evolving traditions.
TB Trent Bruner A CD set of this nature could only be realized through the efforts of a team
TF Tiber Falzett  of scholars, archivists, and musicians. Experts in regional fiddle styles across
YLG Yves Le Guével Canada recommended historically significant tracks from archival and personal
  collections, as well as out-of-print commercial recordings. While we want the
tracks to be representative of some aspect of fiddling in a particular region or
culture, it is not our intention that the CD set be comprehensive.
The listener may be surprised that such well-known musicians as Don Messer,
Emile Benoit, Andy DeJarlis, and Philippe Bruneau, among many others, are not
included on this CD set.Their exclusion is in no way meant to diminish their im-
2 3

portance; because their music is often the case of Graham and Eleanor, we musical careers. It is nevertheless clear (CD 1, Track 2) from Newfoundland
better known and more accessible than have included a performance of “Faded from the number of women musicians and tautirut (CD 1, Track 29) from
that of many other Canadian fiddlers Love” from their guest appearance at who are included on this CD set that Nunavik.
and accordion players, we have decid- the Canadian Open Fiddle Contest in they did make important contribu- Grouping the musicians according
ed instead to present tracks that listen- 1982 (CD 1, Track 34). tions to the musical life of their com- to province provides a somewhat arbi-
ers might have more trouble finding. We also tried to include a diverse munities. 1 trary arrangement of fiddle and accor-
Where we have included a recording mix of age, ethnicity, geographic lo- Recordings included on this CD dion music in Canada, as stylistic re-
by iconic musicians, for example that cation, and gender. Fewer women set are taken from a variety of time gions do not always conform to provin-
of Graham and Eleanor Townsend, we musicians are represented on this CD periods and contexts, using a range cial boundaries. For example, Acadian
have chosen a track that would other- set than men, reflecting the role of of technology. Sources
����������������������
for tracks in- regions exist in New Brunswick, Nova
wise be unavailable to the public; in women in the public music-making clude a home recording on one of Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and
of these musical the first commercially available tape Newfoundland. Also, fiddlers move
traditions in the machines (CD 1, Track 32), acetate around. Freddy Lang (CD 2, Track
past. Women (CD 1, Track 30), 78rpm recordings 15), for instance, was born in Carman,
were more like- (ex., CD 1, Track 24), radio broad- Manitoba and passed away in Merritt,
ly to be singing, casts (ex., CD 1, Tracks 10 and 34), British Columbia, but lived almost
playing back-up and television broadcasts (ex., CD 1, twenty years—perhaps his most pro-
instruments, or Track 31 and CD 2, Track 6) among ductive musical years—in Alberta.
playing in the others. As a consequence, the quality Finally, although regional and stylis-
home than tak- of the recordings varies considerably. tic categories themselves are more
ing part in a Tracks with a poorer recording qual- or less fixed—through the literature
public activity ity are included, however, because of and popular stereotype—the fiddlers
such as record- their historic significance. and tunes are more flexible, moving
ing. Also, many Along with the �����������������
fiddle and accor- between categories, or inhabiting sev-
women musi- dion selections, we have included eral at once. Even before the advent
cians, such as some examples of instruments that of modern mass media and improved
Stella Burridge have played an important role in the transportation, tunes were exchanged
(CD 1, Track 9), dance music of some regions or have by those crossing the country and
stopped play- strongly influenced fiddling and accor- often adapted to local, regional play-
ing music for a dion traditions. Piping, for example, ing styles. Opportunities for fiddlers
period of time has had a significant influence on Cape to move between styles or play several
Lumbermen in Quebec, 1943: Guillaume Riendeau (Maniwaki, in order to raise Breton fiddling, and therefore we in- at once have only increased. Al Cherny
Quebec) hits the strings of Romeo Clement’s (Farley, Quebec) fiddle families; fewer clude the master piper, Alex Currie, of (CD 1, Track 32) and Victor Pasowisty
with a pair of sticks, adding rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment
to the melody. Jean Claude Clement and Victor Moore (Maniwaki, men cite this Cape Breton (CD 1, Track 13). Other (CD 2, Track 2), for example, were
Quebec) look on. (Courtesy of National Film Board of Canada, same reason for examples include tracks of harmon- among many fiddlers equally at home
Library and Archives Canada, WRM 5415) breaks in their ica (CD 1, Track 3) and mouth music playing Ukrainian Canadian, Canadian
4 5

old-time, contest, and country and with them. It simply feels too imper- City. The purchase of an acordia for made violins and repaired accordions.5
western styles. sonal to refer to them by the academi- three pounds is noted in November The Lyonnais business was a family af-
The length of explanatory notes cally standard last name. And so we 1843,2 only twelve years after the in- fair, and after working with his father
for each region and musician varies. invite you, the listener, to get to know vention of the Demian accordion (also Joseph, Roch Lyonnais opened a shop
This disparity is not meant to dimin- these musicians too, to learn a little known as the romantic accordion). in Saint-Roch in 1860. Like many in-
ish the importance of any musician bit about their lives, the influences on Account books for the following years strument makers of his time, Roch
or particular locale. It is simply the their music, the impact they’ve had on show that between 1846 and 1858, Lyonnais was an innovator. In 1855,
result of available research. Twenty- others, and to share their music. We the Ursulines purchased five more he invented and made a begarina, an
seven years ago, in editing a volume bet you won’t be able to keep your toe accordions as well as two concertinas instrument with free-reeds, a scale of
of the Canadian Folk Music Bulletin on from tapping. [SJ] (a free-reed instrument, like a button two octaves and chords in G major and
fiddling across Canada (1985), Anne accordion, but with hexagonal ends). C major.
Lederman pointed out the lack of re- Another accordion is documented The first accordion made in
search on fiddling in several areas and History of at the Trois-Rivières convent of the Quebec came from the Saint-Sauveur
challenged Canadian folk music schol- Accordion in Canada Ursulines. The nuns used it to teach neighbourhood of Quebec City and
ars to fill the gaps. While there has Invented in Germany in 1829 (al- music, as music was an important the hands of Odilon Gagné, who was
been considerable research conducted though the first patent that mentions part of their curriculum and a source born in 1852. From a working class
since that time, there are still regions, the word “accordion” was deposited of income for the religious commun- family, Gagné was a cabinet maker and
rich in fiddle and accordion trad- by Cyrill Demian in 1829 in Vienna, ity. In 1847, they also taught organ, a skilled musician. He opened a cab-
itions, that are not well documented Austria), the accordion rapidly be- harp, piano and guitar. Parents paid inet shop during the 1870s and began
through either recordings or publica- came popular throughout Europe and for use of the instrument as well as making furniture and pianos, which
tions. Rather than fill those gaps, this the Americas. German watchmaker lessons.3 At least one of the six ac- he sold along with harmoniums. He
project merely emphasizes them. It Matthias Hohner established a com- cordions was acquired in Montreal, began making accordions in 1895,
is our hope that in the next twenty- pany in 1857 that developed accor- according to a small label inside the making his own tools, the molds for
five years, traditional music scholars dion production as an international bellows which indicates it came from reeds, as well as his own chrome but-
will continue to bring the stories and industry, probably because there was Seebold Brothers Music Warehouse, tons for the keyboards; he also learned
music of fiddlers and accordion play- obvious market potential. By 1910 221, Notre-Dame Street, Montreal.4 to use cardboard, canvas and leather,
ers from diverse regions to the public, Hohner was the largest accordion Quebec City was the original cen- the main components of the accordion
and particularly from those regions manufacturer in the world. Another tre of distribution for the accordion bellows. By 1916, the year of his death,
that are still not well researched. important producer was the Paolo in Lower Canada. Establishments he had made at least 150 accordions.
A note about names: We refer to Soprani factory in Castelfidardo, Italy, selling accordions, like that of Joseph Odilon Gagné’s two sons, Philias and
most musicians by their first names named for the founder who built his Lyonnais, Quebec City’s first instru- Wilfrid, also musicians, continued the
because we, who are writing the notes, first accordion in 1863. ment maker, placed newspaper ad- family business, renaming it la Maison
know them and/or their families. We The first traces of the accordion in vertisements. Informing his clients Gagné et Frères. To this day, there are
have sat in their kitchens drinking tea. Quebec can be found in the account that he had moved from the Saint- no accordion factories in Quebec, and
We have danced to or accompanied books at the convent of the Ursulines, Roch neighbourhood to 34 rue des this tradition of small home produc-
their music; perhaps we’ve played who ran a boarding school in Quebec Prairies, he also mentioned that he tion continues. The leading accordion
6 7

makers in Quebec today are Marcel published in 1884, were a source for to sell accordions via catalogues middle class families who wanted to
Messervier from Montmagny, Sylvain household goods of all kinds, includ- throughout its history with a few gaps. play classical and popular music of the
Vézina and Raynald Ouellet from ing musical instruments. In their From 1907 to 1915, only Hohners day, but could not afford a piano.
Montmagny and Clément Breton second catalogue Eaton’s was already were sold, but from 1916, Hohner Compared to the fiddle, the more
from Saint-Étienne-de-Lauzon. advertising eighteen different models accordions were boycotted because stable tuning and rugged casing of
In the last decades of the nine- of “Accordeons,” “Ideal Accordeons,” of the war and not reinstated until accordions made them particularly
teenth century, accordion sales in the and “Kalbe Imperial Accordeons,” as 1924. From 1916 until 1918, Eaton’s popular in regions with extreme tem-
U.S. and Canada were tied closely well as many concertinas. Prices var- sold only Swiss-made accordions, and peratures and more rugged means of
to the popularity of catalogue shop- ied from sixty cents for a six-key in- from the spring of 1918 to the win- transportation, such as Newfoundland
ping. In remote parts of Canada, for strument with single reeds to $7.50 ter of 1921, there are no accordions and the far North, where they largely
instance, Eaton’s catalogues, first for a nickel-keyed instrument with at all. During World War Two, Hohner replaced the fiddle as the dance accom-
“two sets of English accordions were again boycotted. No paniment of choice. In Quebec the ac-
steel reeds.” The earli- accordions were advertised between cordion came to be preferred over the
est models were but- 1941 and 1947, and Hohners were re- fiddle for dances because it was louder
ton accordions with introduced in 1949. and could cut through a room full of
or without “stops” that Piano accordions were first adver- dancers, an important quality before
coupled the reeds to tised in the catalogues in the 1930s, amplification was available. Quebec
produce rich octave and from then through the 1950s, they accordionists such as recording artist
doublings. Different were always depicted in the hands of Alfred Montmarquette or the group
reeds are activated and a female performer, suggesting that Les Montagnards Laurentiens were
hence different pitches it was an instrument appropriate for local stars in the early decades of the
produced when the women. Prices rose dramatically in twentieth century. The instrument’s
bellows of the but- the early twentieth century, with but- popularity was also influenced by
ton accordion are ton accordions ranging from $5.50 high profile vaudeville artists such as
pulled apart or pushed to $25 in the 1926 Eaton’s catalogue. the McNulty Family of New York who
closed. In 1901, Piano accordions were established as toured in Canada in the 1950s, Gordie
Winner’s Canadian higher class instruments, costing much Fleming of Winnipeg, or other per-
Method for German more than their button counterparts. formers such as the Ontario player
Accordions and Winner’s In 1926, a piano accordion ranged Walter Ostanek who has been named
Canadian Method for from $16.95 to $105, while in 1948– “Canada’s Polka King.” Accordions
German Concertinas be- 1949, it cost between $58 and $297. have also been popular in a wide
came available through Although more expensive than their variety of contemporary traditional
the catalogue, selling button counterparts, piano accordions bands, ranging from tradition-based
at thirty cents each were still considerably less expensive groups such as La Bouttine Souriante
until 1912. than pianos; therefore, they were able (Montreal), Blou (Nova Scotia
Women playing instruments. (Courtesy of Saskatchewan
Archives Board, R-A14337) Eaton’s continued to serve as alternatives to pianos for Acadian), or the Barra MacNeils (Cape
8 9

Breton) to popular music groups such of left-hand chord buttons that facili- times described as “oom-pah-pah.” also has an accordion maker, accordion
as the Barenaked Ladies (Toronto), or tate fuller harmonic accompaniment, Individual or group preference may museum,6 and school for traditional
Mad Pudding (Vancouver). are preferred for some genres such as also be reflected in the “dryness” or Québécois music. The Guinness Book
Ethnocultural groups mark their polkas, as well as classical and popu- “wetness” of the sound. A dry sound of Records documents the largest
cultural identity in a number of lar music. A preference for chromatic is produced when reeds are in tune; number of accordions assembled and
ways—by their preference for a cer- music also affected the choice of in- it is a very clean, straight sound. A playing together at one time in St.
tain type of accordion, by the genres strument since it can be played either wet accordion has the reeds tuned John’s, Newfoundland, in 2005, where
they perform, by playing techniques, on a button accordion in which the with a slight divergence so that there 989 accordion players convened. Yet,
style, and tone quality. The single row rows of buttons are in keys a semitone is a “beating” quality to the tone; this despite its popularity across the coun-
diatonic button accordion (often with apart, a chromatic button accordion sound is preferred in Quebec and by try, there has been less research on the
one to four stops), now often called with three rows of buttons, or a piano Cajun zydeco musicians. accordion than on fiddle traditions of
the Cajun accordion, has been popu- accordion with both white and black By the late twentieth century, a Canada.7 [BD,YLG8]
lar in Quebec, Acadian regions, and keys. The free bass accordion (individ- profusion of accordion clubs and fes-
Newfoundland. Instruments with a ual buttons for individual chromatic tivals reflected the popularity of the
double row of right-hand buttons and notes, not chords) is used in classical instrument and encouraged members History of
left-hand buttons ranging from four music production, but not folk trad- to learn and perform a wide variety of Fiddling in Canada
to twelve or more were built in many ition. A number of Canadian classical musical repertoires. One of the lar- The early history of fiddling in Canada
European countries but are more accordionists have been leaders in pro- gest events is the Carrefour mondial closely mirrors European immigra-
often associated with Irish and Scots moting new compositions nationally de l’accordéon de Montmagny (near tion and settlement patterns, starting
traditions in Canada; these types of in- and internationally. Quebec City), in a community that with French and Scottish immigration
struments are widely used in Quebec, The combination of accordion
Newfoundland and elsewhere in the and fiddle in ensembles is quite com-
country. Concertinas first arrived mon among Irish and French trad-
with the English and Irish in the mid- itionalists in Canada, unlike in Ireland
nineteenth century and quickly spread where the accordion would normally
throughout the country because of not be played with the fiddle since the
their small size and light weight. latter could not compete in volume.
Immigrant groups who arrived after The use of bass buttons is another
World War Two, particularly from distinctive stylistic trait of accor-
Eastern European countries, played dion playing in Canada. Irish styles
both button and piano accordions for are melody-centric and bass notes
their distinctive dance repertoires; for are used sporadically, more for ac-
example, accordions are often part cent than harmony. Polkas or song
of klezmer ensembles (secular Jewish repertoires, on the other hand, are
music originating in Eastern Europe). usually played with bass note fol-
Camp-made violin and its maker, Sept. 1934, Vancouver Island, B.C. (Courtesy of Canada.
Piano accordions, with six rows lowed by chord in a pattern some- Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada, RP-57.92)
10 11

in the sixteenth century. According to had commonly accompanied dancing France, as well as some probably com- Ontario, and parts of Atlantic Canada.
fiddle scholar, Anne Lederman, the in Europe since the early fifteenth cen- posed in Canada.13 The 1890s brought new immigra-
earliest known written record of vio- tury, we can assume that it was also At the same time, Scottish em- tion to Canada from Eastern Europe.
lins in Canada, found in the letters of played to accompany dances in the ployees of the Hudson’s Bay Company The Ukrainian influence on fid-
Jesuit missionaries, is the description new world. Early descriptions of dan- brought fiddles from Scotland to dling and social dancing was exten-
of a wedding on November 27, 1645 cing in Quebec include square, circle, Canada. They were quickly adopted sive throughout the Prairies, while
in Quebec at which two violins were couple, and line formations.10 Two throughout Hudson’s Bay lands via Romanian, Hungarian, Polish, and
played “for the 1st time.”9 There is lit- manuscripts, Livre de contredanses (ca. the fur trade. The repertoire of the Icelandic settlements, and therefore,
tle existing written documentation of 1767)11 and Manuscrit de contredanses fur traders through the eighteenth their influence, were less widespread.
fiddling over the next hundred years, (ca. 1850),12 housed in the Musée de and nineteenth centuries was based Since in many rural communities
although there are numerous refer- la civilization, are the main sources of on Scottish reels, jigs, and hornpipes, members of different ethnic groups
ences to veillées (evening social gath- information about early Québécois and influenced by French, Native and join together to attend the same
erings) and balls; given that the fiddle dance music; they include tunes from American contact. The merging of dances, weddings, and celebrations,
Native with Scottish or French ele- the repertoires of dance music mixed
ments eventually became one of the easily. Less integration of repertoire
most recognizable styles of Métis fid- occurred in urban settings where
dling.14 higher concentrations of each ethnic
Métis and French Canadian group made it easier for immigrants
styles of fiddling were predomin- to socialize only within their own
ant in Canada until the next wave of ethnic communities.16 With a few
European immigration, primarily exceptions, there was, and continues
from Ireland, Scotland, and England, to be, considerable interaction among
in the late-eighteenth and early-nine- musicians of the various regional and
teenth centuries.15 Various regional ethnic styles found across Canada.
styles of fiddling began to emerge While each region has a recognizable
based on the settlement patterns of style and repertoire of tunes and steps,
these newest immigrants: Native and there are many local sub-styles, and
Métis styles in the Canadian west and many instances of musical sharing.
north; French Canadian in Quebec, as Traditional dance music flourished
well as francophone areas of Ontario in many communities across Canada
and Atlantic Canada; Scottish in Cape during the first half of the twentieth
Breton and some pockets of east- century, but began to decline by mid-
“Christmas Ball in Bachelors’ Hall,” York Factory, 1840s by Bayard. Taken from Hudson Bay;
ern Ontario; Irish in Newfoundland, century. Rural electrification, mass
or Everyday Life in the Wilds of North America during six years’ residence in the territories of the Hon. Quebec, the Ottawa Valley and the communications, improved roads, au-
Hudson’s Bay Company, by Robert Michael Ballantyne (London: T. Nelson and Sons, Peternoster Maritimes; and English, with Scottish tomobile usage, mechanized agricul-
Row, Edinburgh and New York) 1875. (Courtesy of Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Archives and Irish influences, in southwestern ture, and school consolidation brought
of Manitoba, HBCA N76561)
12 13

many changes to rural Canada, includ- and sometimes choose provincial rep- Commercial and Columbia’s “Irish” series and the
ing a move away from community- resentatives for the Canadian Grand Field Recordings Brunswick label. In 1935, Bernie
based entertainment, such as that Masters annual competition. Some The advent of the recording and MacIsaac founded the Celtic Music
provided by local fiddlers.17  With less associations help their local clubs and broadcast industries in the early Company in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
demand for community fiddlers, and contests financially by donating money twentieth century dramatically in- These early 78 rpm recordings from
the rising popularity of new genres of from membership fees and fundraising creased cross-fertilization of fiddle Quebec and Cape Breton were influ-
music and dance (including rock and efforts, or by distributing provincial styles. The first fiddlers in Canada ential in setting up some tunes as stan-
roll), interest in fiddling waned. arts grants. to record were in Quebec and Cape dards and creating a hierarchy among
Canadian fiddlers responded to A resurgence in the popularity of Breton. As early as 1917/18, the recorded musicians and others.22
the decline by forming provincial and traditional fiddle and accordion-based Berliner Gramophone Company re- Don Messer, of New Brunswick,
regional associations and societies to dance musics has occurred in many corded tunes by J.B. Roy in Montreal recorded his first tunes for Apex in
preserve and promote their music: communities in the latter twentieth for the Victor label. Columbia and 1942, and a plethora of recording of
British Columbia Old Time Fiddlers century. In some regions, it was pre- Starr labels soon got in on the action. Downeast and old-time fiddling fol-
Association (est.1970), Cape Breton cipitated by particular events, such as Many fiddlers from Quebec recorded lowed. Banff, Rodeo, and London
Fiddlers’ Association (est.1973), the drive for sovereignty in Quebec, in the 1920s.20 Some of these re- labels were all important,23 and ex-
l’Association des Violoneux du or the CBC film, The Vanishing Cape cordings are now available online at amples from each of these labels are
Québec (est.1975),18 Prince Edward Breton Fiddler,19 in Cape Breton. In The Virtual Gramophone website of included on this CD set. In Western
Island Fiddlers Society (est.1976), other regions, individual musicians the National Library and Archives of Canada, recording developed some-
Wild Rose Old Tyme Fiddlers played an important role in its in- Canada.21 In Cape Breton, record- what later; Andy DeJarlis didn’t rec-
Association (est.1989), Maritime creased popularity, for example, ing began in the late 1920s under ord for Quality Records until 1956.
Fiddlers Association (est.1981), the recordings of Emile Benoit and
Prairie Mountain Fiddlers (est.1986), Rufus Guinchard in Newfoundland
Alberta Society of Fiddlers (est.1991), and the efforts of Andrea Hansen in
Manitoba Fiddlers Association Northwest Territories. In some cases,
(est.1999), Saskatchewan Fiddlers older styles are dying away and be-
Association (est.2001), Newfoundland ing replaced by new styles, based on
and Labrador Fiddlers Association those older styles, that are attractive
(est.2008). The associations coordin- to younger musicians; in others, there
ate activities amongst local clubs and is a strong emphasis on tradition, and
maintain contact amongst fiddlers playing like the elders. The presence
through mailing lists, websites, and of old and new provides today’s musi-
newsletters. They host camps and cians with a rich, dynamic tradition
workshops for fiddlers and judges; within which they can develop and to
organize performances in the com- which they can contribute.
munity (for both publicity and fund-
raising purposes); sponsor contests;
Men in boat playing instruments, Alberta. (Courtesy of the Glenbow Archives, NA-471-1)
14 15

Sunshine Records, established in 1983 is held at the Université Laval Radio and Television in 1933 and through the late 1930s.26
Winnipeg in 1974, recorded many Archives de folklore et d’ethnologie. Old-time dance music figured prom- The first television show to broad-
fiddlers of the “Red River style,”24 In the Canadian Museum of inently in early radio and television cast fiddlers and fiddle-related musics
including the tracks by Reg Bouvette Civilization, there are collections broadcasts across the country. Local across the country may have been
(CD 2, Track 3)and Marcel Meilleur by George Proctor of Ontario fid- stations such as CKNX in Wingham, CBC’s Holiday Ranch (1953–1959).
(CD 2, Track 4) on this CD set. dling in 1961; by Maija Lutz of Inuit Ontario, CHRC in Quebec City, This variety show, structured around a
Field recordings of instrumental accordion playing in Pangnirtung, Quebec, and CJCB in Sydney, Nova loose plot and aimed at fans of coun-
traditions have received much less Nunavut in 1974 and Nain, Labrador Scotia provided regular employment try music, gave national exposure to a
attention in Canada than field record- in 1979; by Roy Gibbons of fiddling for local fiddlers and country musi- number of fiddlers, among them King
ings of folk song traditions. Usually in Western Canada in 1978/79 and cians beginning in the late 1920s. The Ganam and Ward Allen. It became
held in provincial, national, univer- Prince George, British Columbia first fiddle-based group to broadcast a model for several musical variety
sity or museum archives, field re- in 1981; by Lynn Whidden of Cree nationally was George Wade and the shows developed by CBC, including
cordings are little known by the pub- fiddlers from James Bay in 1982; by Cornhuskers. They began playing on Country Hoedown (1956–1965), star-
lic and used only by occasional schol- Carmelle Bégin of Ottawa Valley fid- CRBC (Canadian Radio Broadcasting ring King Ganam and his Sons of the
ars. In the Memorial University of dling and step dancing in 1977 and Commission, established in 1932, West; Don Messer’s Jubilee (1959–1969);
Newfoundland Folklore and Language 1985 and Québécois fiddling and ac- which was replaced in 1936 by the Singalong Jubilee (1962–1970);27 and
Archive (MUNFLA), there are col- cordion playing from 1984 to 2000; Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)25 the Tommy Hunter Show (1965–1992),
lections by Herbert Halpert and John and by Anne Lederman of Métis fid-
Widdowson made on the west coast dling and jigging in Saskatchewan
of Newfoundland in the 1960s, by and Manitoba in 1985. The Northern
Wilf Wareham on the Avalon and Alberta Fiddle Project (NAFP), an
Burin Peninsulas in the 1970s, and archival collection created by Rod
by Margaret Bennett in the Codroy Olstad between 1994 and 1998,
Valley from 1969. The University of is housed at the Canadian Centre
Moncton's Centre d’études acadi- for Ethnomusicology, University of
ennes Anselme-Chiasson houses the Alberta. Several tracks on this CD
Georges Arsenault collection of P.E.I. set have been taken from these col-
from 1969 to 1987, the Anselme lections.
Chiasson collection of Nova Scotia As recording technologies have
(mainly Cheticamp) and Quebec become less expensive and more
(Magdalen Islands) from 1957 to widely available, many Canadian fid-
1979, and the Ronald Labelle and dlers are now making their own in-
Charlotte Cormier collections of dependent commercial recordings,
New Brunswick from 1980 and 1977 which they sell at shows, contests and
respectively. The Luc Lacourcière through their websites.
collection of Quebec from 1939 to
CKNX Ranch Boys. (Courtesy of Lynn Russwurm)
16 17

with house fiddler Al Cherny and ure on CBC Radio and Television was the Islanders. He started recording run, the show frequently led the rat-
many guest fiddlers over the years. largely responsible for the creation of for Apex in 1942, churning out over ings, even outranking Hockey Night in
Other television shows combining the Canadian “old-time” fiddle style. thirty-five 78 rpm records over the Canada for three seasons.30 When it
country music and old-time dance Messer began playing the violin at next ten years; he produced another was cancelled by the CBC in 1969, it
music were broadcast across the coun- the age of five, learning fiddle tunes thirty LPs on the Apex, MCA, and was still at the height of its popular-
try; two notable examples are CTV’s from his relatives and neighbours.28 Rodeo labels. By 1944, Don Messer ity and there was a huge public outcry,
Cross-Canada Barndance (1961–1962), At seven years of age, he was already and his Islanders were heard nation- prompting a letter campaign and two
which was recorded in different cit- playing for local dances and social ally three times a week on CBC Radio. rallies on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
ies across the country and Soirée ca- events. His only formal training on Messer created a professional sound Feelings about the cancellation still
nadienne, which broadcast throughout the violin was in Boston where he appropriate for national radio, with run high in the fiddle community to-
Quebec from 1960 to 1983. It was studied with Henry Davis and Edith clean beginnings and endings and tight day. Fiddle contest MC, Art Jamison,
Don Messer (1909–1973), however, Hurter. Returning to New Brunswick, arrangements of the band. Reflecting of Beachburg, Ontario, said:
who was most influential. His expos- Messer began his radio career in 1929 the popularity of swing and Dixieland
at CFBO in Saint John, bands of the time, he used clarinet, I know farmers that would stop
New Brunswick. By and sometimes trumpet and trom- milking a cow, hand milking a cow,
1934 he had formed bone in his band, and tunes were often to go and listen to Don Messer.The
a studio band, called played a number of times so that in- country stopped when they played,
the New Brunswick dividual instruments could take solo and I’m like, “Geeze, that is listener-
Lumberjacks, which breaks.29 Once his radio show was es- ship.” You’re doing something right
played regularly on tablished and had gained a national fan with broadcasting when you’ve got
CRBC in Saint John. base, Messer started touring outside of an audience that’s dedicated to that
His studio band had the Maritimes. He made his first tour degree. Where was the sense of
as many as nineteen of Ontario in 1949, and completed the CBC, Canadian Broadcasting
performers at a time; seventeen more tours within Canada Corporation? What in hell was
a smaller group, the by 1969, including a three-month more Canadian than that?31
Backwoods Breakdown, centennial tour in 1967 that included
toured throughout the sixty-one stops across the country. After its cancellation, a syndicated ver-
Maritimes and north- In 1956, Don Messer and his sion of Don Messer’s Jubilee was broad-
eastern United States. Islanders began making regular ap- cast from CHCH-TV in Hamilton
Messer joined CFCY pearances on CHBY-TV in Halifax. until Messer’s death in 1973.
Radio in Charlottetown, Three years later CBC Television Messer’s influence on Anglo-
P.E.I. as its musical dir- broadcast nationally a special sum- Canadian fiddling is unparalleled.
ector in 1939, where mer series called The Don Messer Show. Because of his media exposure from
he created the band that It continued through the fall with coast to coast, from the 1940s through
Hillbilly Jewels, c. 1953. From top to bottom: Joe Brown, would become a house- weekly half-hour shows called Don the 1960s, first on radio and then on
Randy Stewart, Freddy Lang, Vivian Brown. (Courtesy of Fred
Lang)
hold name in Canada: Messer’s Jubilee. During its ten-year television, Messer has been credited
18 19

with creating the Canadian old-time traditions in Canada.”35 He removed Don Messer’s “old-time” style (also Relationship with Dance
fiddle canon, through both his reper- distinctive regional stylistic traits such called “Downeast” and “Messer-style”) Fiddling in Canada has developed in
toire and accessible playing style.32 By as ornaments (melodic decorations),36 and band arrangements were adopted relation to dancing, both social set
soliciting tunes from all parts of the simplified the melody, and grouped by many fiddlers right across Canada, dancing and step dancing. With a few
country and playing them on national notes into shorter phrases to make and can be heard on the plethora of exceptions, almost all the tunes on
media, Messer was able to communi- the tunes easier for fiddlers from all old-time fiddle recordings on the this CD set are dance tunes. Even in
cate with fiddlers from diverse regions regions of Canada to identify with Banff, Rodeo, and London labels performance contexts in which the
of the country. They could identify and of all skill levels to learn by ear. popular in the 1950s and 60s.39 The audience is primarily a listening one
with his music.33 Ontario fiddler John Fiddler Graham Townsend called it style is not unusual on recordings even (as in contests or media broadcasts),
Crozman calls Messer’s style “the “music that people can understand.”37 in the twenty-first century, and it is the the tunes come from dance repertoire
common language for all Canadian And since Messer’s music was primar- basis of the style performed at fiddle and are used in other contexts as an ac-
fiddlers, regardless of their dialect”;34 ily to be used for dancing, “the simpler contests across Canada. companiment to dancing. Many of the
fiddle scholar Anne Lederman writes the better…. That was why Messer’s While Don Messer is the best biographies of the musicians on this
that Messer has been credited with “a music was so popular.”38 Although lo- known example, many Canadian fid- CD set mention when they started
synthesis of the many and varied fiddle cal regional styles continued to thrive, dlers used radio and television to ad-
vance their careers. Guest perform-
ances on shows such as Don Messer’s
Jubilee, and later, CBC’s Tommy Hunter
Show, did not guarantee fame and
fortune, but they certainly garnered
respect within local communities
across the country. As described in
the musicians’ biographies that follow,
many fiddlers also hosted their own
shows on local radio and television,
for example, Mel Lavigne’s Country
Junction, out of Barrie, Ontario, and
The Western Senators’ PolkaRama on
Access Television in Saskatchewan.
Even the briefest media appearances
are typically included in a musician’s
biography, so important are they to
the performer’s sense of accomplish-
ment.
Freddy Flett doing the Red River Jig with
Manitoban fiddler Lawrence Houle in the
Ukrainian wedding, Chipman District, Alberta, 1916. (Courtesy of Marcia Ostashewski) background. (Courtesy of Bill Henry)
20 21

playing for dances; clearly this was an a long history, stretching back sev- played on stage are only one part of and techniques. The Canadian Grand
important moment in their musical eral centuries into the countries the contest weekend. Fiddlers are Masters Fiddling Championship
development. Musicians from all of origin of Canadian immigrants. also jamming in practice rooms and (est.1990), to which five fiddlers
parts of Canada identify the ability to Contests quickly arose in Canada as the adjoining campground where from each province and territory are
energize a room full of dancers as the well, although their documentation is many of the competitors and their invited to compete annually, has been
ultimate mark of a great fiddler. sparse. Fiddle contests remain popu- families and friends spend the week- particularly influential in spreading
Unlike Canadian old-time fid- lar in some parts of the country but end. At some contests, particularly in Canadian old-time or contest reper-
dling, which to a degree shares a com- not others. For example, they were Western Canada, the same fiddlers toire from coast to coast to coast. The
mon style because of national radio once held all over P.E.I., with great who compete on stage take turns fiddlers who attend the contest are
and television coverage, there is no prestige given to the winners,40 but playing for dances after the contest. often influential fiddlers in their own
pan-Canadian style of step dancing; the animosity created by contests The best fiddlers still know how to localities, as performers and teach-
different styles have developed across led to them being discouraged in the play by ear and play for dancers, skills ers, and so the spread of repertoire
the country. While some dancers may late 1920s.41  Non-competitive festi- that have been important for many goes far beyond even those musicians
choose to learn a style different from vals are now favoured in most parts generations of fiddlers.42 fortunate enough to attend the con-
their own, the styles remain rela- of P.E.I., Newfoundland, and Cape Fiddle contests provide a place test. Contests have played a signifi-
tively contained within geographic or Breton. where fiddlers gather to share tunes cant role in initiating or advancing
cultural boundaries. Similarly, while There is no doubt that contests do
some couples and group dances, such transform fiddle music to some ex-
as the waltz, polka, and square dance, tent, just as synthetic strings, ampli-
are performed across the country, fication and the recording industry
regional variations exist in the way have already changed it, and increas-
partners hold each other, footwork, ing globalization and technological
and preferred tempos and tunes. The developments will continue to bring
introductory notes to provinces and change. When music is moved from a
regions present brief descriptions of dance context and put into a listening
some of the dancing as it relates to context, there is increased accuracy
the tunes on the CD set. or “cleanness”; greater concern with
variation in the tune to maintain lis-
teners’ interest; increased complex-
Contests ity in order to display technical skill;
A lack of danceability in the music and greater attention to musicality,
is probably the most serious charge such as the shaping of phrases and use
levelled at the many fiddle contests of dynamics. Yet a prevailing concern
held across the country. While fid- for danceability is evident in the rules
dle contests are often thought of as and score sheets used at many of the
a modern phenomenon, they have contests. Furthermore, the tunes Mel Lavigne at a fiddle competition in Shelburne, Ontario. (Courtesy of Lynn Russwurm)
22 23

the performing careers of a number 1996. A number of the tracks on tals of bowing and posture by play- twenty cents.”46 Edmonton fiddler
of Canada’s best known fiddlers. this CD set were taken from festival ing on two sticks. Sometimes basic Alfie Myhre learned tunes from Don
Although many of the musicians contexts, either recorded profession- instruction was given informally by Messer’s radio programs:
on this CD set have won numerous ally and released as follow-up to the family or friends.
awards at fiddle contests, as well as festival, for example, Stephen Toole Singing and “turlutting” are wide- Other (tunes) were learned from
the Order of Canada and induction (CD 1, Track 15); broadcast over spread methods for learning tunes. just off of the radio, which is a dif-
into numerous Halls of Fame, we have the radio, for example, Simeonie Charlie Peter Charlie of Old Crow, ficult way to learn but you’d get
chosen not to highlight these awards; Keenainak (CD 2, Track 29); or re- Yukon Territory sang tunes constantly the melody in your mind and then
rather we focus on the importance corded for personal use, for example, as he worked on the land. This was a you’d try to play the first part.
of the musicians to their commun- Ken and Kevin Chaisson (CD 1,Track traditional way for young Gwich’in You’d have to wait usually two
ities, as well as the significance of the 16). men to learn the established reper- or three weeks before they’d play
venues, the tunes, and the styles in toire of fiddle melodies.44 Likewise, the same song again on the radio,
which they are played. Gerald Quinton of Newfoundland and learn the second part. It was
Transmission used rhymes to remember tunes. certainly a way of getting a little
Many of these musicians come from One such example is recorded at bit of individuality into your play-
Festivals musical families or communities in the end of CD 1, Track 3. In Cape ing, because you never did get the
Festivals are popular even in regions which tunes and instruments are Breton, a Scottish Gaelic song genre exact notes but you had the mel-
where contests are also held, and passed down over generations.43 called puirt-a-beul (“tunes from the ody pretty much the same, the
some contests are now only small Many of them, both men and women, mouth”), composed of repetitive, chords and that type of thing. It
parts of larger festival events which learned to play by imitating their silly, and often humorous texts set to served as a real good instruction
also include workshops, perfor- fathers or brothers on borrowed in- tunes that were usually played on an at that time anyway.47
mances, and dances, for example, the struments. Fewer musicians, for ex- instrument, was once used both to
Carman Fiddle Festival in Manitoba ample, fiddler Reg Hill of the Ottawa transmit tunes and to provide dance Today, many young fiddlers take
and the Maritime Fiddle Festival in Valley, credit an older female family tunes in the absence of instruments.45 music lessons at school, in commun-
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Festivals member for teaching them to play Locally accessible media—re- ity groups, fiddle camps or private
provide exposure for musicians and or for acting as a role model. Several cordings, radio and television— lessons. Some young fiddlers begin
opportunities to play in front of an musicians tell stories about sneaking were a common source of reper- with, or at some point take, lessons in
audience without the pressure and a family member’s fiddle and learning toire. Leroy Brown, originally from classical violin, including the Suzuki
bad feelings that may accompany con- to play “in secret.” There are so many the Rimbey area in Alberta, told his program and Royal Conservatory of
tests within small communities. Some stories to this effect that one almost daughter, Barb Jackson, about learn- Music exams, and most children are
festivals are annual events, such as the wonders if prohibition was a delib- ing “Bonanza Waltz” from a jukebox in now learning how to read music.
Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival, held annu- erate strategy to encourage children the 1940s. She asked, “I wonder how Downeast fiddlers Bill Guest and
ally in P.E.I. since 1976, while others to play. In some instances, “practice” many nickels you had to put in before Ivan Hicks are among those who sug-
are one-time events, such as the CBC violins were used. Such was the case you learned it?” He replied, “Not too gest that learning tunes exclusively
60th Anniversary Inuit Accordion with Newfoundland fiddler, Emile many. At that time I used to be able by reading may result in less variation
Festival held in Iqaluit, Nunavut in Benoit, who learned the fundamen- to learn quicker. Probably fifteen or of the tunes,48 and so it is still con-
24 25

sidered important for fiddlers to be tunes are known by their compos- members (Fred Lang’s “Curly Accompaniment
able to learn by ear; many young er, whereas without print, com- Hair,” Johnny Mooring’s “Marion Not only does this CD set include a
fiddlers do prefer to learn tunes by posers are soon forgotten and the Waltz”). Young musicians across wide variety of tunes and styles, but
ear through jamming with others tunes become “traditional.”51 In the the country continue to write new it also showcases a wide range of ac-
and from their own self-made field liner notes to many Cape Breton tunes; some remain clearly within companying instruments, styles, and
recordings and commercial discs. recordings (once liner notes came the boundaries of locally accepted musicians. Some tracks are played
For those who prefer notation, into fashion), the fiddlers are care- styles and others push those bound- without any accompaniment. In
there are a plethora of tune books. ful to credit the sources, including aries to their outermost limits. many cases we don’t know whether
Tune collections began to be pub- composers, of their renditions and Ethnomusicologist Colin Quigley’s this practice is typical of a particu-
lished in Canada in 1933, starting tunes; knowledge of the lineage of examination of the compositional lar region and time, idiosyncratic to
with the Cornhuskers Series re- tunes in Cape Breton is an import- process of Newfoundland fiddler the specific performer, or whether
leased by Thomas Burt & Company. ant part of its tradition. Emile Benoit52 is one of the few there just happened to be no accom-
Later, in the 1950s and 1960s, tune bodies of work that has focused panist available for an impromptu
collections of such iconic fiddlers on original tune composition in recording session. In some tracks
as Ward Allen and Andy DeJarlis Tune Composition Canadian traditional dance music. without instrumental accompani-
were published by BMI Canada,49 Many traditional musicians across
and today many fiddlers publish the country actively compose new
their own collections of original repertoire, and many original tunes
compositions. Note reading has are included on this CD set. With
taken on a particular importance few exceptions, these tunes con-
in the Cape Breton fiddle tradition, form to one of the many accepted
resulting in tune collections gaining styles across the country, and have
unusual authority within the trad- entered either regional or national
ition; melodies found in printed repertoires. Many of the compos-
collections are considered to be ers use local place names in nam-
“authentic,” and although they may ing their tunes (“Cape Blomidon
be subsequently ornamented, are Reel,” “Loggieville Two-step,”
seldom altered or varied. Authors “Grand Valley Breakdown,” and
of the tune book, Traditional Celtic “Barkerville Connection” among
Violin Music of Cape Breton, Kate others). Some have named the tunes
Dunlay and David Greenberg, after themselves or the tune has
call it a “tighter” tradition, and al- come to be known by the compos-
low that there is some room for er’s name (“Schultz’s Polka,” “Olle’s
personal expression and variation Waltz,” “La John Muise”). Others
within bounds.50 Others point out pay tribute to people import-
that in this literate tradition many ant to the composer, often family Tony Stolz on accordion, Freddy Lang on fiddle, Curly Konchin on guitar. Photo taken at
Stampede time, in front of the Royal Hotel in Calgary, 1950. (Courtesy of Fred Lang)
26

ment we can hear the solo musicians Aboriginal styles. Exceptions to

accompanying themselves rhythmic- these trends often depend on what
ally with their feet. From a simple instruments are played by the fid-
tapping on the beat to the more dler or accordion player’s family
complicated “clogging” common to members and close friends. Many
French Canadian and Métis styles, of the principal musicians on this
this rhythmic accompaniment pro- CD set are accompanied by sons,
vides an effect similar to percussive daughters, sisters, brothers, and
dancing. cousins, highlighting the fact that
Different instruments tend to traditional fiddle and accordion Newfoundland and Labrador
be preferred to accompany differ- music in Canada is often a family
ent styles of fiddling. For example, affair. While we have tried to in- Newfoundland has long been known for its wealth of folk songs, including
piano is often the instrument of clude the names of all the accom- Child ballads, local disaster ballads, and comic compositions. During the twen-
choice in Cape Breton, Downeast panists where possible, on some tieth century collectors produced many volumes that were published both lo-
and old-time styles, whereas gui- recordings, both commercial and cally and internationally.53 In most regions a rich tradition of instrumental
tar seems to be more prevalent for personal, the accompanists are not dance music lived alongside folk songs; however, it was rarely of interest to
Newfoundland, Acadian, Métis and identified. [SJ] song collectors. The first field recordings of Newfoundland dance fiddlers
were made by folklorists Herbert Halpert and J.D.A. Widdowson. During
their 1960s trips to the island’s west coast, they encountered Rufus Guinchard
(1899–1990) who was later “discovered” by folk revivalists and performed
internationally. In the 1970s, Canadian folklorist Wilf Wareham interviewed
fiddlers and accordion players on the Avalon and Burin Peninsulas. The earliest
published tune collection appeared in a now out-of-print biography of Rufus
Guinchard, which included sixty transcriptions.54 In the past decade or so,
both Kelly Russell and Christina Smith have produced tune collections aimed
at making a dance repertoire more widely available.55 As well as interviewing
and recording fiddler Emile Benoit in the early 1980s, as discussed earlier,
Colin Quigley also wrote about Bonavista Bay dance traditions.56 Other stud-
ies examine the dance music traditions of Bonavista and Conception Bays,57
the life and music of fiddler Don Randell,58 the influence of radio on the style
and repertoire choices of fiddlers,59 three periods of Irish influence on the
Newfoundland tradition from the 1940s to present day,60 and asymmetry as a
stylistic element of Newfoundland dance music.61
With the possible exception of singer and accordionist Harry Hibbs,
Newfoundland dance musicians have not enjoyed the popularity of players
in other regions of the country. Hibbs included dance tunes on his albums
 29

between 1968 and 1972, but instru- ing breaks. If the musician was hired
mental albums were generally scarce. from the surrounding region, he of-
The first accordion album was pro- ten walked many kilometres to the
duced by Wilf Doyle in 1956, fol- event. Prior to the 1950s, payments
lowed by another in 1960.62 In 1957, ranged from two to five dollars, but
the Shamrocks, also known as the many fiddlers volunteered their ser-
Happy Valley Boys featuring fiddlers vices. The “fiddler” was not necessar-
Don Randell and Ted Blanchard, re- ily a violinist, but any dance musician
leased an album entitled Shamrocks: regardless of instrument. The music
Newfoundland Fiddle Music.63 A solo and dancing started about 9 p.m. and
accordion album by Raymond Walsh continued until the wee hours. The
in 1966 on the Arc label came out majority of dances were square sets,
as Ray Walsh: Favorite Reels and Jigs of with some waltzes and solo male step
Newfoundland.64 Perhaps the best dancing.68
remembered and celebrated solo al- During the twentieth century
bums were released by fiddlers Emile there was a shift from the violin to-
Benoit (1913–1993) of the Port-au- wards accordion for dance accompa-
Port Peninsula,65 Rufus Guinchard niment. It was louder, easier to learn
(1899–1990) of the Great Northern and did not go out of tune in a vari-
Peninsula,66 and accordionist Minnie able climate. There are also a small
White (1916–2002) of the Codroy number of mouth organ or harmonica
Valley.67 players in the province of which one,
Until the mid-twentieth century, Gerald Quinton, is featured on this
the main performance context for recording. Another important type of
Newfoundland dance music was the “instrumentalist” sang tunes. This vo-
“time,” consisting of a dinner and cal style, known as mouth, chin, or
dance, often organized by a church gob music, was used when a “fiddler”
group as a fundraising event. In a nat- was not available. Very often the sing-
ural resources based economy, both er started with a tune rhyme or short
work and social entertainment were verse before continuing with vocables
seasonal. Most “times” occurred in known as “diddling.” In recent de-
the fall and winter as the summer was cades the breadth of instrumentation
busy with fishing and logging work. used on the island to play dance mu-
A solo “fiddler” was employed for sic has expanded with the influence
Newfoundland and Labrador. the evening but other local musicians of visiting musicians and recordings
were expected to relieve him dur- from Ireland, the UK and the U.S.A.
30 31

Bouzouki, guitar, bodhrán, banjo, tin into larger ��������������������������

centres�������������������
, disrupted the lo- ed” tunes to accommodate local- au-Port was a French area; its unique
whistle, Irish flute and Irish pipes are cal dances and challenged the overall ized dance patterns. This aesthetic repertoire still exists, but is now rare-
now common amongst the younger sense of community. can be attributed to influences from ly played.  The French Newfoundland
generations who participate in Irish- There are several regional styles an older dance style from the Sliabh style is best recognized in the early
style pub sessions in St. John’s. of dance music around the island of Luchra region of southern Ireland, recordings of fiddler Emile Benoit. In
The decline and revival of tra- Newfoundland constructed accord- English Morris dancing and French Labrador, Scottish influence is heard
ditional dance musics throughout ing to immigration patterns and Québécois tunes.  In St. John’s and in the playing of Inuit-Scottish Métis
Canada, as described in the in- dominant musical characteristics.69 along the southern shore, fiddlers fiddlers in North West River passed
troduction, were accelerated in Immigration to Newfoundland and tend towards Irish styles, having had down from members of the trading
Newfoundland by confederation with Labrador was predominantly English long exposure to the Irish recording and trapping network. The Great
Canada in 1949, a shift from inshore and Irish, as well as some Scottish industry. On the west coast in the Northern Peninsula, epitomized by
to offshore fishing, and substantial and French. The influence of these Codroy Valley and the Port-au-Port fiddler Rufus Guinchard, is a blend of
improvements to roads and electric- cultures can still be heard in the trad- Peninsula there is a striking Scottish- English, Irish and French influences.
ity. All these factors worked together itional music of the province today. Cape Breton style brought to the While the French did not officially
to change the basic economics and Overall the Newfoundland island Codroy by late nineteenth century settle the area, they built temporary
rhythms of outport life. The resettle- style is recognized as having simple settlers from Nova Scotia and learned fishing structures and left Irish hired
ment program of the 1950s, whereby melodies, a strong beat driving the and reinforced by those on the Port- hands to tend them over winter.
small isolated outports were moved dance, and including many “crook- au-Port by radio. Originally, the Port- Today, the Newfoundland fiddle and

Nain in the 1970s. (Courtesy of Maija Lutz) Joe Ford playing accordion in Nain in the 1970s. (Courtesy of Maija Lutz)
32 33

accordion repertoire consists of local fast polkas in 2/4 rather than the CD1 TRACK 01 keeper for Bear Cove Point, she moved
tunes handed down through families “single” Irish jig in 6/8 (which has Mrs. Belle’s Cotillion to Port Kirwan where she continued to
and communities, those learned from a predominant quarter and eighth Belle Fennelly play for dances, while raising a family
Newfoundland recordings or folklore note rhythmic pattern). “Doubles” Field Collection of Christina Smith, 2003. and keeping a shop. Mrs. Belle is a well-
collections, popular songs turned or “double jigs,” then, are any jig in Used by permission. respected dance player on the southern
into tunes, and transnational Celtic 6/8, including both the Irish “single” shore.
repertoire learned from radio and and “double” (which has a predomin- Playing the melody with her right
recordings. ant three eighth note rhythmic pat- hand and a simple offbeat chordal ac-
Despite regional variations, tern) jigs. In some areas, “triples” or companiment with her left hand,

COURTESY OF COLETTE PHILLIPS

fiddle and accordion music in “trebles” were used to refer to what Mrs. Belle ends this single jig (fast
Newfoundland is quite distinctive. As are now called “reels.” [EO] polka in 2/4) with a common “shave
many tracks on this CD set are from The last two tracks in this section and a haircut” tag phrase. A cotillion
the dance tradition, and therefore were recorded in Nain, Labrador in is a French square dance from the late
primarily functional, the tunes are the winter of 1979 by Maija Lutz. eighteenth century that was brought to
performed with a strong, steady beat Nain, the earliest permanent settle- Newfoundland and remained popular
and a lack of complex ornamentation. ment in northern Labrador, was Mrs. Clara Belle Fennelly was born in several regions. [EO]
Jigs, more widespread than reels, are founded in 1771 by Moravian mis- in Aquaforte, Newfoundland in
often played faster than reels; reels sionaries. The Moravians, long noted 1919.  She learned her repertoire
are commonly reserved for step dan- for their love of music and a rich of square dance and lancers tunes CD1 TRACK 02
cing and therefore played at a slow- musical culture, placed so much from her brothers, from bankers (fish- I’se the B’y
er tempo. Crooked tunes, or tunes emphasis on the musical life of the ermen of the banking schooners who Lillian Collins
with non-standard beat structures, Inuit that in relatively short order the visited Aquaforte to buy bait), from the Memorial University Folklore and
are a signature of Newfoundland Labrador Inuit came to be identified radio, and from Bill Jones who played Language Archive 83-59, collector Dianne
music. The rhythmic emphasis tends with choral singing in four-part har- for many of the dances in the area.  Since Gilbert, Tape number C10399, 1983.
to be strong on each beat rather mony and the playing of string and it was typical in the area for musicians Used by permission.
than the “strong weak strong weak” brass instruments. Accordion and to refrain from playing in public during
pattern used for certain time sig- fiddle tunes were introduced to ac- a period of mourning after a family Lillian Collins (1895–1987) was born
natures in most of the rest of the company square and step dancing.70 member or friend passed away, it often in Placentia, Placentia Bay. Both her
country. Prior to increased contact During her stay in the community, happened that all the musicians in a parents were Newfoundlanders and
with musicians from Ireland in the Maija observed dancing only in a sin- small community would be unavailable her paternal grandfather was from
late twentieth century, many musi- gle household rather than as a com- for local dances because of a death. By Ireland. All seven children were en-
cians in Newfoundland used a unique munity activity, although she was told the age of eight, Mrs. Belle was playing couraged by their father to sing in the
terminology to identify tune types, that step dancing was very common for dances in her community when the evenings after dinner. Lillian herself
which is still used by older musicians among the Settlers and was catching usual musicians were unavailable due to was both a singer and instrumentalist.
and those in rural areas. “Singles” or on among the Inuit. [ML] bereavement. Upon her marriage to She played guitar and accordion for set
“single jigs,” in Newfoundland, are   Raymond Fennelly, the lighthouse dances, step dances and waltzes. She
34 35

moved to Grand Falls in 1983 at the Mouth organ or harmonica players They were traded among fiddlers to has ten beats followed by a standard
age of eighty-seven. are not abundant in Newfoundland, help identify common tunes, which phrase of eight beats. Although the
Singers were called upon to fill but they fill the same role as ac- often had different titles. [EO] first turn, then, might be said to
the role of the “fiddler” whenever one cordionists. Gerald Quinton have an extra bar, the accents sug-
was not available. As there were more (1922–2009) was born in Red Cliff,   gest that the player is actually playing
female singers than female instrumen- Bonavista Bay, and was one of the CD1 TRACK 04 the standard four bars, but alternat-
talists, it was common for women Quinton merchants who ran a family Oh My Pretty Dear, Won’t ing between bars of 3/4 and 2/4.
to perform mouth or chin music. A business from 1884 to 1990. Gerald You Come and Rub Me? “Crooked” tunes might have been
popular Newfoundland recording of took up accordion at age seven or Dorman Ralph used to accommodate dances with
chin music is by Minnie Mousseau eight but is best known for his mouth Memorial University Folklore and extra steps. The unusual title of this
from Mouse Island. This recording organ playing. He started playing for Language Archive 83-185, collector Peter tune is likely connected to a longer
presents another performer, Lillian local dances in 1939 and played solo Narváez, Tape Number C6247, ca. 1983. rhyme used to remember it. [EO]
Collins, singing the well-known “I’se until he paired up with Larry Barker Used by permission.  
the B’y,” which crosses the singing and from the neighboring community of
dance traditions. The clap at the end Open Hall. They played together for Dorman Ralph (1923–1999), who CD1 TRACK 05
mimics the stomp that fiddlers use to over fifty years. became blind as an infant, was best French Reel
end their tunes. After performing the known as a vocalist but is featured Ivan White
tune, Lillian said: here on the accordion he often (Laurus White, guitar)
used to accompany his own singing. Music From French Newfoundland. Pigeon
We could all sing. See my father Dorman grew up in Little Harbour Inlet Productions, 1980.

COURTESY OF SARAH QUINTON

was a great singer. My grandfather Deep, White Bay on Newfoundland’s Used by permission.
Lannon headed a choir in Ireland. northern coast where he learned to
He was a schoolmaster and he came sing from his mother. As a child he
to Newfoundland and he stayed in learned mouth organ before trying his
Placentia. He taught the boys in uncle’s accordion. He quickly took to

COURTESY OF EVELYN OSBORNE

school there for a few years and he This tune is a single (fast polka in the single row button accordion and
went back to Ireland. [EO]  2/4) with syncopations and irregular moved on to a double row, which be-
repetition patterns. Quinton follows came his lifelong instrument. In the
the tune with a rhyme used to re- 1950s his community was resettled,
CD1 TRACK 03 member the music: “Young man you and in 1956 he moved to St. John’s
Young Man You kissed me daughter, you did young where he became a popular musician.
Kissed Me Daughter man, you did young man. You went A CD of his songs was released by Ivan White (1943–2008), of
Gerald Quinton to the well for water, you did young SingSong Inc. in 1999. Stephenville on the west coast of
Memorial University Folklore and man, you did young man.” These This is a “crooked” tune or a piece Newfoundland, was a left-handed fid-
Language Archive 2008-002, collector “tune rhymes” are widespread and with a non-standard metric structure. dler. Rather than reversing the order
Evelyn Osborne, 2002. Used by permission. often contain slightly racy references. The first phrase of each turn or strain of the strings from low to high, as
36 37

many left-handed fiddlers do, Ivan Labrador. It was closed in the 1950s In this selection, Tom’s wife, Sybilla printed songbooks, especially a col-
played a standard violin on the oppos- and its inhabitants moved to the larg- (1942–2000), is singing along with lection of one hundred secular and
ite shoulder. He worked in the paper er community of Nain. Tom became his playing. Sybilla was born in sacred songs, many of them adapta-
industry for many years. The White or heavily involved in music-making in Hebron, Labrador, a Moravian mis- tions of German folk songs, trans-
LeBlanc families were originally from Nain. He was one of the church or- sion from 1831 to 1959. When the lated into Inuktitut and published in
Cape Breton and moved to Stephenville ganists, directed the church choir, mission was closed in 1959 due to 1872 by the Moravian missionaries.
in the nineteenth century. Ivan’s family played violin in the small orchestra poor conditions that allowed dis- These tunes were known by many
has four generations of dance fiddlers that accompanied anthems on special ease to flourish, the Inuit population people and sung readily whenever
and as a boy he chorded on guitar for feast days, taught violin in the school, was relocated throughout Labrador. music was called for in an informal
his father at dances. When he was and ran the community radio station. Sybilla moved with her family ap- context such as a family get-together
twenty, Ivan was inspired to learn fid- He owned a portable organ that he proximately two hundred kilometres or birthday party. It is likely that Tom
dle from a French Canadian family carried from house to house, host- south to Nain, the first Moravian used some of these hymn tunes in his
friend, Walter March. Ivan issued two ing singalongs in people’s kitchens.71 mission in Labrador, which had been fiddle teaching as well. According to
solo recordings during his life and was In his mid-forties at the time of this established in 1771. In Nain, Sybilla Tom and Sybilla’s daughter, Maria
featured on Music of French Newfoundland special recording session, he played sang in the Inuktitut church choir. Uvloriak Lyall, this hymn is called
(1980). a mixture of dance-like tunes, folk At the time of this recording, “Inosiga,” translated as “It’s Life.”73
Although Ivan played primarily songs, and religious songs. Nain Inuit were relying heavily on [ML, SJ]
Cape Breton music in his later years, “Golden Slippers” is a popular
this tune is considered to be part of the instrumental tune based on James
French tradition of the area.The struc- A. Bland’s song “Oh, Dem Golden
ture is unusual in that the A part is not Slippers” (1879), which was a par-
repeated and the B strain is repeated ody of a spiritual sung by the Fisk
one and a half times. Ivan used drones Jubilee Singers called “Golden
and some fingered ornamentation in Slippers.”72 Tom plays the tune quite
this performance. [EO] smoothly, with little ornamentation,
  and a wavering tempo, suggesting
perhaps that his performance was
CD1 TRACK 06 meant for listening rather than dan-
Golden Slippers cing. [ML, SJ]
Tom Uvloriak
Maija Lutz Collection, 1979.
Used by permission. CD1 TRACK 07
Inosiga
Tom Uvloriak (1928–2005) was Tom and Sybilla Uvloriak
born in Nutak, a community on a Maija Lutz Collection, 1979. Tom Uvloriak teaching violin to Philip Igloliorte in the Labrador Studies Program. (Courtesy
small island off the northwest coast of Used by permission. of Tim Borlase)
 39

the (Catholic) Acadians from their fer- deportation loomed over the main-
tile lands. The first Acadian families land Acadian population. The threat
moved from mainland Nova Scotia of exile became a reality with the de-
to the French colony of Île Saint- portation of mainland Acadians from
Jean in 1720. Although at first only Nova Scotia in 1755, immortalised
a small number of Acadians decided in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s
to resettle on the island, the popula- famous poem “Evangeline: A Tale of
tion quadrupled between 1748 and Acadie” (1854). Three years later,
1755 as tensions between the French Acadians were exiled from Île Royale
The Maritimes and English on the mainland became and Île Saint-Jean. During le Grand
increasingly hostile and the threat of Dérangement (the Great Upheaval),
The Maritime provinces—Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New
Brunswick—are a mosaic of historically distinct cultural and musical styles—
Acadian, Downeast, and Scottish—among others.74

Acadian 
Acadians are descendents of Canada’s first settlers of the French colony of
Acadie (Acadia), now the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince
Edward Island. Acadia was founded in 1604, although major colonization did
not start until after 1632. The first French families established a settlement at
Port-Royal, a fishing port at Chedabouctou Bay, and a number of smaller settle-
ments throughout the region. Because of its geographical and strategic position,
Acadia was coveted by both the English and French. Disputes between these
two colonial powers over the division of territory resulted in the land changing
hands numerous times between 1604 and 1710.The Acadians prided themselves
on their independence and their neutral position in the midst of Old World con-
flicts. They were successful farmers and developed a unique land reclamation
system known as aboiteaux (a drainage system using dykes) which enabled them
to open up new land for cultivation in the tidal marshes along the Bay of Fundy.75
Following the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, mainland Nova Scotia
and Newfoundland were ceded to the British government, while Île Royale
(now Cape Breton Island) and Île Saint-Jean (now Prince Edward Island) re-
mained under French control. This change had little effect on the Acadians, who
continued to govern their own day-to-day affairs until Governor Lawrence took
office in 1753 and began putting pressure on the British government to remove
The Maritimes.
40 41

between 1755 and 1763, more than other Acadian communities spread Acadians speak both standard French retaining a distinctly Acadian sound
12,000 people of French ancestry throughout Nova Scotia (including and localised dialects known as with its accented, rhythmic flavour.
were expelled from their homes along Cape Breton Island and along the “Acadian French” or chiac which fea- Acadian music is also popular in New
Canada’s east coast. Those who did Northumberland shore) and P.E.I. ture English influences, old French Brunswick (Canada’s only official bi-
not perish from famine or shipwrecks (la région Évangéline/the Evangeline words and verb conjugations, and re- lingual province). From tintamarres
were scattered through the east and Region is the only part of the Island gional pronunciations. (festive, noise-making parades) and
southeast coasts of North America, where Francophone Acadian culture Since the arrival of these first set- the annual Caraquet Acadian Festival
port cities of England and France, is predominant); there are also many tlers in the seventeenth century, the to houses painted in the colours of
French Guiana, the Caribbean, Saint Acadians living throughout Ontario, Acadians have maintained their vi- the Acadian flag, Acadian culture is
Pierre et Miquelon off the south coast and smaller numbers in other regions brant musical traditions of song and an important part of that province’s
of Newfoundland and the Falkland of Canada and the United States, in- instrumental music, primarily fiddle. identity. Acadian fiddling in New
Islands. Many Acadians ended up in cluding Quebec (particularly les Îles The style of Acadian music varies con- Brunswick varies significantly from
Louisiana, where there is a large popu- de la Madeleine), Newfoundland, and siderably from province to province; region to region, and within those re-
lation of Acadian descendents known eastern Maine. Many Francophone it also reflects the influences of other gions it is highly individualised. Some
as Cajuns. cultural groups throughout Eastern regions are more influenced by Irish
Fortunately, the de- Canada. Acadian fiddling on P.E.I. is traditions, while others have adopted
portation was only one characterised by a rhythmic drive and Don Messer’s Downeast style. Acadian
part of the Acadian sto- vigorous playing style. Fiddlers in the music is performed in many settings,
ry. When amity between Evangeline Region blend Cape Breton from kitchen parties to festivals, danc-
France and England was influences with an older Acadian style, es, competitions, and concert stages;
struck in 1763, many and play a mix of Scottish, French many Acadian musicians and groups,
Acadians made their way and locally-composed Acadian tunes. such as Barachois (P.E.I.), 1755 (New
back home. Without Many P.E.I. Acadian fiddlers accom- Brunswick) and Grand Dérangement
land ownership and pany themselves with a seated, per- (Nova Scotia), have earned national
protection of cultural cussive foot-tapping pattern known and international reputations. [MFo]  
rights, however, some regionally as “the shuffle.” It corres-
Acadian settlements ponds to a syncopated bowed rhythm
were assimilated by of the same name. Acadian music in Downeast
English culture. Others P.E.I.’s most western region (West “Downeast” refers to the Don Messer-
were able to hold on to Prince) is a blend of Acadian and Irish influenced fiddling of Canada’s east
their French language elements, due to the influence of Irish coast. The music is smooth, with a
and traditions. Today and Newfoundland settlers in the re- combination of slurring and straight
the majority of French- gion. Acadian music in Nova Scotia is bows; it is less ornamented than many
speaking Acadians influenced by local Scottish and Irish other styles, and eminently “dance-
live in the province of Fiddler Gérard Richard of Bédec (Kent County, New traditions, particularly Scottish fid- able.”76 While some scholars have
New Brunswick, with Brunswick). Photo taken by Claudette Richard, in Bédec ca.
1940. (Courtesy of Centre d’études acadiennes)
dling from Cape Breton, all the while written about the Downeast style as
42 43

a distinct style from a particular geo- old-time and Cape Breton styles. The Championship in Shelburne, Ontario a high school auditorium. As revenues
graphic region (Maritime Canada), left hand plays an important role pro- by one year. It was created in 1950 increased, contest organizers were
many fiddlers make little distinction viding a strong bass line, often includ- when a group of Catholic men decided able to bring in special entertainment
between Downeast and Canadian old- ing chromatic bass runs; pianists stay they would hold a fiddle and step dan- such as Ned Landry, Earl Mitton, Don
time styles. Fiddlers from the east on the bottom half of the piano so as to cing contest as a fundraiser to build a Messer, Cec MacEachern, Winston
coast will say they play “old-time” as not interfere with the fiddle.77 new church.The first one gathered ap- “Scotty” Fitzgerald, and John Allen
often as fiddlers from Ontario say they Downeast fiddling in the proximately ten fiddlers, ten step dan- Cameron, as well as step dancers from
play “Downeast.”  Maritimes is partly sustained by fiddle cers, and a “respectable audience,”78 Ontario. Now called the Maritime
Common tune genres include the (and sometimes step dancing) contests and was deemed successful enough Fiddling Festival, the contest has be-
waltz, jig, two-step, reel, hornpipe, in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. for the group to plan a second contest. come a multi-day event including jam
clog, and schottische. Dance tempos The Maritime Old-Time Fiddling They were unprepared, however, for sessions, visits to local seniors’ homes,
vary according to the locale, as differ- Contest in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia the traffic jams and crowds in 1951; and a dance.79 In New Brunswick and
ent groups of dancers prefer different is considered the oldest continually the windows of the church hall had to mainland Nova Scotia, fiddling and
tempos. The piano accompaniment running fiddle contest in Canada, pre- be opened so people could listen from step dancing contests peaked in popu-
style is a cross between that used in dating the Canadian National Fiddling outside. In order to accommodate the larity in the 1980s but waned in the
crowds that numbered between three 1990s, largely replaced with “fiddle-
and four thousand, the contest was doos” or “potlucks” as venues for con-
moved to the Dartmouth Memorial temporary fiddling and step dancing.
Rink, where it was held until the rink [SJ]
burned down in 1974; then it moved to

Ned Landry and His New Brunswick Lumberjacks: Ned joined Don Messer and His New
Brunswick Lumberjacks in the mid-1930s and took over as band leader in 1939 when Messer Men step dancing at Bathurst Lumber Company Second Annual Picnic, August 9, 1919.
moved to Charlottetown. (Courtesy of Centre d’études acadiennes) (Courtesy of Provincial Archives New Brunswick Assorted Photo Acquisitions #4: P37-484-20)
44 45

Scottish MacMaster, the Rankin Family, and ian, dorian, and gapped). If a tune in the middle, as quarter tones,
Scottish immigrants came to Cape the Barra MacNeils. The late twen- modulates within itself the medley but more often are closer to one
Breton Island in large numbers— tieth and early twenty-first centu- can continue using the new tonic.83 semitone than the other. The third,
some 30,000 in the first part of ries also saw an increase in research The Scottish bagpipes have sixth, and seventh degrees of the
the nineteenth century—bringing related to Cape Breton fiddle81 and greatly influenced both the orna- scale are the ones most likely to be
their music, culture, and language. piping82 traditions. The tracks on mentation and modes used in Cape played neutrally; they are also the
The use of Gaelic declined as an ev- this CD set represent older styles Breton fiddling. Because the bag- ones that determine modality, mak-
eryday language, but the music of of fiddling and piping by musicians pipe does not use a tempered scale, ing it sometimes hard to identify
bagpipes, fiddles, and step dancing who are looked up to as role mod- Cape Breton fiddle tunes are more the scale. In the past, tune collect-
flourish on Cape Breton today.   For els by today’s generation. likely to be in one or more modes, ors often forced Cape Breton tunes
many, dancing is the essential ingre- Although dominated by reels and rather than strict major and minor to fit into major or minor keys in
dient. While the traditional style jigs, the repertoire of Cape Breton keys, sometimes playing between their transcriptions, and thus print-
fell out of practice in Scotland, musicians contains certain tune two versions of a scale degree, such ed them inaccurately; however, oral
the energy and timing of the Cape types that are not generally played as the raised and lowered third. At tradition has managed to maintain
Breton dancers drove the music to in other parts of the country. For other times the fiddler uses “neutral the modal structure of the tunes.
continue, aided by the isolation of example, the strathspey is unique to notes” (notes between semitones). The rhythmic drive of Scottish
the island. Scottish and Scottish Canadian fid- They are sometimes played right Canadian fiddling derives, in part,
By 1972, however, there was dling. Unlike reels, which were first
some concern that the fiddle mu- played by bagpipes and are much
sic was also dying away,80 sparking older, strathspeys were originally
a drive to more formal promo- played on the fiddle using a particu-
tion. The first Festival of Scottish lar bowing technique to create the
Fiddling was held in July 1973 characteristic “scotch snap” rhyth-
and has continued every year since mic pattern. Other common Cape
then. The Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Breton tune types include pastoral
Association was established as a re- or slow airs and marches. Tunes are
sult of the festival to foster the mu- usually played in medleys that fol-
sic’s accessibility and growth. There low strict rules, the order being
is no doubt that these efforts have a march or slow air, slow strath-
been successful. In the mid-1990s, spey, one or two fast strathspeys,
Cape Breton fiddling, step dancing, and several reels. Jigs are typically
and Gaelic song took the Canadian played in medleys by themselves.
music scene by storm, fuelled by ar- Tunes within the medley tradition-
rangements of traditional music and ally have the same tonic, although
performances by young musicians they will often go through several
such as Ashley MacIsaac, Natalie changes of mode (major, mixolyd- Jack Greenough playing at the Maritime Old-Time Fiddling Contest. (Courtesy of Jack Greenough)
46 47

from the heavy use of dotted a piece of foam or carpet under the The earliest fiddling was un- According to MacEachen, the best
rhythms, particularly the “scotch fiddler’s feet in the studio, but this accompanied. Harpsichord and ear- step dancers are not those with the
snap,” a rhythmic pattern notated practice is less common now, as fid- ly pianos were used for accompani- most steps, but those with a “total
as a sixteenth note followed by a dlers and producers recognize the mental purposes in Scotland, while mastery of a smaller number, the
dotted eighth that is used abun- importance of foot-tapping to the pump organs were introduced into ability to improvise effective varia-
dantly in strathspeys. In Scotland overall sound of the performance.87 Cape Breton in the late nineteenth tions on their steps, and a recog-
the note lengths are consistently In many modern recordings, foot- century. Pianos arrived on the island nizable personal style.”93 Like fid-
shortened sixteenths and double- tapping is clearly audible. at the turn of the twentieth century dling, Cape Breton step dancing is
dotted eighths, which tends to shift One of the most identifiable and had become the accompani- becoming known internationally
the beat toward the longer note. In features of Cape Breton fiddling mental instrument of choice by the through performances by touring
Cape Breton, however, the rhyth- is its distinctive and heavy use of 1930s; guitar is also used, but not as artists such as Natalie MacMaster.
mic lengths of the scotch snap are ornamentation. Double stops are popular.89 A unique style of percus- Increased exposure has led to in-
variable, more rounded, and the used frequently to add variety and sive, syncopated piano accompani- creased innovation in step creation,
shifting of the beat never occurs to imitate the bagpipe; open strings ment evolved in Cape Breton.90 as well as borrowing from Acadian
because the beat must be empha- are the most prevalent, but fingered Contemporary step dancing and Ottawa Valley styles.94
sized for dancing.84 Dunlay and double stops, particularly using the in Cape Breton descended from Scottish music and dancing is
Greenberg call this “subtle inequal- fourth finger to double an open Scottish step dancing brought in not restricted to Cape Breton, of
ity of note lengths” “lilt.”85 In reels it string, are also used. The frequent the early nineteenth century—that course. Boatloads
�������������������������
of Scottish im-
is created by occasionally accenting use of A-E-A-E tuning was used to is, the popular four-handed and migrants, mostly from the West
selected weak beats. increase volume before amplifica- eight-handed reels, which were Highlands and Hebrides, landed
Cape Breton fiddlers generally tion became possible since more performed with some stepping, on the northeast shore of Queens
accompany themselves with their open strings are available for dron- as well as a number of solo step County, P.E.I. in the late eigh-
feet. Strathspeys are marked by four ing (creating the sound of the bag- dances.91 Step dancing is performed teenth century.95 Generally, fid-
beats to the bar; jigs and marches pipes).88 Scordatura allows two fid- as a solo strathspey and reel med- dlers in the most eastern regions
are marked with only two beats to dlers to play together in different ley as well as part of the square of P.E.I. (Kings County) and the
the bar, all with the same part of the octaves, although for the most part, set. Cape Breton square sets are central Queens and East Prince re-
foot; and reels use the rocking mo- the Cape Breton fiddle tradition is derivatives of the quadrille or lan- gions have a Scottish-based style.
tion between the toe and the heel, a solo tradition. While large groups cers which came to Cape Breton Acadian fiddlers in western P.E.I.’s
marking four beats to the bar, with of fiddlers may play together in from New England in the twentieth région Évangéline blend Cape Breton
the heel accenting the strong beat.86 concert finales and group lessons, century.92 There is an intimate re- influences with an older Acadian
The taps are an audible and inte- one fiddler with an accompanist is lationship between the step dancer style, and play a primarily Scottish
gral part of the music, yet there is the usual arrangement. Many fid- and fiddler. While dancers will per- repertoire. Radio broadcasts from
no audible foot-tapping on the ex- dlers playing together is said to in- form certain steps to certain tunes, Nova Scotia in the 1940s and 50s
amples on this CD set. Producers hibit the personal expression that they also improvise variations to strengthened interest amongst
once tried to eliminate the “inter- is so important to Cape Breton fid- those steps in response to the orna- Island fiddlers in Scottish fiddling.
ference” of foot-tapping by putting dling. ments and rhythms of the fiddle. [DM, SJ, MFo]
48 49

Nova Scotia on her family’s musical tradition, she he got married, and it was not until performance was recorded in 2003 in
learned to play the fiddle when she her own children were married that the recording studio of the local radio
CD1 TRACK 08 was seven or eight years old and has she bought an accordion of her own station CIFA FM. [MFo]
La John Muise taught her own children. Her older and started to play again. She plays
Muriel Saulnier (née Muise) brother, Frank, is also a well-known by ear and often plays at seniors’ resi-
(Sonny Cullins, guitar) fiddler in the region. She recalls play- dences in her community, at Meteghan CD1 TRACK 10

CIFA FM Archives, 2001. ing the fiddle with her brother and church suppers, and at family gather- Marion Waltz / Caledonian
Used by permission. her father on Sunday afternoons after ings. She has also been featured at the Jig / Trip to Windsor
church when she was a child, ac- New Brunswick Accordion Festival Johnny Mooring
companied by another brother, Ned, and as a guest with bands for dances (Carol Kennedy, piano)
on harmonica. Today, Muriel plays at the Legion hall. Although the accor- CBC Radio Archive, Toronto, 1966.
the fiddle with friends for fundrais- dion is her primary instrument, Stella Courtesy of the Canadian Broadcasting
COURTESY OF MURIEL SAULNIER

ing activities and entertains at senior also plays guitar and some fiddle. Corporation.
citizens’ homes. Muriel recorded her
father’s tune at the CIFA FM studio at
the age of eighty-four. The syncopated
rhythmic motif, repeated throughout

COURTESY OF STELLA BURRIDGE

both the A and B sections of the tune,

COURTESY OF BANFF RECORDS

Born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia in and the strong accents add a distinct-
1917, Muriel Saulnier moved to ive Acadian flavour and are typical of
Station-de-Meteghan (Meteghan Muriel’s playing style. [MFo]
Station) when she was seven years  
old. Muriel’s father, John Muise
(1884–1954), was a fisherman and an CD1 TRACK 09 Stella learned the tune “La Born in Springhill, Nova Scotia,
influential fiddler in the Baie Sainte- La Bastringue Bastringue” by hearing it performed in Johnny Mooring (1928–1974) began
Marie area (a region historically Stella Burridge her community. The tune has its ori- playing the fiddle at age nine, probably
known as Clare). He began playing the (Ray Burridge, piano; Don Doucet, gins in a seventeenth- or eighteenth- influenced by his mother, who played
fiddle as a young boy and composed percussion and bass) century French song. It has since be- the violin. Johnny was a popular com-
numerous tunes. His reel “La John CIFA FM Archives, 2003. come a popular party song throughout petitor at the Canadian Old-time
Muise” is a standard tune that every lo- Used by permission. French Canada and is often played as a Fiddle Contest in Shelburne, Ontario,
cal fiddler learns to play. dance tune in Nova Scotia. The extra where he was the first person to win
Muriel has many memories of One of nine children, Stella Burridge beat heard the second time through the the title for three years in a row, from
music-making in her family. Her father (b.1923) of Salmon River, Nova Scotia A part of this recording was a common 1964 to 1966. It was for this achieve-
played his fiddle every day, often seat- learned to play on her brother’s accor- feature of Acadian music throughout ment that he was inducted posthu-
ed on the veranda, and people would dion when she was fourteen years old. the Maritimes and is still heard in the mously into the Fiddler’s Hall of
come by the house to listen. Carrying Her brother sold his accordion when playing of some older musicians. This Fame.96 
50 51

Carol Kennedy (b.1948) was a the late 1950s to the early 1970s. This a popular fiddler for local dances. His Born in the isolated fishing commun-
popular piano accompanist at the recording captures the excitement of father, Edmond Greenough, was one of ity of White Point in northern Victoria
Shelburne contest for several years. the audience as Johnny begins his reel. the founding members of the Maritime County, Winston Fitzgerald (1914–
Besides Johnny, with whom she played Johnny’s reels were among the fastest Old-Time Fiddling Contest, started in 1987) was of Irish and French herit-
for four years, she also accompanied ever played in the Shelburne contest, 1950. Jack won this contest, as well as age. Due to his skill in Scottish music,
Graham Townsend, Peter Dawson, to the extent that they almost felt like a number of others, several times. He he was known far and wide simply as
and even Don Messer on two occa- they were out of control.The audience has also performed on radio and tele- “Scotty.” By the age of eight he had al-
sions. She was also a popular studio applause for this performance was by vision, including guest appearances on ready performed his first gig, and at
musician.97 Also a fiddler, Carol is well far the loudest of the three finalists Don Messer’s Jubilee and a thirteen-week the age of twelve, as the fiddler for the
known in fiddle circles as a composer, that evening. [SJ] run on ATV’s Saturday Nite Party. local school picnic, he helped to raise
one of her most popular tunes being   “Cape Blomidon Reel” was com- money to pay the teacher. While he
the “Red Carpet Waltz.” posed by Nova Scotian fiddler, Ron was still a teenager, Winston per-
This track was recorded at the CD1 TRACK 11 Goodwin, from the Annapolis Valley, formed with the Maritime
Shelburne contest in 1966, the year Cape Blomidon Reel and is a popular tune in the Downeast Merrimakers, a minstrel show that
Johnny won the title of Canadian Jack Greenough fiddle repertoire of the Maritimes. toured the small towns and rural com-
champion for the third year in a row. (Bill Guest, piano; Hubert Smart, Despite the name of the original al- munities of Eastern Canada. In the
He plays the typical contest set of a drums; Don Armstrong, guitar; Bill bum, this track was not recorded 1930s, he became part of country
waltz, jig, and reel, structured to fit Mallard, bass) at the Maritime Old-Time Fiddling music star Hank Snow’s band, spend-
within the three-minute time limit. Maritime Old Time Fiddling Contest. Banff Contest, but is a studio production ing almost three years with this fellow
“Marion Waltz” is one of his own RBS-1251, ca. 1966. Used by permission. with a band accompaniment typical
compositions. He was a popular com- for the time. The wood block in the B

COURTESY OF CAPE BRETON'S MAGAZINE,

poser of tunes and esteemed for his sections of the tune is reminiscent of

PHOTO BY ABBASS STUDIO, SYDNEY, NS;

composition and playing of waltzes. arrangements made popular by Don
“Caledonian Jig” is also known as Messer and his various bands. [SJ]
COURTESY OF JACK GREENOUGH

“Jolly’s Jig.” “Trip to Windsor” was

written by Cape Breton fiddler Dan

WRECK COVE, NS
R. MacDonald and is a common tune CD1 TRACK 12
in the Downeast or old-time reper- Welcome to Your Feet Again /
toire. This performance is typical of The Bonny Lass of Fisherrow
Johnny Mooring. The waltz is smooth / The Bird’s Nest Nova Scotian playing in dance halls,
and sweet, which makes the abrupt lift At age twelve, Jack Greenough Winston “Scotty” Fitzgerald doing stage shows, and making radio
in the B part even more dramatic. The (b.1935) of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, (Beattie Wallace, piano; Estwood appearances across Nova Scotia. By the
classical trill played in the second part took some violin lessons that were of- Davidson, guitar) late 1940s, Winston was performing
of the jig may sound unusual to con- fered after school; within a couple of Winston “Scotty” Fitzgerald Classic Cuts. regularly on CJCB Radio in Sydney as
temporary ears; however, it was not years he was playing a number of old- Breton Books and Music BBM-CD04. part of The Radio Entertainers. With
atypical of fiddlers at Shelburne from time fiddle tunes. By age fifteen he was Used by permission. Beattie Wallace on piano and Estwood
52 53

Davidson on guitar, the group played able on Winston’s Classic Cuts CD)99 Breton from South Uist in the early say,‘That’s not right!You gotta put a
together for almost thirty years. were originally recorded by Winston’s nineteenth century. His father’s grand- little more stir to it—a little liveli-
Winston was a fisherman in his earlier longtime friend and musical influ- father, Lachlann mac Iain ’ic Dhonnchaidh er.’ In that way I had the tunes more
days but spent many years working as a ence, Angus Chisholm. “Welcome to ’ic Sheumais (Lachlan the son of John accurate than the ones in the books!
labourer in Sydney. Throughout that Your Feet Again” is a strathspey found the son of Duncan the son of James) But she had no books; it was all in
time he performed regularly across in the Braemar Collection,100 followed arrived in 1808.101 Referred to in Uist her head! … I know that when I
Cape Breton and beyond. In later by a pair of reels, “The Bonny Lass of as ceòl cluaiseadh (literally “ear-music”), was in my early twenties I could
years, Winston performed with Cape Fisherrow” (by Daniel Dow) and “The the Uist style of piping once played an play the pipes all night and a differ-
Breton folksinger and guitarist John Bird’s Nest.” [DM] important role in the social fabric of ent tune each time, and I got a lot of
Allan Cameron, making a trip to both Scottish and Cape Breton com- those tunes from her.102
Ireland that was chronicled by munities. By the second half of the
Canada’s National Film Board.98 Later, CD1 TRACK 13 twentieth century, however, this piping The play between language and
Winston became one of the house fid- Calum Crùbach (Crippled tradition in both Uist and Cape Breton music in Alex’s piping is evident in
dlers for the John Allan Cameron tele- Malcolm) / Alex Currie’s Reel yielded to standardized and literate the names of several of the tunes on
vision show on CTV (1975–1976), / Am Muileann Dubh (The forms of piping for competition. The this track that have Scottish Gaelic
which led to touring and recording as Black Snuffmill) / Sandy pipes were supplanted by other music- words connected with the melody,
part of the Cape Breton Symphony, a Duff’s al instruments for social dancing, in- known in Gaelic as puirt-à-beul (lit-
group that initially included fiddlers Alex Currie cluding, in Cape Breton Island, the erally, “tunes from a mouth”). The first
Jerry Holland, John Donald Cameron, Collection of Paul McDonald, 1993. fiddle.The fiddle style retained a strong part of the tune noted here as “Alex
and Wilfred Gillis. Courtesy of the Institute of Island Studies piping influence, which still may be Currie’s Reel” shares a melodic rela-
Winston’s playing was considered at UPEI.  heard from some players such as Joe tionship with the second section of a
by many to be perfect: his timing was Peter Maclean of MacAdam’s Lake. port-à-beul once popular in Inverness
precise, with a lift and drive to his Alex grew up in a household where County, Cape Breton, “Ma dh’eugas
PHOTO BY RONALD CAPLAN; COURTESY
OF CAPE BRETON'S MAGAZINE, WRECK

music that inspired dancing. His abil- his parents spoke to one another in Dòmhnall Mac ’ic Iain” (If Donald son of
ity to combine tunes into established Gaelic; his mother sang pipe tunes as the son of John dies). It is also similar
sets was so successful that many of his father accompanied them with step to the better-known “Ruidhle na Coilich
these sets, made famous through his dancing. Alex acquired many of these Dubha” (“The Reel of Blackcock”), as
recordings (a series of 78s and LPs on tunes from his mother’s Gaelic sing- noted by John Shaw, a scholar of Cape
Bernie MacIsaac’s Antigonish-based ing, as he recalled: Breton’s Gaelic traditions.
COVE, NS

Celtic Music label), are still played the Until the early part of the twenti-
same way today. In the 1960s,Winston Born into a Cape Breton family where Here’s the way I learned: My eth century, Cape Breton pipers often
joined forces with Lloyd MacInnis to pipe music, fiddle music, and step mother would jig the tune as it was played for square sets. They usually
create the Mac label, one of the first dancing were a way of life, piper Alex written in the olden days…. She played sitting down, which allowed
efforts by a local performer to release Currie (1910–1997) was descended jigged in words—in Gaelic.… She them to keep time with their feet,
and distribute his own work.The tunes from Curries, MacMullins and couldn’t play the pipes, though. But adding both an accompaniment and
on this CD set (recorded and still avail- MacIntyres who had arrived in Cape if I wouldn’t hit a note right, she’d an extra “lift” to the playing. Alex was
54 55

a master of this rhythmic accompani- CD1 TRACK 14 and the latter on his way to becoming forming in public since the 1930s,
ment, but he could be just as com- The Athole Highlanders' one. The remaining siblings (Donald, Theresa was one of the few women
fortable marching in pipe bands, a Farewell to Loch Katrine / Theresa, and Marie) continued to to play regularly on stages and in the
result of his time in the Canadian A Trip to Mabou Ridge perform as the MacLellan Trio, and dancehalls.
Army during World War Two. Alex Theresa MacLellan became renowned for their powerful Marie MacLellan learned to play
played for more than seventy-five (Marie MacLellan, piano; Blanche style and distinctive tone. One of the on the family’s foot-pumped parlour
years and passed away at the age of Sophocleous, guitar) fiddlers often led on the tune while reed organ. Her father taught her to
eighty-four, only a few weeks after his A Trip To Mabou Ridge: Scottish Music the other embellished it with intri- chord by calling out the changes as
last performance. It was in a concert From Cape Breton Island. Rounder Records cately woven instrumental harmo- they played together. Many dance-
dedicated in his honour at the 1997 7006, 1976. Courtesy of New Rounder nies. Although they recorded as a trio halls had no piano or organ, however,
Celtic Colours International Festival. LLC. Used by arrangement with Concord in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, their so she would accompany fiddlers on
Very little of Alex’s music was ever Music Group, Inc. public appearances together became the guitar, “tuned in the Hawaiian
recorded, but this group of tunes can   rarer as Donald settled in Toronto styling and played with a bar.”104
give the listener an idea of his skill in and both Theresa and Marie remained Marie made the switch to piano when
strathspeys and reels. According to in Cape Breton. she moved to Sydney after World War

COURTESY OF CAPE BRETON’S MAGAZINE

Paul McDonald, who recorded these As a solo fiddler, Theresa was Two, where she became one of the
tunes in Alex’s kitchen at MacAdam’s in demand and her talent took her most popular piano accompanists.

PHOTO BY RONALD CAPLAN

Lake, Cape Breton in 1993, this was to the Montreal Olympics, regular Early in her career, Theresa dis-
Alex’s favourite strathspey, followed appearances in Ontario and New played a fondness for pipe marches,
by two classic reels. Alex’s playing on England, and a spot on CBC TV’s a tune type for which she is now
these tracks showcases his distinctive Ceilidh series (hosted by John Allan known. This track by Theresa consists
use of ornamentation as well as subtle Cameron). But it was in Cape Breton of two 2/4 marches in the key of A. It
melodic variations. As Alex noted in a Music runs in the MacLellan family where she built her strongest audi- starts with “The Athole Highlanders’
conversation with Paul McDonald and of Riverside, including “Big” Ronald ence. Usually together with Marie, Farewell to Loch Katrine,” a popular
Hamish Moore after playing the tunes MacLellan, his wife Mary Anne, and she played for dances and concerts bagpipe march composed by William
on this track: their children “Baby” Joe, Donald, across the island for many years. Rose in the late nineteenth century
Theresa and Marie. Ronald was a She was a favourite with step and (called the “King of Pipe Marches” by
That’s the main thing about them blacksmith, large in stature, and a square dancers because of the lift Scottish composer J. Scott Skinner).
reels or strathspeys—the time, eh? powerful fiddler. Mary Anne supplied and drive in her playing. Over the This tune is followed by the title
There are very few pipers who can the accompaniment on piano or or- years, Theresa became a role model cut from her 1976 Rounder record-
play a strathspey with the right gan. Joe, Donald, and Theresa be- for many younger fiddlers, particu- ing, A Trip To Mabou Ridge, composed
time today.You’ve got to have that came equally skilled as fiddlers, while larly young women, as they emu- by Queensville fiddler Dan Hughie
nice time, you know? That’s the Marie became the master of the key- lated her style and her tunes. While MacEachern. Written in 1938, it is
best for dancing—getting on the board. Sadly, both Ronald and young women such as Tina Campbell, Mary still one of the most popular marches
floor that dancer has got to have Joe died only a few months apart in (Beaton) MacDonald, and Theresa from any of the Cape Breton com-
that little push, eh?103 [PM, TF] 1935, the former already a legend (MacLean) Morrison had been per- posers. [DM]
56 57

Prince Edward Island Charlottetown, and began adopting a the Rollo Bay Fiddle Instruction earliest influence was country music,
Cape Breton style.105 program. The Chaisson house was especially the piano playing of Floyd
CD1 TRACK 15 The “Princess Reel” is one of the famous for its music. Neighbours Kramer. Only later was Kevin inter-
Princess Reel most widely played tunes on P.E.I., would gather there when a big storm ested in the traditional music played
Stephen Toole having arrived from New Brunswick in was brewing, hoping for a “stormstay” by his father. At age twenty-nine,
(Jacques Arsenault, guitar) the 1920s. It is also known as the “Silver and the accompanying long night of Kevin took up the fiddle; he also plays
Island Folk Festival. Institute of Island Wedding Reel” and “Charlie’s Reel” in great music-making. guitar. Kevin’s own children are all
Studies, University of Prince Edward southern Kings County.106 This track accomplished musicians. Both Kenny
Island, 1985. Used by permission. was recorded live on November 6, and Kevin are well-known compos-
  1982 at the Island Folk Festival, which ers; their tunes are part of the stan-
featured traditional musicians and local dard repertoire of the Island.

COURTESY OF ANNE M. MCPHEE

songmakers. A noteworthy aspect of This track was recorded in the
CIVILIZATION: KEN PERLMAN, CULTURAL
PHOTO BY EARTHWATCH TEAM, PRINCE

COURTESY OF CANADIAN MUSEUM OF

this performance is the bass line played “tuning room” (a space used by fid-
STUDIES, B809, F5 AND F6, 1991-1992
EDWARD ISLAND FIDDLING PROJECT

by Jacques Arsenault on guitar, particu- dlers to tune and warm up before

larly in the second half of the tune. [SJ] their performances) at the Rollo
Bay Fiddle Festival. In an effort to
promote traditional Island music,
CD1 TRACK 16 We hear two of Joe Pete’s sons, the festival began with one concert
Lad O’Beirne / Dublin Porter Kenny and Kevin, on this track. on a Sunday afternoon in July 1976
Born in Green Road, ����������������
an Irish settle- Kenny Chaisson Kenny (b.1947), known as Kenny with the combined efforts of Bishop
ment in south-central Queens County (Kevin Chaisson, piano) Joe Pete, is famous for his strong, Faber MacDonald, Joe Pete Chaisson,
where he lived all his life, Stephen Collection of Roy Johnstone and Beverley powerful style and rhythmic steadi- and the Eastern Kings Fiddlers
Toole (1926–1995) came from a large Diamond, 1993. Used by permission. ness. Kevin (b.1950) detoured the Association (a concert sponsor to
fiddling family. His father and several family tradition of fiddling and at age this day).108 The money gathered was
brothers all fiddled, played piano, or- Ken Perlman identifies the Chaisson fifteen began playing the piano in- (and still is) used to provide free fid-
gan, guitar and step danced, and his family, from the Northeast Kings re- stead. He is in high demand as an ac- dle lessons for music students in the
sister also played organ, piano, and gion, as “the strongest exponents of companist throughout the province. area. The Chaisson family bought the
guitar. After starting at age ten, Scottish-oriented Cape Breton-style Influenced by Cape Breton pianists, Rollo Bay Festival grounds when the
Stephen was playing for local dances fiddling” on Prince Edward Island;107 Kevin has a smooth, “rolling” style land went up for sale in 1993 in or-
and house parties by age fourteen, and ironically, they are of Acadian French of playing, created in part by lots of der to keep the festival running. It is
remained an active dance fiddler in origin. There are at least five genera- arpeggiation. He also incorporates a the oldest festival of its kind on the
southwest Queens County for most of tions of fiddling Chaissons, starting lot of bass and rhythmic elements, a Island, bringing together local fid-
his life. He joined the P.E.I. Fiddlers with Simon (b. ca.1880). His grand- style he developed when he played dlers (mainly from the eastern end
Society in 1976, which took his play- son, Joe Pete (1912–1981) helped in a country band that did not have a of P.E.I.) and Cape Breton fiddlers
ing around the island. During his last found the P.E.I. Fiddlers Society, bass player, and he had to fill in those for three days of concerts, old-time
years he played for a weekly dance in the Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival, and parts with his piano. In fact, Kevin’s dances, and a tune-writing circle.
58 59

Both of the tunes making up this fine step dancer, singer, harmonium CD1 TRACK 18 ornamentation set him apart from
medley, “Lad O’Beirne” and “Dublin and harmonica player. Her music in- La Marmotteuse other Acadian fiddlers in la région
Porter,” are Irish in origin. Kenny’s spired the internationally acclaimed Eddy Arsenault Évangéline, who tend to favour reels
fiddling is characterized by strong Acadian group Barachois (1995–2003). Luc Lacourcière Collection, Archives de and marches. Like that of many
accents and short bow strokes. Accompanying Delphine on this track folklore et d’ethnologie de l’Université older Acadian fiddlers, Eddy’s
Kevin’s piano accompaniment is is her sister, Zélie-Anne (b.1922), also Laval, 1958. Used by permission. rhythmic, driving fiddling pulls
characteristic of a contemporary a well-known fiddler. step dancers to the floor; this style
Cape Breton piano style. He uses is affectionately referred to as “pil-
considerable syncopation, a wide ing on the bois sec” (dry wood).
range of the keyboard, and a walking Eddy has received numerous awards

COURTESY OF LA VOIX ACADIENNE

COURTESY OF GEORGES ARSENAULT
bass line in the left hand. Above the for his music, including the East
cheers and shouts of encouragement Coast Music Association’s Stompin’
from the crowd, we can hear the Tom Award in 1999 and the inaug-
caller giving directions to the danc- ural Atlantic Fiddlers’ Jamboree
ers. [SJ, MFo] Golden Fiddle Award in 2003 for
his contribution to preserving
Eddy (Alfred à Arcade à Joe Acadian culture.
CD1 TRACK 17 This track is a P.E.I. Acadian Mocauque) Arsenault (b.1921) is a This recording was made on
Money Musk variant of the tune “Money Musk,” retired lobster fisherman who res- August 14, 1958, in the parish
Delphine Arsenault which was composed circa 1776 ides in Saint-Chrysostome, Prince of Baie Egmont, when Eddy was
(Zélie-Anne Gaudet, harmonium) by Scottish composer Daniel County. He is widely regarded as thirty-seven years old. Although he
Georges Arsenault Collection, Centre Dow (1732–1783). (It is also the most influential fiddler in la ré- performs solo on this track, Eddy
d’études acadiennes, 1973. known as “Sir Archibald Grant of gion Évangéline. Eddy has performed is often accompanied on guitar by
Used by permission. Moneymusk’s Reel.”) This record- on several commercial recordings, his younger brother, Amand. “La
ing features an addition, in the form including Eddy Arsenault—Egmont Marmotteuse,” also known as “La
Born in Abram-Village, Prince of a fast march, to the original tune. Baie (1981), Piling on the bois sec Disputeuse” and “The Growling Old
County, P.E.I., Delphine (1912– The third section may have its ori- (1993), and with his family on Party Man and Cackling Old Woman,” is
1983) was a well known fiddler and a gins in an old French song, but it is Acadien (1995). Eddy was strongly likely an old Québécois reel (see
member of one of the Island’s largest not played with the rest of the tune influenced by the playing of Cape CD 2, Track 11 for a version by
and most musical families, the “Jos today. The harmonium provides a Breton fiddlers Winston “Scotty” Métis fiddler, Wilf Laderoute) and
Bibienne” family: all fourteen children more sustained sound than the pia- Fitzgerald and Angus Chisholm, it is a favourite among Acadian fid-
played the fiddle. Delphine and her no that would eventually replace it. whom he heard on the radio and on dlers on the Island. [MFo]
sisters pioneered as female fiddlers This recording was made by Acadian records. Eddy’s repertoire of
at community dances and parties, be- historian and folklorist Georges Scottish strathspeys and jigs,
coming known for their lively fiddling Arsenault from P.E.I. [MFo] smooth bowing style (created by
and tapping feet. Delphine was also a long bows and slurs) and use of
60 61

New Brunswick which was often played by Don ently lives in Saint-Ignace, a small through the 1980s he organized many
Messer, and other favourites such as community in New Brunswick. The “soirées amateurs” (amateur musical
CD1 TRACK 19 the “Beaumont Reel” and “Winter accordion is the second most popu- evenings) and “frolics” (gatherings) in
La tune à grand-père Reel.” In 1977, he recorded his only lar instrument in the region, behind Saint-Ignace.
Éloi Leblanc album, Éloi and His Fiddle (Acadian the fiddle. Yvon is a self-taught ac-

COURTESY OF CENTRE D’ÉTUDES ACADIENNES

(Laura Boudreau, piano) Productions LPA-101), and in 2002, cordionist from a musical family; his
Jean Péronnet Collection, Centre d’études he was inducted into the New father, Placide, was an accordionist
acadiennes, 1968. Used by permission. Brunswick Country Music Hall of and his grandfather, Honoré, played
Fame. Éloi was posthumously awarded the fiddle. They were major influences
COURTESY OF CENTRE D’ÉTUDES ACADIENNES the East Coast Music Association’s for Yvon, as were older local fiddlers
Stompin’ Tom Award in 1997. 109 such as Dollard Thébeau (whose influ-
This recording was made by Jean ences included Don Messer, Winston
Péronnet at Éloi’s home in 1968. Éloi ‘Scotty’ Fitzgerald, and Ned Landry).
learned “La tune à grand-père” from Yvon also plays acoustic guitar, mouth
his maternal grandfather, a fiddler organ, wooden spoons, and “feet” This recording was made by
named Narcisse à John. On this track (seated foot-tapping). He started play- Robert Richard at a square dance at
Éloi is accompanied by his sister, Laura ing accordion in his early adolescence, the Saint-Ignace Club de l’âge d’or
Boudreau, who frequently accompa- and first played for square dances (Senior Citizens’ Club) in January
Éloi Leblanc (1918–1978) was born in nied him on piano. We����������������
hear his fre- when he was about twelve years old. 1992. As part of a rotation of musi-
Saint-Joseph, in the Memramcook quent use of double stops (particularly From 1965 to 1972, off and on, Yvon cians who played for square dances,
Valley, into a musical family in which in part B), and the smooth, rhythmic played guitar in the rock band The Yvon and Delphis accompanied each
both his grandfather and uncle, style for which he was known, created Hawks, covering music from such other from the mid-to-late 1970s until
Théotime à Six-pouces, were well- by the regular use of two-note slurs well-known groups as Creedence 2002 or 2003. The tune “La parenté”
known fiddlers; Éloi picked up the and up-bow accents. [MFo] Clearwater Revival and Three Dog was written by J.P. Fillion and was
fiddle when he was eight years old. He   Night.Yvon also played with the trad- recorded by the well-known Quebec
played with Bob White and The itional French band Calumet Acadien group La Bottine Souriante for their
Canadian Plough Boys for two years, CD1 TRACK 20 (originally Calumet) from 1985 to 1989 album Tout comme au jour de l’An.
on the radio show Maritime Farmers for La parenté 1997, performing at the Pays de la Since its founding in 1976, La Bottine
four years, with Kidd Baker and The Yvon Babin Sagouine, the 1994 Congrès mondial Souriante has been a source of inspira-
Pine Ridge Mountain Boys in (Delphis Richard, guitar) acadien (World Acadian Congress), tion for Yvon. In this recording, he has
Kitchener, Ontario for twelve years, Robert Richard Collection, Centre d’études and in many other festivals, television interpreted the tune to suit the region-
and with Jerry Myers from Moncton. acadiennes, 1992. Used by permission. shows, and concerts throughout the al Acadian style, using fewer notes
Éloi often played for events in his com- Maritimes. Yvon played the guitar, than le style double accordion technique
munity, earning the nickname “Fiddlin’ This version of “La parenté” features drums and accordion in the house that is used by some Québécois musi-
Cy.” He composed several reels and Acadian accordionist Yvon Babin band of the Richibucto bar-restaurant cians, which doubles notes to create a
jigs, including the “Anne Marie Reel,” (b.1949) of Rosaireville, who pres- La Coquille from 1972 to 1976 and constant eighth note rhythm. [MFo]
62 63

CD1 TRACK 21 the fiddle at that time; she says that CD1 TRACK 22 Railway. Curtis met his wife Bessie at
Loggieville Two-step girls were more likely to play the Zip Coon a house dance in 1934. In the fall of
Matilda Murdoch piano or harp. Matilda and her four Curtis Hicks 1937, the same year they were mar-
(Marg Scott, piano; Owen Murdoch, siblings formed “Kelly’s Orchestra,” (Bessie Hicks, Hawaiian guitar; Ivan ried, Curtis bought Bessie a Hawaiian
acoustic guitar; Ed Carbonell, acoustic playing at concerts, old time square Hicks, mandolin) guitar, which she taught herself to
bass fiddle; Buster Brown, drums) dances, and “home style” kitchen Curtis Hicks:  Portrait of an Old-time play, and soon she was accompanying
Matilda Murdoch Plays Some of her Own, parties. Quadrilles, lancers, polkas, Fiddler. WRCI-1869, 1981. her husband. Their son Ivan (b.1940)
Volume 1. WRC1-743, ca. 1970. and waltzes are among the “ordin- Used by permission. learned to play guitar, mandolin and
Used by permission. ary tunes” that Matilda remembers   fiddle at an early age and began play-
  playing for dancers at the time.110  ing with his parents at parties and
Matilda recorded two LPs of dances. Ivan and his wife Vivian, who
step dancing medleys for Ottawa plays piano and guitar, have travelled
COURTESY OF MARY JANE KINGSTON

Valley step dance teacher, Buster throughout North America per-

COURTESY OF IVAN HICKS

Brown. She remembers that it was forming, teaching, and judging fiddle
a challenge to learn to move from contests.
one tune type into another at the On this track Bessie plays the dis-
correct time and tempo since she tinctive sliding accompaniment of the
was used to playing straight reels or Hawaiian guitar with Curtis’s rendi-
straight jigs for step dancers in New Born in Midgic, New Brunswick, tion of “Zip Coon.”  According to
Matilda Murdoch was born in 1920 Brunswick. Ottawa Valley step dan- Curtis Hicks (1915–1982) heard his Vivian Hicks, although a few people
in Loggieville, New Brunswick cers commonly dance thirty-two first fiddle at the age of five when his played Hawaiian guitar in the area at
where she has lived her entire life. bars of a clog (4/4), forty-eight parents took him to a nearby house the time, it was not a common ac-
When she was nine years old, her bars of a jig (6/8), and ninety- dance. After trying unsuccessfully to companying instrument for old-time
father brought home a fiddle, six bars of a reel (2/4), moving make his own instrument out of a fiddle music. “Zip Coon” is the name
hoping that one of his children smoothly from one tune to the next shingle and rabbit wire, he had to of a popular minstrel tune sung to the
would learn how to play. Matilda without stopping. Taken from the wait until he was seventeen before he melody of “Turkey in the Straw” and
took up the challenge. Although her first of her two LPs, “Loggieville was able to buy his first fiddle for five first performed in New York City in
father could only tune the fiddle, Two-step” is a popular Downeast dollars. He attended as many house 1834.111 The relationship between
Matilda soon picked up her first dance tune for couples in Eastern parties and dances as he could to the minstrel tune and the fiddle tune
tune, “Little Brown Jug,” by ear. Canada. (Ottawa Valley step dan- learn how to play. Within a couple of played by Curtis is unknown. Ivan
Matilda continued to learn through cers also dance to two-steps [2/4] years he was playing at local house says that his father would have learned
formal lessons, which enabled her and waltz clogs [3/4], although less dances and in the lumber camps after the tune locally, as it was a popular
to read music; she picked up new commonly than the clog, jig, and a long day’s work. He continued to square dance tune in New Brunswick
tunes from notation and by listen- reel medley.) This tune is one of play at community events during his in the early to mid-twentieth century.
ing to old cylinder recordings. It over two hundred that Matilda has thirty-seven years as a locomotive en- The track begins with a conversation
was uncommon for women to play composed. [AI, SJ] gineer for the Canadian National between Curtis and Ivan Hicks. [SJ]
64

CD1 TRACK 23 their focus remains on local commun-

Sussex Avenue ity service. The group was originally
Fiddlers Two-step for adult fiddlers, but a decision to
The Sussex Avenue Fiddlers include younger fiddlers made it an
(Vivian Hicks, piano; Tom Johnson, important context for the develop-
bass; Del Wheaton, guitar) ment of many of New Brunswick’s top
Sussex Avenue Fiddlers 20th Anniversary. young fiddlers.112 Many members of
SAF 20, 1998. Used by permission. the group have written original tunes,
twenty-five of which were published
One of the first fiddle groups in New in a tunebook entitled Sussex Avenue Quebec
Brunswick, the Sussex Avenue Fiddlers Fiddlers Original Compositions (1995).
originated in 1978 when a few fid- The “Sussex Avenue Fiddlers Two- The history of traditional music in Quebec is entwined with its history of dance.
dlers started meeting at the home of step,” a lively and popular dance tune French settlement took place at the same time that the violin was emerging as
Ivan and Vivian Hicks in Riverview. in the Downeast repertoire, was writ- western Europe’s pre-eminent dance music instrument from countryside to city
The group began to grow after being ten by Ivan Hicks. It was recorded live and from tavern to court. From the very first, the violin was the roi de la danse in
asked to play at community events, by the group at a concert marking Quebec, with the jew’s harp filling in when no fiddle was available. Dancing to
and although they have toured in the their twentieth anniversary. A 2008 fiddles occurred as early as 1645, but little is known about the music or dances
United States and Eastern Canada, double CD marked their thirtieth. [SJ] themselves; the most important documentary sources for seventeenth century
New France are accounts of Jesuit missionaries, and their terse reports on dan-
cing and music are more disapproving than descriptive.
By the early 1700s, social dancing in New France had become an integral fea-
ture of festive gatherings in country and city alike. Dances and dance music re-
flected the trends in Parisian society, where contredanses imported from England
alternated with French cotillons and minuets. Despite being at each other’s geo-
political throats, eighteenth century England and France maintained a free-trade
zone for music and dance, exchanging and borrowing steps, figures, and tunes.
Dancing and music continued to flourish when the British conquered New
France in 1759. Like their predecessors, the new British administrators held
balls and entertainments for the elite, where familiar dances mingled with new
cotillons and country dances, including Scottish progressive longways forms like
“La Belle Catherine” and the “Spandy.” Other dances such as the Scotch reel and
solo English hornpipe were also performed.The British regimental bands, which
often provided music for these assemblies, introduced the jigs, reels, and horn-
pipes from England, Ireland, and Scotland.
In the early 1800s, urban Quebec society was introduced to the quadrille,
which originated in France and became all the rage in England following the end
Sussex Avenue Fiddlers in 2008. (Courtesy of Ivan Hicks)
 67

of the Napoleonic wars. Quadrilles be- brought new influences; for example,
came a durable part of the community step dancing was brought to Quebec
dance repertoire in the St. Lawrence by British immigrants where it grad-
Valley, and over time the figures and ually transformed throughout the
related tunes took on a distinctly nineteenth century into what is now
regional character. In the Quebec City known in Quebec as la gigue.113 The
and Montreal regions, fiddlers adopt- musicians absorbed some, but not all,
ed some of the European opera and of the then-popular British Isles dance
musical theatre melodies originally music genres; reels and hornpipes
associated with these dances; rural fid- were most readily integrated, 6/8 jigs
dlers tended to recycle familiar tunes ran a distant second, and 9/8 slip jigs
to fit the needs of the dance. barely gained a toe-hold (strathspeys
  Thousands of immigrants from did not register at all). Quebec fid-
England, Ireland, and Scotland also dlers gradually reworked these tunes
into more cul-
turally consonant
settings, result-
ing in a distinctly
French Canadian
style of play-
ing. By the mid-
1800s, many fid-
dlers had begun
to use percus-
sive foot-tapping
when playing du-
ple-meter dance
music, a trait
which quickly
spread and is
now emblem-
atic of French
Canadian dance
Lumbermen, 1943. “In the scalers’ bunk-house at Camp Pensive men music.
Quebec. relax at night amongst their boots, socks and mitts hung up to dry.
Romeo Clement of Farley, Que. plays for them until 10 o’clock ‘lights In the lat-
out.’” (Photo by Ronny Jaques. Courtesy of the National Film Board ter half of the
of Canada, Library and Archives Canada, PA-204120)
68 69

1800s, couple dances (such as waltzes, grams). In the 1970s, traditional music factory while moonlighting with sev- setting, some fiddlers add one or two
galops, and polkas) were popular on and dance in Quebec experienced re- eral musical ensembles. Relocating to “high” sections, ending with a “bridge”
both sides of the Atlantic. Quebec’s surgence as a symbol of cultural pride Cornwall, Ontario in 1924, he visited which returns the melody to the lower
Catholic clergy vigorously opposed and separatist political aspirations. The Quebec regularly, where he recorded octave. There are no known European
couple dances and those who played bubble of enthusiasm burst after the some sixty tunes on the Victor label. antecedents. [LO]
for them, one reason why so few of 1980 “sovereignty association” refer- In this recording he is heard with an  
these tunes appear in the repertories endum (the first referendum held in unidentified pianist and a jew’s harp
of fiddlers from this period. In the last Quebec regarding Quebec’s possible player who may be Henri Lacroix, CD1 TRACK 25
two decades of the nineteenth cen- secession from Canada), but the music better known for his skillful harmon- Reel de Sherbrooke
tury, two new melody instruments played on. The 1980s saw the blos- ica playing. Les Montagnards Laurentiens
appeared: diatonic accordions and soming of the diatonic button accor- Personal Collection of Éric Favreau, ca.
harmonicas. Pump organs and pianos dion, heralded by an increase in fine 1940s. Used by permission.
also began to be used occasionally as instrument building and in numbers
back-up. For the most part, however, of talented composers and virtuoso Radio “barn dance” bands were im-

COURTESY OF THÉRÈSE LABBÉ

solo fiddle reigned at dances. Tunes players. Traditional singing, story-tell- mensely popular in Quebec from the
were learned by ear with no reference ing, music, and dancing now thrive in mid-1920s through the late 1950s, of-
to printed settings, contributing to the Quebec with many new players, audi- fering “down home” entertainment in
development of highly individualized, ences, and venues.114 [LO]   a variety show or vaudeville format.
formally unconventional tune settings.   Best known of these bands was the
Dances were generally done without Montagnards Laurentiens, who broad-
prompting, with dancers listening to CD1 TRACK 24 “La Ronfleuse” (“The Snoring cast from Quebec City every Saturday
the beat rather than the phrase. La Ronfleuse Woman”), also called “La Grondeuse” night from 1931 to 1962, reaching
Commercial recording in Quebec Arthur-Joseph Boulay (“The Scolding Woman”), is a step huge audiences throughout eastern
began in the 1920s. Around the same (accompanying musicians unknown) dance tune played in many set- Quebec as well as in the Montreal re-
time, the fiddle began to lose its place Victor 264648, 1929. Used by permission. tings in Quebec, Franco-American gion in later years. Starting as a four-
as Quebec’s pre-eminent dance music   New England, and western French piece cowboy music/fiddle band, they
instrument. Fiddlers simply could Arthur-Joseph Boulay (1883–1948) is Canadian settlements. Like the better- progressively incorporated instru-
not adapt to the increasingly different credited with Quebec’s earliest com- known “Grande gigue simple,” “La mentation and harmonizations from
music and orchestrations of the new mercial fiddle recording, on the Victor Ronfleuse” is most often played in D swing-band music of the day. By the
popular dances. Older dance forms label in 1922. He spent his first thirty major with A D A E tuning and con- 1940s they had developed a distinctive
persisted in many communities, how- years in New Hampshire, taking up the sists of short sections in duple and/ sound which included piano, acoustic
ever, and fiddlers were in demand for fiddle when he was ten years old and, or triple meter. Its descriptive titles bass, and accordion, with hot licks on
the set carré (a square dance with called after several years of lessons, joining a refer to the extensive use of the open clarinet or saxophone from musical
instructions brought to Quebec in the local dance band. After immigrating A-string drone in the lowest part. In director Jean-Paul Beaulieu. Although
early 1900s by Franco-Americans and to Saint-Stanislas, Quebec in 1913, addition to the commonly-played first they made no commercial recordings,
popularized on radio “barn dance” pro- he worked at a bakery and a cheese two sections of Mr. Boulay’s three-part the Montagnards profoundly influ-
70 71

enced both the orchestration and style CD1 TRACK 26 radio, recordings, and sheet music. in England as “Drops of Brandy” and
of many traditional Quebec musicians. Le Brandy des Vaillaincourt In addition, he was a skillful com- in Scotland as “Strip the Willow.” “Le
On this track, taken from a ra- Louis “Pitou” Boudreault poser. Although the family dances and Brandy” is widely played in Quebec
dio broadcast, we hear them play a Louis ‘Pitou’ Boudreault, violoneux. musical gatherings of his youth ended as well as in Métis communities of
tune known variously as “Reel de Portrait du vieux Kébec series, vol. 2. Le by the time he reached adulthood, Mr. central-Western Canada (see notes
Sherbrooke,” “Reel de St-Denis,” and Tamanoir OP-219, 1974. Boudreault cherished those experien- for Reg Bouvette in Manitoba). Mr.
“Reel de Vaudreuil.”  Now considered   ces and for some forty years he played Boudreault’s rendition is distinguished
to be “French Canadian,” this tune ap- Louis “Pitou” Boudreault (1905–1988) his family tunes at home by himself as by its percussive energy, rock-steady
pears to be a pairing of the first strain spent most of his life in Chicoutimi a way to evoke the world of his child- tempo, the addition of several varia-
of the hornpipe “The Navvie on the where he was a carpenter by trade. hood. In the 1970s, he became an im- tions, and a finely wrought bowing
Line” and the second strain of “Blue An immensely gifted fiddler, he was portant figure in Quebec’s folk music style which overlays the melody with
Bell Polka,” both popular nineteenth- heir to a rich legacy of family music, revival.Taking to the stage and record- complex cross-rhythms. This track be-
century British Isles dance melodies. social dance, and related customs dat- ing studio in his late sixties, he proved gins just as Mr. Boudreault finishes ex-
We pick up the recording at the end ing back at least to the latter 1800s. to be not just a great player but an plaining the set of variations that have
of some standard radio patter: “Jouons That music formed the core of his extraordinary raconteur whose story- been passed on through his family:
donc les gars, ça va changer les idées repertoire; he also learned regional telling put each tune into context and “J’vais vous donner une idée de ce que
de tout l’monde.” [LO] tunes and a dozen or so melodies from reconnected a younger generation to c’était l’brandy des Vaillancourt.” [LO]
an all but forgotten cultural past.

CD1 TRACK 27
Le Quadrille des Lanciers,

COURTESY OF PHIL & VIVIAN WILLIAMS,

1e partie: “La Rencontre
des Dames.”
Jules Verret

VOYAGER RECORDINGS
(Lise Verret, piano)
La famille Verret, Volume 1. Philo 2007,
1974. Courtesy of New Rounder LLC. Used
by arrangement with Concord Music Group,
“Le Brandy” is a 3/2 metre re- Inc.
working of the British Isles 9/8 me-
tre tune “Drops of Brandy,” part of a Fiddler Jules Verret (1916–1984) of
large family of loosely related melo- Lac St-Charles grew up hearing his
dies whose earliest printed settings father, accordionist Jean-Baptiste, and
appeared in London in the early family friend, fiddler Pierre Verret,
1700s. In Quebec, “Le Brandy” is as- play a huge repertory of dance mu-
sociated with a longways dance known sic, primarily nineteenth-century
Les Montagnards Lauretiens. (Courtesy of Adélard Thomassin)
72 73

quadrille tunes, many of which potpourris of late eighteenth-century Quebec for his skills as a diatonic CD1 TRACK 29
Pierre got from Charlesbourg fiddler French contredanses and cotillons set to accordion builder, player, and com- Tautirut performance
Charles Parent. Jules dedicated him- melodies from French and English poser. Following his father Joseph’s Cariola
self to mastering this legacy of some popular standards of the day. In Lac example, he took up accordion at Canadian Museum of Civilization, IV-
five hundred melodies. As a young St-Charles, the traditional dance rep- the age of five and three years later B-46T, Asen Balikci Collection, 1958.
man, he played for local dances, often ertoire includes a six-part French made his first instrument. At ten, Identified in CMC catalogue as “Violon
with his equally talented brother, ac- quadrille as well as English forms he was already a sought-after accor- Esquimau.” Used by permission.
cordionist Yves Verret. From his mid- such as the Lancers and Caledonia. dionist and on his way to becoming
thirties on, Jules played only at home; Here Jules plays a two-part variant an accomplished drummer, saxo- Since at least 1894,115 visitors to
a construction worker by trade with of “La Dorset,” an early nineteenth- phonist, guitarist, and fiddler. At Baffin Island and Nunavik (Northern
thirteen children to support, he century three-part melody by Paolo the family-operated music store Quebec) Inuit communities have
couldn’t afford to miss a single day’s Spagnoletti (1773–1834), which ap- which he runs with his brother described an Inuit-made violin that
employment. His mastery of a huge pears in early British Isles sheet music Raymond, Marcel produces hand- they assumed was an imitation of in-
repertoire of distinctively region- settings. [LO] made one- and two-row accor- struments introduced by European
al, technically challenging, highly or- dions, for which there is always a whalers. Unlike the western violin,
namented tunes earned him univer- long waiting list. He also performs however, the tautirut (also called
sal admiration among his peers, and CD1 TRACK 28 locally with a family band, l’Orchestre the tautik in some Nunavik com-
inspired both his son and grandson to La belle époque Messervier. munities) is a slightly tapered, rect-
perpetuate the family dynasty. Marcel Messervier Although Marcel has never angular box ranging from twenty to
(Marcel Messervier, Jr., piano) made a solo album, his many com- twenty-six inches in length, about
Accordéons diatoniques, musiciens positions, inspired by the playing five inches at its widest end, and two
du Québec. Centre de valorisation du of Gérard Lajoie, Les Montagnards to five inches in depth.116 Stretched
Laurentiens, Alfred Montmarquette, lengthwise over an arched bridge,
COURTESY OF JEAN-MARIE VERRET

patrimoine vivant. TB-002-CD, 1995. Used

by permission. Jos Bouchard, Don Messer,Théodore atop the instrument’s body, are be-
Duguay, and Edmond Pariseau, are tween one and three strings117 of
widely played in Quebec. Here he twisted sinew or trade twine.118  The
plays one of his compositions, ac- tautirut is set across the lap of the
COURTESY OF THE MESSERVIER FAMILY

companied by his son Marcel Jr., seated performers or, in some in-
a talented pianist and composer. stances, on a table. The accompany-
Quadrilles arrived in Quebec Marcel’s energetic accordion play- ing bow is made of a slim piece of
around 1810 and were integrated into ing, with its dense ornamentation, wood, pulled into a D-shape by a
community dance repertories from lively syncopated rhythms, and strand of whale baleen fixed to each
Portneuf to the mouth of the Saguenay rock-steady tempo, is greatly ad- end.119 The Moravian missionary,
and on the St. Lawrence’s south shore mired by accordionists across the Matthias Warmow, wrote that one
from Lotbinière to Gaspésie. These Marcel Messervier (b.1934) of province. [LO] tautirut maker used strands of his
multi-part group dances were simply Montmagny is a living legend in wife’s hair to string the bow.120  
74 75

In their essay “Whence and When Norwegian descent, the Orcadians ment that was used only in northern while also crossing the middle one
the ‘Eskimo Fiddle’?” Eugene Arima probably had knowledge of the Finland to accompany psalms.123 to produce the tune. The tempo is
and Magnús Einarsson conclude Norse fidla, or some similar stringed The recording on this CD set very fast and the timbre of the thick
that the tautirut was most likely an instrument, which resembles the was made by anthropologist and sinew strings is rough. While the
outcome of encounters between tautirut in its box-like design and documentary film maker Asen tautirut seems to be rare in the late
Inuit and Orcadians from the north minimal number of strings.122  In Balikci in 1958 in Povungnituk [sic] twentieth century, a recording of a
of Scotland who held posts for the fact there are several horizontally in Northern Quebec (Nunavik). The song entitled “Now go and clean the
Hudson’s Bay Company’s fur trade positioned, box-like string instru- performer is named as “Cariola, seal skin” performed by Sarah Airo
along the east side of Hudson Bay ments in Scandinavia. Among the the spouse of Tuluak, aged 38.”  The was made by University of Montreal
during the late eighteenth century.121  bowed relatives, a close resemblance tune is not identified. Cariola plays researchers in the 1970s and issued
They speculated that being of is the Finnish virsikantele, an instru- the lowest of the three strings as a on UNESCO’s Musical Sources ser-
drone note but stops the highest one ies.124 [BD, MFi]

This tautirut, played by the Nunavik Inuit, consists of a box made of driftwood, to which is
attached a wooden bridge, bone pegs, and three twisted sinew strings. It is held across the
lap. The bow has a willow root string rather than the more common whalebone strip. This
instrument was made by Peterussi and collected by Asen Balikci in Purvirnituq (Povungnituk),
Quebec in 1958. (Courtesy of Canadian Museum of Civilization: IV-B-648 a-c, S2001-2980)
 77

Ontario
 
Fiddling in Ontario, as characterized by style, practice, and venue, is highly
diverse. It includes the Scottish-derived repertoire of the James Bay Cree;125
the unique arrangements of traditional tunes by Métis fiddlers in Northern
Ontario;126 culturally distinct regions such as the Ottawa Valley;127 sessions in
urban centres for Irish, Cape Breton, French Canadian, and old-time styles;
fiddle clubs featuring old-time tunes and dancing in rural communities;128 and
the Ontario fiddle and step dancing contest circuit that draws competitors
from throughout southern Ontario.129 In some cases, such as fiddle clubs and
fiddle contests, the musicians and audiences overlap; in others, there is little
communication between participants.
Fiddling in Ontario is unique in Canada, at least since the latter half of
the twentieth century, because of the proliferation of contests. While many
other provinces have or had fiddle contests, there are more contests in Ontario
and the number of competitors, and particularly young competitors, is much
higher. Ontario is home to the Canadian Open Fiddle Championships, held
annually in Shelburne since 1951, and the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Ontario.
Championship, held annually in Nepean since 1990, both of which have
gamation of English, Irish, Scottish, tap dancer for Canadian soldiers
brought fiddlers together from across the country to socialize and share tunes.
French Canadian, and Algonquian abroad during World War Two and
Contests cement the strong relationship between fiddling and step dancing
styles of percussive dance performed as a step dancer with the traditional
in the province. Almost all of them include classes for both fiddling and step
in the camps. Donnie Gilchrist dance troupe from Quebec, Les Feux
dancing, and many competitors perform both. Some repertoire and tempo are
(1925–1984) is credited with �����
popu- Follets, during the 1960s. This group,
no doubt influenced by dancers, while repertoire and ornamentation intro-
larizing step dancing throughout the which included Jean Carignan (fid-
duced by fiddlers reciprocally influence the rhythms and composition of steps.
Ottawa Valley and beyond, earning dle), Philippe Bruneau (accordion),
The most popular style of step dancing in Ontario is called the Ottawa Valley
the title “Father of Canadian Step Gilles Losier (piano), and sometimes
style.This style emerged from the lumber camps of the OttawaValley as an amal-
Dancing.” Donnie performed as a Graham Townsend (fiddle) was fund-
78 79

ed by the Canadian Department of fill air time with local entertainment twelve days. Twelve dollars was a lot the recording session in Montreal
the Secretary of State and performed during the economic slump of the of money in 1929, but he managed where he was nicknamed “King”
all over North America and Europe as late 1920s and 1930s, the CKNX Barn to scratch together the money and (see notes about King Ganam of
cultural ambassadors for Canada.130 Dance began to draw crowds on the scratch out some tunes within the Saskatchewan). Mel Lavigne re-
Today’s Ottawa Valley step dancing, street who watched the show through twelve-day period. Mel had his fid- corded this tune in the 1950s on
evolving at a fast pace through com- the front window of the studio. By dle. He won his first fiddle contest acetate disc, although it was never
petitions, is quite different from the 1938, the show was being broadcast at the Midland Fall Fair just a couple released. (“Acetates were recordings
earlier styles. Fiddling and dancing from locations throughout west- of months later. During World War that were cut directly to a disc live,
have a close relationship in other central Ontario, and became known Two, Mel served overseas as a musi- on the spot. They are truly one-of-a-
communities within the province as as “Canada’s Largest Travelling Barn cal entertainer to the troops, play- kind items and were used extensive-
well, including old time social danc- Dance.” It went off the air in 1963, but ing fiddle, saxophone and piano. He ly before the widespread acceptance
ing at fiddle clubs, contra dancing in has been revived several times as a live joined the CKNX Barn Dance Gang of audiotape.”133) ��������������������
There is lots of op-
urban centres, and step dancing and show. For fiddlers such as Mel Lavigne, in August 1950, had his own radio portunity for melodic and bowing
square sets at Cape Breton “sessions,” Al Cherny, and Lucky Ambeault, ap- show on which he played with his variations in this three-part tune,
where fiddlers and audience from pearing on the show was a big step in band, the Blue Water Boys, and his making it good for shows. Typical of
that Maritime island find a home building their musical careers. [SJ] own television show called Country show tune renditions in this era, Mel
away from home in Ontario. Junction which ran for seven years. plays through the tune—A B C A—
Ontario fiddling was also influ- Mel gained fame as the first win- at moderate tempo, and then after a
enced by the CKNX Barn Dance, a radio CD1 TRACK 30 ner of the Canadian Open Fiddle short guitar break, plays it again at a
show broadcast on Saturday nights be- Ridin' the Fiddle Championship in 1951 and 1952; he faster tempo. The exaggerated slow
tween 1937 and 1963 from CKNX in Mel Lavigne also played at the Grand Ole Opry in ending adds humour to the perfor-
Wingham. It was one of the earliest (Jack Kingston, guitar; other Nashville and at the Kentucky State mance. [SJ]
radio stations in southwestern Ontario, accompanying musicians unknown) Fair in Louisville in 1952.   
founded in February 1926 by W.T. Collection of Lynn Russwurm, ca. 1950.
“Doc” Cruikshank.131 There were a Used by permission. CD1 TRACK 31
number of similar radio and television Tico-tico

COURTESY OF THE LAVIGNE FAMILY

“barn dance” shows across Canada, According to his son-in-law, Bill Matt de Florio
for example, Cross Canada Barndance, a Waters, Mel Lavigne (1917–1994) (Ron Sherman, piano; Al Harris,
compilation of various country music fell in love with his neighbour’s fid- guitar; Donnie Johnson, trumpet;
acts taped in different parts of Canada dle when he was twelve years old. John Weine, guitar; Percy Curtis, bass
that was broadcast on CTV’s first sea- Only after much persuasion, Mel fiddle; Cliff McKay, clarinet)
son, 1961–1962.132 These were all convinced the neighbour to sell his CBC Video Archive, 1953. Courtesy of the
modelled on barn dances broadcast fiddle on two conditions. First, Mel Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
in the United States during the 1920s. had to come up with twelve dollars  “Ridin' the Fiddle” is a popular
CKNX Barn Dance was the longest-lived to pay for it, and second, he had show tune written by King Ganam. Matt de Florio (1922–2004) began
of all of them. Originally designed to to learn to play the fiddle in just It was first recorded by Ganam at taking accordion lessons in his early
80 81

teens, but it wasn’t until a trip to genre originating in nineteenth- a fiddle enthusiast who owned a playing behind the back or while
New York in the early 1940s, where century Rio de Janeiro) written in music store in Owen Sound, on one turning summersaults) in 1959,
he had the opportunity to meet two 1917 by Zequinha de Abreu, and of the first tape machines available. 1960 and 1961, and the Open class
accordion greats, Pietro Diero and made popular by Carmen Miranda Harry introduces the musicians and (before age categories were intro-
Charles Magnante, that he was in- in Copacabana in 1947. Although adds commentary on some of the duced in 1959—the first being 21
spired to pursue a career in music. it may seem far removed from the tracks. and under—everyone played in the
Matt had regular engagements in usual Canadian fiddle and accor- Open class) in 1960 and 1961.
Toronto at the Old Mill restaurant, dion fare, it is not uncommon to

AL CHERNY, COURTESY OF LYNN RUSSWURM

EARL MITTON, COURTESY OF PHYLLIS MITTON

the Imperial Room at the Royal hear this tune played by old-time
York Hotel, and the Horseshoe fiddlers in shows and on recordings
Tavern. He also played on many as a popular “novelty” tune. [SJ]
CBC Radio shows����������������
, and was a reg-
ular on the CBC Television series,
Holiday Ranch. As well as accompa- CD1 TRACK 32
nying guest musicians on the show, Grand Valley Breakdown
Matt played solos and wrote all his Al Cherny, Clifford “Lucky”
own arrangements. In 1958, Matt Ambeault, and Earl Mitton Although originally from
started his own accordion business (Phyllis McDowell, piano; Russ Medicine Hat, Alberta where he Earl Mitton (1926–1991) start-
in Toronto, a business now owned McDowell, guitar) studied classical violin for four and ed fiddling at the age of ten in
and operated by his son and grand- Home recording by Harry Parker, in a half years and played with the his hometown of Moncton, New
son. possession of Doug McNaughton, 1957. cowboy band, Sons of the Saddle, Brunswick. Largely self-taught,
Used by permission. Al Cherny (1932–1989) moved Earl learned to read music by tak-
to Ontario in 1952 to become the ing clarinet lessons. He placed in
“House parties” featuring fiddling house fiddler for the CKNX Barn the top three in Shelburne in 1957
COURTESY OF THE DE FLORIO FAMILY

and dancing are most often as- Dance, where he played for seven and 1958. He also appeared as a
sociated with the east coast, but years. He played on CBC’s Country guest on Don Messer’s TV and radio
they were (and still are) popu- Hoedown from 1963 to 1965, and on shows in the late 1950s. Earl had his
lar throughout Canada. This track the Tommy Hunter Show from 1965 own TV show on CHSJ-TV in Saint
was recorded at a house party in until his death in 1989. Al was a John for three years and broadcast
Shelburne, Ontario the evening be- regular competitor in the early live on Saturday evenings on CFNB
fore the Canadian Old-time Fiddle years of the Canadian Open Fiddle Radio in Fredericton for ten years.
This performance of “Tico- Contest in 1957, and features three Contest, winning the Novelty class He composed a number of tunes,
tico” is taken from the first Holiday competitors at that year’s con- (a class where contestants could play including the still popular “Mitton’s
Ranch episode, broadcast on July test:  Al Cherny, Earl Mitton, and show tunes, such as “Mockingbird” Breakdown” and “Carleton County
20, 1953. The tune is a Brazilian Clifford “Lucky” Ambeault. The and “Orange Blossom Special” or Hornpipe.”134
choro (a Brazilian popular music tape was recorded by Harry Parker, demonstrate trick fiddling, such as Clifford “Lucky” Ambeault
82 83

(1929–1984), known by his stage CD1 TRACK 33 numerous guest appearances on Don CD1 TRACK 34
name as “Lucky Ambos,” was born Buck Fever Rag Messer’s Jublilee. The lyrics of their Faded Love
in Bathurst, New Brunswick to a Reg Hill and the Melodiers songs and locally-composed reper- Eleanor and Graham Townsend
musical family. He made his living (Mac Beattie, washboard; other toire created a strong sense of Ottawa (accompanying musicians unknown)
as a professional musician, tour- accompanying musicians unknown) Valley identity through their live and CBC Radio Archive, 1982. Courtesy of the
ing the country and western cir- Ottawa Valley Hoedown. Banff SBS-5190, radio performances. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
cuit for many years. He played on ca. 1964. Used by permission. “Buck Fever Rag,” written by  
the CBC’s Dominion Barn Dance and Reg, is a well-known tune from the
Country Hoedown and won the 1955 Ottawa Valley. In this recording, Reg
Dominion Fiddle Championship. begins with what most fiddlers now

COURTESY OF HERITAGE MUSIC

He was a master of fiddle, man- use as the B part of the tune. The

COURTESY OF THE HILL FAMILY

PHOTO BY JACK UMPLEBY

dolin, guitar and bass fiddle, and tune is a popular choice for group
was featured as a comedian on the step dancing in the Ottawa Valley
CKNX Barn Dance for many years. tradition because of the “breaks” in
the B part that provide dancers with
“LUCKY” AMBEAULT, COURTESY OF LYNN RUSSWURM

an opportunity to create interesting

percussive rhythms with their feet. Hailed as “North America’s only
Reg Hill (1927–1979) is one of the (Although Ottawa Valley step dan- championship fiddling team,”135
best-known fiddlers coming out of cing is primarily performed as a solo Graham and Eleanor Townsend
the Ottawa Valley. He learned to fid- dance, three to five dancers can per- toured the world promoting
dle from his mother (making him form together, using complex chor- Canadian fiddling. Although he was
one of the musicians on this CD set eography, in the group category of born in Toronto, Ontario, Graham
who learned to play from an older the fiddle and step dancing contests Townsend (1942–1998) grew up in
female member of the family). He that are so popular in this province; the heart of the Ottawa Valley, in
“Grand Valley Breakdown” was also played drums, saxophone and group step dancing—sometimes Buckingham, Quebec. He was sur-
composed by Cec McEachern, a fid- piano. Reg played for his first square with up to sixteen dancers—is also rounded by old-time fiddling and
dler and guitarist who played with dance at age fifteen. Soon afterwards, popular as entertainment.) On this dancing from an early age. His fath-
Don Messer for a number of years. he formed his own big band, called recording we hear the distinctive er, Fred (1900–1981), called square
Grand Valley is a small community Reg Hill and the Swingsters, who sound of Mac Beattie’s washboard dances for Don Messer for many
just south of Shelburne. Although were kept busy playing in local dance filling in the breaks with appealing years. Graham started to play the
not so familiar to younger fiddlers venues. In 1954 he started playing rhythms. Other interesting features fiddle at age six. By age nine, he had
now, this tune was popular in the with Mac Beattie (1916–1982) and include the double stopping on the toured with Don Messer and won
old-time repertoire in Ontario dur- the Melodiers. This group played A parts of the tune (not commonly the 30 and under class at the
ing the 1950s and 1960s. [SJ] regularly on CHOV Radio in heard in modern renditions), as well Canadian National Exhibition
Pembroke and CFRA and then as many variations, particularly in the Fiddle Contest. He later took les-
CKOY stations in Ottawa, as well as B parts. [SJ]  sons with Irish fiddlers Tommy
84 85

McQuestion and Billy Crawford. contest. It is an old fiddle tune made western Ontario in the late 1970s in 1984 at a time when there were
Graham toured with Wilf Carter, famous in 1950 by western swing with the formation of their own fra- relatively few Górale musicians in
performed on the Grand Ole Opry fiddler, Bob Wills, and The Texas ternal organization and cultural ac- the area. The opportunity to record
in Nashville and won the Shelburne Playboys. The Townsends play the tivities. Most of those active during this track occurred unexpectedly
fiddle contest in 1963, 1968, 1969, tune through once in unison, then this time arrived in Canada in the while Mrowca was sitting at a table
and 1970. Graham was a prolific take solos. Eleanor plays the A part 1960s and 1970s, though Górale with friends at a Christmas party
composer and recorded many al- with a number of melodic varia- no doubt also contributed to ear- (Opłatek) in Toronto in January 1985
bums (over forty by 1991) for the tions, using the long, smooth bow lier waves of Polish immigration. In waiting to play in the Górale organ-
Point, Banff, Caprice, Marathon, strokes that are a hallmark of her addition to a distinctive dialect and ization’s song and dance ensemble
Rounder, Audat, Condor and style. Graham solos on the B part of material culture, Górale are distin- later in the evening; it captures the
Goodtime labels.136 the tune, again varying the melody, guished by their polyphonic singing spontaneity of such musical occa-
Eleanor Townsend (1944–1998) using some jazz-oriented licks. On and strong fiddling traditions. Their sions. Unfortunately, it reveals less
was born in Goderich, Ontario. the final time through, they play in characteristic ensemble consists of of Mrowca’s playing than that of his
She studied classical violin from age harmony. [SJ] a lead first fiddler (prym), second accompanists, thus rather distorting
eight to eighteen, but turned to fid-   fiddlers (sekund) of varying num- a balance between the parts and
dling at the encouragement of Al ber, and basy (a cello-like instru- foregrounding the less experienced
Cherny and her brother.137  Eleanor CD1 TRACK 35 ment with three strings, DAD'). players. The basy is played by Józef
won the Ladies class at Shelburne in Three Górale Tunes from The prym is played here by Franek Ratułowski, who normally played
1967, 1969, 1970 and 1974. At this Podhale, Poland: Ordinary Mrowca (1922–2004), a talented sekund but here took up the essen-
point, she began competing in the One (zwykła) / Striking in fiddler from the Polish village of tial basy in the absence of its regu-
Open class, which she won in 1979, Four (krzesana po s´tyry/ Stare Bystre who arrived in Toronto lar player. Franek Mrowca said that
the first woman to win the class cztery) / Green (zielona).
in its almost thirty-year history. (Franek Mrowca, prym; Józef
Eleanor taught fiddling, published a Podczerwinski and others, sekund;
fiddle method book,138 made sever- Józef Ratułowski, basy)
al recordings, and wrote a number Collection of Louise Wrazen, 1985. Used
of tunes. by permission.
Although Graham Townsend re-
tired from competition after win- This track represents the musical
ning the Shelburne competition activities of Polish Górale immi-
three years in a row (1968–1970), he grants in Canada. Originally from
returned to the contest many times the Podhale region of the Tatra
as a guest entertainer, often with his Mountains of southern Poland,
wife, Eleanor. They are heard on this Górale (Highlanders, or literally,
track playing the foxtrot, “Faded people of the hills) consolidated
Józef Podczerwinski, Józef Ratułowski, and Franek Mrowca, 1985. (Courtesy of Louise Wrazen)
Love,” at the 1982 Shelburne fiddle their growing presence in south-
86

advancing age kept his fingers from in performances by the Górale

playing as well as they once did, yet ensemble accompanied by these
nonetheless took every opportunity musicians. These are commonly
to play in Canada “because,” as he identified by their tune type. The
stated, “it makes me happy.”  Since opening wierchowa (peak) melody
the time of this recording, a number is built on a ten-beat chord pat-
of proficient fiddlers have arrived tern that characterizes this body of
(in particular from the Zakopane tunes; Franek Mrowca typically re-
area), bringing a more technically ferred to such a tune as zwykła (the
agile and harmonically diversified ordinary one). The second tune is The Prairies
playing style that includes a wider a krzesana po s´tyry/cztery (strik-  
variety of tunes and styles from re- ing in four), named to reflect both The story of fiddling in the Prairie Provinces—Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and
lated regions. its accompanying dance steps and Alberta—follows the history of early exploration, the fur trade, and cultural
 The three tunes heard on this chord pattern. This leads without exchange. As a centre of early fur trade activity, and a cradle of Prairie Métis
track would normally accompany a break into a tune known as zielona culture, it was in Manitoba that much of the blending of French, Scottish and
dance for a single couple (góralski) (green), which is always played Aboriginal music took shape into a distinctive style that spread to the rest of the
that is characteristic of the region, to mark the end of the dance Northwest, added to at every stop along the way. There are historical descrip-
and which was always featured set. [LW]  tions of dances at fur trade posts with fiddles, moccasins and drums, such as
this one from York Factory in 1843:

The sound of a fiddle struck upon our ears. . . On a chair, in a corner near
the stove, sat a young, good-looking Indian, with a fiddle of his own making
beside him. This was our Paganini, and beside him sat an Indian boy with a
kettle drum, on which he tapped occasionally, as if anxious that the ball should
begin.139

Peter Erasmus, a Métis interpreter and guide, describes a dance at Fort

Edmonton on Christmas Day, 1856: 

There was very little rest for the musicians between dances and there were
plenty of fiddlers among the French Métis people from Lac Ste. Anne [located
about 70 km northwest of Fort Edmonton]. Having too good a time dancing
I did not offer my services that night, but later on I happened to mention to
Bill that I liked playing the fiddle, and thereafter on Borwick’s insistence I had
to do my share.140
88 89

The maternal family of the and the track from Calgary to mix of dances with French, English, fiddling of the Prairies had these ele-
Anderson brothers (featured on CD Edmonton was completed in 1891. Scottish and Métis origins: strath- ments, but Andy’s smoother version of
2, Track 12), the Callihoos, were al- Amongst other “goods,” fiddle music speys, cotillions, lancers, gallops this mixture, and more regular forms,
most certainly among those early and dances were shared along the [sic], waltzes, polkas, the Highland became known as the Red River style.
French Métis fiddlers from Lac St. rail lines. The earliest Ukrainian, Schottische, the Duck Dance, the Many tunes that he first recorded have
Anne. Their maternal great grand- Eastern European and Scandinavian Red River Jig, the Reel of Eight, and become classics throughout Canada,
father, Michel Callihoo, was the first immigrants began to arrive in the the Reel of Four.141 widely recorded and performed; even
Chief of the Michel Band who moved early to mid-1890s with their music- The fiddle and fiddle dance music Don Messer recorded a tribute album
to Lac St. Anne from Jasper around al traditions. New forms of music moved from the fur trade post, to the to him. Many important players, like
1850, selecting their reserve in 1886 took shape, unique to the Prairies, as house party, the school house party, Manitoba’s Reg Bouvette and Marcel
or 1887. They provided dried fish and European styles blended with popu- the barn dance, the community hall Meilleur, carried on his style, and
wild meat (and music) to the inhabit- lar commercial styles. Immigrants party and finally to the dance hall party. many other Métis and Aboriginal play-
ants of Fort Edmonton. from established Eastern Canadian Many talented fiddlers, whose names ers were encouraged by his example to
The construction of the railway and American communities also are now forgotten, played at dances record, including Mel Bedard (the first
brought more immigration and more brought with them their own distinct on Friday and Saturday nights, but also to call himself “Métis” on a recording),
fiddle styles and repertoire. The fiddle styles.  An “Old Timer’s Ball” worked at regular jobs within the com- Emile Spence, Lawrence “Teddy Boy”
Canadian Pacific Transcontinental described in the Edmonton Bulletin munity. For some, like Andy DeJarlis Houle and Cliff Maytwayashing.
Railway arrived in Calgary in 1883 (Feb. 3, 1893) included an interesting (1914–1975), old-time dances were a New technologies, like the wax
stepping stone to professional careers cylinder record player, the gramo-
on radio and television, recording and phone, the radio, the juke box, and the
touring. Andy DeJarlis (born Andy television, all played a role in the de-
Desjarlais) of Woodridge, Manitoba velopment of fiddle and dance music
(now part of Winnipeg) was of French in the west. The Missionary Oblates,
Métis ancestry, and was a significant who owned at least one record cutting
composer of Canadian old-time fid- machine in the late 1940s and early
dle music as well as the originator of 1950s, were recording pioneers in the
a new commercial style. He released Edmonton area. Sunshine Records is
some thirty-three LPs between 1956 the largest of the local record compan-
and his death in 1975. The early re- ies that grew up in the Prairies, amass-
������
cordings were largely traditional ing an impressive catalogue of Métis,
tunes, many of which he learned from Ukrainian and country music. Some
older Manitoba players, while the later companies flourished for a time, only
ones were mostly original tunes. His to fade as vinyl gave way to CDs and
style was a unique mixture of French, tastes changed.
Scottish, Downeast and American in- O�����������������������������
ld-time dance music on accor-
fluences. Much of the older Aboriginal dion also has a strong presence in the
The Prairies.
90 91

Prairies, established through local ra- not without some controversy, begun Manitoba in older Scottish repertoire and the
dio and television broadcasts of live to include dancing. At first dancers dance steps have definite Scottish
performances and favourite record- were required to be at the back of the CD2 TRACK 1 connections.146  Not a “jig” at all,
ings of the audience. The broadcasts hall; after some discussion, dancers Red River Jig it takes its English name from the
were usually of eastern European, were provided space at the front of Frederick Genthon French, where “gigue” refers to step
Scottish, German and Scandinavian the hall, closer to the musicians on Drops of Brandy and Other Traditional dancing.147  
music, helping the accordion be- the stage.142 Métis Tunes. Gabriel Dumont Institute, “Jigging” is the term for the
come the lead instrument for today’s A week-long��������������������
summer fiddle work- 1940. percussive dance of Métis and
polka band and polka party circuit in shop, initiated by the Saskatchewan Canadian Museum of Civilization, CCFCS, Aboriginal cultures of the west-
Western Canada. Cultural Exchange Society became Disc #346. Used by permission. ern Prairies; it includes both solo
Many young fiddlers in northern known as the Emma Lake Fiddle   performance and stepping during
Alberta grew up with the country Camp (1988–2005). It was a model Frederick Genthon (1857–1941) group dances. Jigging in Manitoba
opry-style stage show, modelled on for numerous other fiddle camps was born in the Red River can be divided roughly into two
the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, throughout Canada and the United Settlement in Manitoba. For many larger stylistic areas: the south and
Tennessee. The Barrhead Opry was States, providing an opportunity years, he worked as a fur trader for the north. In the south, dancers,
the first, in 1983; there are now more for fiddlers and accompanists from the Hudson’s Bay Company, posted who usually wear hard-soled shoes,
than twenty opry-style shows within across the country (and beyond) to at Moose Lake. His post was par- perform with an erect posture and
a one hundred kilometre radius of gather and share their musics in a ticularly successful because of his little movement in the upper body,
Barrhead. Although they began (like non-competitive environment. [AL, fiddling skills.143 The “Red River including arms. When dancing (par-
their model) for a listening audience, RO, SJ, TB] Jig” has been called the “unofficial ticularly to the “Red River Jig”) dan-
the opries in northern Alberta have, anthem of the Métis.”144 This track cers alternate between a basic step
is the first known recorded version on the A part and fancier steps on
of the tune, made at CJRC Radio, the B part of the tune. It is import-
Winnipeg, in 1940. Frederick was ant in the south to have a lot of fancy
eighty-two at the time, and, ac- steps in one’s repertoire, as well as
cording to the radio host, learned the stamina to perform them. By
the tune from his father. His father contrast, dancers in the north wear
learned it around 1842 from a Mr. moccasins, mukluks, running shoes,
Latourelle from Quebec, who called or socks, and bend more when they
it “La Gigue du Bas-Canada.” Still dance. The jigging is more free-form
well known in Quebec where it is and performed to any fast reel. It
associated with step dancing, it is is not as important in the north for
generally a more regular 6/4 tune dancers to know a lot of steps; rath-
in that province.145  It has not been er, speed and energy are valued.148
traced back to any Scottish source Lederman reports that Red River
Evening concert at the Tuffnell Fiddle Camp in Saskatchewan, 2007. (Courtesy of Trent Bruner) jigging has become “institutional-
so far, although 6/4 tunes do exist
92 93

ized in recent years, with contests record Ukrainian music in Canada. In this recording, Victor’s clear beyond Ukrainian-specific markets,
and stage performances replacing He was born in Mountain Road, articulation of the melody is set off and signal their own adaptive musical
house parties and social dances”149 as Manitoba to a family with Ukrainian by the smooth virtuosity of the accor- abilities and breadth of musical know-
common social contexts. As young and Polish ancestry. Victor started dionist. The fiddle and the accordion ledge. This recording demonstrates
dancers, especially from urban cen- to play the fiddle at age nine; since begin by playing the melody together, how Ukrainian music and musicians
tres, are exposed to different kinds the winter that year was particularly and then take turns performing varia- in Canada have connected with other
of dancing (including regional step harsh and children could not get to tions. The musicians have cleverly ex- music cultures in Canada, resulting in
dancing styles from across Canada school, his father took the oppor- tended what would otherwise be very Ukrainian Canadian repertoire and
and American clogging), styles of tunity to teach him how to fiddle.151  small bits of music, the melodic ma- musical practices that have a general
jigging are slowly changing. Young His father also wanted him to play terial of strophic song tunes charac- appeal. [AL, MO]
dancers are sometimes criticized for the mandolin, but Victor hated prac- teristic of a Ukrainian musical herit-
“lifting their legs too far off the floor, tising it so much that he took it out age, upon which Ukrainian Canadian
using their arms too much, making into the woods behind their home social dance band music is built.152  CD2 TRACK 3
too much noise with their feet, or and buried it. By the time his father This track is actually a medley of so- Drops of Brandy
taking up too much space.”150 These found out and sent him back out to cial dance band tunes, the melodies Reg Bouvette
changes are seen as moving closer get it, Victor had forgotten where it and harmonies of which are carefully (accompanying musicians unknown)
to the step dancing found in Central was buried. Victor moved to Ontario woven, one into the other. Victor and Reg Bouvette: Traditional Old Tyme Fiddle
and Eastern Canada. [AL, SJ] in 1949 where he won the Shelburne his band smoothly transition between Tunes. Sunshine Records SSBP-436, ca.
competition in 1955, and became tunes, and keep the beat lively and 1985. Courtesy of Sunshine Records.
widely known as a teacher and per- constant for dancers.
CD2 TRACK 2 former. He spent the final years of his Two titles are shown for this tune,
Yak Bu Ne Marusia / life in southwestern Ontario where the first of which apparently includes
Jablushko he performed with country bands, an error in transliteration from the

COURTESY OF BERYL BOUVETTE

Victor Pasowisty taught a generation of younger play- Ukrainian (it should be “Iak By Ne
(accompanying musicians unknown) ers, and was honoured with a Pioneer Marusia,” or in English, “If it weren’t
Ukrainian Festival. Arc 525, n.d. Award from the CKNX Barn Dance for Marusia”). Also featured in this
Historical Society in 2001. medley are variations on a European
Ukrainian fiddling had a solid home polka melody later popularized across
in Manitoba for most of the twentieth North America as “Who Stole the
century and enjoyed a huge record- Kishka?” by the American polka king, Reg Bouvette (1923–1992) was from
ing boom in the 1970s with recording Frankie Yankovic. Victor’s version St. Vital, Manitoba (now part of
COURTESY OF GALAXY RECORDS

companies such as Arc, V Records, K is called “Jablushko,” a general title Winnipeg), and of Métis ancestry.
Records, Galaxy, Sunshine and even often used for eastern European folk His career was kick-started with the
RCA. Victor Pasowisty (1930–2001) tunes.153 By including this familiar 1967 release of an original single,
was on the leading edge of that boom, polka tune, Pasowisty and his fellow “Reginald’s Waltz,” later recorded by
and was one of the first fiddlers to musicians connect to cultural spheres both Don Messer and Andy DeJarlis.
94 95

He soon gave up his day job as a Marcel Meilleur (1930–2007), from Laurence Flett This track is from the first archi-
trucker and began recording for Fisher Branch, Manitoba, played and (Danny Flett, guitar) val compilation of Aboriginal fiddling
Sunshine Records, releasing eight toured with Andy DeJarlis for four- Old Native and Métis Fiddling in Manitoba. commercially released in Canada,
LPs before his death. He won the teen years, even moving to Montreal Falcon Productions FP 187, 1986. Used by in 1986, a project that helped gain
Manitoba Fiddling Championship with him in 1962. A few years later, he permission. recognition for the tradition of First
four times and composed over two began to perform on his own, starting Nations, Métis and Inuit fiddling.
hundred original compositions as a group called the Red River Echos First Nations and Métis fiddlers in
well as recording older Métis tunes. in 1976. A frequent performer at Le Manitoba usually perform solo, but
He is also known for incorporating a Festival du Voyageur in St. Boniface, the practice of “doubling”—adding

COURTESY OF ANNE LEDERMAN

bluegrass sound into his band with Manitoba, Marcel was often the house harmonies, playing the melody in
the addition of a five-string banjo. fiddler for the jigging competition. octaves and improvising chords—is
“Drops of Brandy” is the most part of the old style, and often shared

ALBERT BEAULIEU
widely-known of the old Scots danc- between father and son.  During the
es that were imported during the fur recording sessions, some of the play-
trade era of the eighteenth and nine- ers wanted to recapture that sound on
teenth centuries. The metre of the Albert Beaulieu (1927–1991), the “Homecoming Waltz,” usually the

COURTESY OF CECILE HINCE

Canadian version, however, has been Lawrence “Teddy Boy” Houle last dance of the evening (based on
changed to 6/4 from the Scottish (b.1938), and Laurence Flett (b.1940) the nineteenth-century song “Home
9/8. It seems to have first appeared are all from the Ebb and Flow area of Sweet Home”). The asymmetry of the
in this form in Quebec (see notes for Manitoba. Teddy Boy Houle’s stepfa- phrasing is typical of older Aboriginal
Louis “Pitou” Boudreault of Quebec), ther, Walter Flett, and Laurence’s fa- fiddling throughout the Northwest,
but like the “Red River Jig,” indi- Here Marcel is featured playing ther, Charlie Flett, along with a third and probably comes from a combina-
vidual versions exist throughout the one of his own compositions. The brother, Roderick Flett, were three tion of French and Aboriginal influ-
Northwest; Reg’s is particularly well performance is evocative of DeJarlis’s of the most highly respected  players ence, although some may trace back
known. [AL] clean and carefully arranged style in the community in the mid-twenti- to the Shetland and Orkney Islands
  and is imitated by other Prairie fid- eth century. It is a community with a from where many of the fur traders
dlers who play with stereotypes of rich history of fiddling dating back to came.154 [AL]
CD2 TRACK 4 Aboriginal culture by imitating pow- the early days of the fur trade, where
War Bonnet wow drums and using Native themes music was typically passed from fa-
Marcel Meilleur in the title. [AL] ther to son.   Lawrence Houle re-

LAWRENCE HOULE & LAURENCE FLETT

(Irwin Wall, guitar; Ron Halderson, leased his own LP recording, per-
bass; Joe Mackintosh, piano; Roland   formed at Carnegie Hall as part of

COURTESY OF BILL HENRY

Dandeneau, drums) CD2 TRACK 5 the hundredth anniversary celebra-
Marcel Meilleur at/au Festival du Voyageur. Homecoming Waltz tion of Native American Music in
Sunshine Records SSBLP- 417, ca. 1978. Albert Beaulieu, Lawrence 1995, and is still active as a mentor to
Courtesy of Sunshine Records. “Teddy Boy” Houle, and younger players.
96 97

Saskatchewan Radio’s Alberta Ranch House. His band by, Old Paint” was published in Cowboy Olaf Sveen (1919–2007) was a noted
won the 1950 World Open Western Songs and Other Frontier Ballads.158 This accordionist, teacher and composer
CD2 TRACK 6 Band Competition in Vancouver, song was given to song collector John of accordion dance music in the
Ridin’ Old Paint which led to a recording contract with Lomax by Boothe Merrill in Cheyenne, Norwegian gammeldans tradition
and Leadin’ Old Ball RCA Victor. At his first session in their Wyoming in 1910, where it was often (Norwegian adaptations of nine-
King Ganam Montreal studios, Hugh Joseph, pro- used as the last dance of the evening.159 teenth-century pan-European social
(Ralph Fraser, piano; Matt de Florio, ducer of the album, was so impressed Although there are regional variations dances, such as waltzes and polkas).
accordion; Don McFarlane, Al Harris, by Ganam’s playing that he crowned of lyrics and melody, a 3/4 metre and The eldest of six children, he was
guitar; Donnie Johnson, trumpet; him “King” Ganam. Believing that his slow tempo seem to be consistent.The taught to play the accordion by his
Percy Curtis, bass fiddle) Arabic name “Ameen” confused listen- relationship between the songs and the father, grandfather and other well-
CBC Video Archive, 1955. Courtesy of the ers, Ganam started calling himself fiddle tune (in 2/4 metre and played known Norwegian musicians. Olaf
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. “King,” and was soon known as at a fast tempo) is unknown. King later studied accordion in Oslo with
“Canada’s King of the Fiddle.”  After Ganam uses a number of techniques to Christian Lejbak. He was twenty-one
moving to Toronto in 1952, Ganam make this tune, broadcast on Holiday when Germany invaded his country in
and his band made regular appearanc- Ranch on January 29, 1955, a virtuosic April 1940.The five years of Nazi rule
es on CBC TV: Holiday Ranch and later show-stopper: shifts out of first pos- was a grim period, although daughter
Country Hoedown with emcee Gordie ition, double stops, double bowing, Astrid Mitchell said her father con-
COURTESY OF LYNN RUSSWURM

Tapp. The band also starred in its own and sliding into notes. [SJ, TB] tinued to play his accordion at wed-
CBC Radio show and, in 1961, CTV’s dings:  “Dances weren’t allowed, of
The King Ganam Show. Although he course, but small affairs happened in
moved to California in 1962, Ganam CD2 TRACK 7 secret, although not often.”160  After
regularly toured Canada and the Olle’s Waltz doing his obligatory service in the
Born as Ameen Sied Ganam to a Syrian United States in the 1960s.155  King Olaf Sveen—Olle and His Norwegian army, Olaf moved to
father and an English mother, King Ganam wrote a number of tunes, Playmates Canada in 1949. He settled on a
Ganam (1914–2004) began learning some of which are published in King (accompanying musicians unknown) Saskatchewan farm near Estevan, and
the fiddle at age five from old-time fid- Ganam’s Jigs and Reels.156 Aragon AR-121, ca. 1955. Recording began touring the province’s dance
dlers in his hometown of Swift King Ganam attributed the com- courtesy of Roy Forbes. halls with, in turn, Eddie Mehler’s
Current, Saskatchewan. By age thir- position of “Ridin’ Old Paint and Southern Playboys, The Western Five
teen, he was playing live on CHWC Leadin’ Old Ball” to Stuart Hamblen Orchestra and, from 1955 to 1962,
Radio in Regina. He went on to be (1908–1989), of Texas and California, his own group, Olle and His Playmates
taught by the accomplished violinists a singer of cowboy and gospel songs, (heard often on CHAB Radio, Moose

COURTESY OF THE SVEEN FAMILY

W. Knight Wilson, Jack Thornicroft early radio star, recording artist, and Jaw). Olaf moved to Edmonton in
and Gregori Garbovitsky. In 1942, songwriter. A tune called “Ridin’ 1962 where he performed for social
Ganam formed the country band, Ole Paint” is included in a catalogue gatherings and in nightclubs and host-
Sons of the West, in Edmonton, of songs that Hamblen wrote in the ed Scandinavian music programs on
Alberta, which performed on CBC 1930s.157 An earlier tune called “Good- radio stations CKUA (1965–1971)
98 99

and QCFM. He taught at the Roberts- CD2 TRACK 8 musicians, radio hosts and dancers older forms are rarely danced today,
Tait Music Schools (1962–1967) and Kolomeyka in Bb alike to be his signature recording. but the kolomeyka continues to be
privately.161  Bill Prokopchuk The album contains Ukrainian music performed with great enthusiasm at
  “Olle’s Waltz” is one of 180 tunes (Willie Hunchak, tsymbaly; Carl that he believed had not been previ- contemporary Ukrainian Canadian
that Olaf composed. It is influenced Korrall, accordion; Pete Napody, ously recorded. Bill is remembered dance band concert parties, or
by older tunes in the Norwegian gam- guitar and drums; Hank Ukrainetz, by fellow musicians as having a special zabavas, and other social dance events,
meldans tradition: a lyrical melody that bass guitar) interest in recording music of his including weddings. The kolomeyka
is easy for most people to sing and a Fiddlin’ Bill Prokopchuk. Galaxy Records, Ukrainian roots for the purposes of has of course changed somewhat over
simple chord progression (I-V7-I in 1966. Courtesy of Galaxy Records. preservation as well as enjoyment. time,167 most notably in ways that
the A section, IV-I-V7-I in the B sec- “Kolomeyka in Bb” and the other reflect the prominent place of stage
tion, and I-V7-I-IV-I-V7-I in the C tunes on the album, all of which Bill performance among Ukrainian com-
section). It is performed in a quick attributed to the Ukrainian ancestry munities in Western Canada, which
waltz tempo that is still used by older he ardently claimed, were much now includes elements of virtuosic

COURTESY OF GALAXY RECORDS

fiddlers and accordionists at old time loved by listeners and dancers. dancing. Kolomeyka melodies are
dances on the Prairies. Jack Olson of Kolomeykas were featured on also employed in other dance forms,
Big River, Saskatchewan suggests one the earliest known commercial re- such as the polka.
reason for the quick tempo of western cordings of Ukrainian music in On this kolomeyka recording,
Canadian waltzes (often 160 to the North America, recorded by Pavlo the musicians alternate between one
quarter note). When he was grow- Humeniuk in 1925.164 They have melody in a major key and another
ing up, he noticed that the floors in Bill Prokopchuk (1924–2004) was a history as song, retained in form in a minor mode; the raised fourth
the one room schoolhouses were not born in Rhein, Saskatchewan and from their eastern European exist- in this second melody is not uncom-
always sprinkled with dance wax, so began playing fiddle at eleven years of ence. Many kolomeyka texts from the mon in Ukrainian music played in
the dancers would have to move faster age. He participated in fiddle contests earlier era remain, and new ones have Canada, particularly in music rep-
to avoid “getting stuck on the floor.”162 in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, some been created in Canada that reflect resentative of western Ukrainian
Eric Karolat of Saskatoon confirms of which he won, including the new geographic and social locations. repertoire. Bill leads the tune on
that this was also the case in commun- Novelty Class at the 1964 Western Kolomeykas can be described by fiddle, while the tsymbaly doubles the
ity halls from the 1930s.163 The struc- Fiddling Championship; he also en- folklorists as “ditties” due to the often melody in a lower range. The tsym-
ture of “Olle’s Waltz” is unusual in that tertained at many Ukrainian festivals humourous or silly (and sometimes baly is a special marker of Ukrainian
an extra bar is played in transitioning on the Prairies. Bill was best known, bawdy) nature of their lyrics.165 The Canadian Prairie pioneer heritage,
from the C section back to the A sec- however, for playing at Ukrainian kolomeyka, as a dance, is among sev- and has enjoyed special popularity in
tion. Both the A and B sections are Canadian weddings which, in his ear- eral dance forms inherited from the Ukrainian music culture in Western
very active with many eighth notes, ly days especially, might have been rurally grounded eastern European Canada. Supporting instruments in-
contrasting with the longer note val- celebrated over two or three days. ancestors of today’s Ukrainian clude the accordion playing harmony
ues and a change of key from F+ to Bill released many albums during his Canadians; other dances include the and the drums which keep a steady
Bb+ in the C section. [SJ, TB] musical career, but the LP Fiddlin’ Bill arkan, heel-toe polka, chaban, verk- and danceable beat. [MO, TB]
Prokopchuk (1966) is considered by hovyna and mazurka.166 Most of these  
100 101

CD2 TRACK 9 “Schultz’s Polka” is typical of Alberta College around 1915.  

Schultz’s Polka tunes heard at old-time dance and This tune was recorded at Rick
The Western Senators polka parties throughout the West. CD2 TRACK 10 “Brick” Reid’s house in Calgary,
(Joe Schultz, Mark Leik, accordions; The Western Senators play the Little Mottis Schottische Alberta on March 7, 1966. Although
Brian Sklar, piano; Ron Sluga, banjo; Cleveland style of polka, which has Henry Levang never commercially released, this is
Todd Lueck, Johnny “Six Pack” roots in Slovenia, and is the style (Rick “Brick” Reid, piano) one of the very few early recordings
Gasparic, acoustic guitars; Aaron preferred by most Canadian Prairie Unreleased recording, 1966. of a Norwegian Albertan fiddler.
Sklar, drums; Wayne Kuntz, bass) polka bands. (The Chicago style, Used by permission. The origin of this tune is somewhat
PolkaRama! Volume One: Strictly for with roots in Poland, is more com-   uncertain. The Levang family con-
Polkaholics, 2004. Used by permission. mon in Ontario. It uses more brass siders it to be of Norwegian origin,
instrumentation and is not as fast but Norwegians today do not have
as the Cleveland style.) According schottische dance music; the cur-
to band leader, Brian Sklar, “We rent Norwegian equivalent is the

COURTESY OF NORMA MARTIN

COURTESY OF THE WESTERN SENATORS
PHOTO BY BRUCE VASSELIN, DESIGNER

all grew up on Yankovic and most reinlander. In Sweden, this dance is

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY, REGINA, SK

Western Canadian bands played a called the schottis; however, since

mix of Cleveland style and coun- Norway was part of Sweden until
try.”168 Frankie Yankovic (1915– 1905, the line between Norwegian
1998), of Slovenian descent, grew and Swedish music, at least origin-
up in Cleveland, Ohio, and toured Henry Levang (1895–1977) played ating before 1905, may be blurry.
often throughout Canada’s western fiddle for house parties and for According to Verna Larson, an
The Western Senators was born provinces from the late 1940s to the dances in the Edberg area, near active member of the Scandinavian
when, after a night of jamming with early 1960s. The Cleveland style is Camrose, Alberta. His father, Heritage Society of Edmonton and
fellow musicians in Calgary in 1976, characterized by twin accordions, Anders Knutson Levang, was born a Scandinavian folk dancer, the
fiddler Brian Sklar suggested the organ (originally the Solovox, the in Perry, Wisconsin, but the family schottische is actually a Bavarian
group travel to Edmonton to record first Hammond organ), piano, bass, was originally from Levang, dance that was popularized in other
an album. Thirteen albums later, the drums, and, very importantly, the Norway. His mother, Betsy Levang, countries including Sweden (but
group is still performing together at banjo. According to Sklar, Yankovic née Evanson, was originally from not Norway). It was also called a
dances and in main showrooms of had no drummer in the early days, Trondheim, Norway. The Levang scottish. In Alberta, the schottische
casinos throughout Western Canada so he used the banjo to provide per- family immigrated to the New is identified with Scandinavian
and the United States. Since 2002, cussion and add a Dixieland feel. Norway, Alberta area in 1900. heritage. Both Verna Larsen and
they have been featured in three This track is taken from the Western Henry married Inga Ramm in Henry Levang’s daughter, Norma
television specials about polka Senators’ live television show, Mirror, Alberta in 1916 and they Martin, know this tune as a song,
greats, Frankie Yankovic and Walter PolkaRama, and is their most popular moved to the Edberg area in 1927. with words, from the gammeldans
Ostanek, and have starred with original tune.169 [SJ, TB] Henry was largely self taught, al- tradition, called “I’ve Never Had
Ostanek in their own television se- though he did receive some musical So Much Fun in All My Sinful Life.”
ries, PolkaRama. training at the Camrose Lutheran [RO, SJ]
102 103

CD2 TRACK 11 CD2 TRACK 12 to the dances by horse and wagon. novel to us. This gentleman out
Growling Old Man The Reel of Eight They never charged a fee; they just recording, it was actually done by
and Old Woman Pete Anderson played. Gilbert Anderson remembers the local [Oblate] priest there. It
Wilf Laderoute (Gilbert Anderson, banjo; George that people living on the Enoch reserve was actually recorded at the Enoch
(Gilbert Anderson, guitar) Stamp, guitar) at this time preferred fiddle dances to reserve at what they used to refer
Unreleased recording, 1981. Missionary Oblates, Grandin Collection drum dancing.  The Anderson brothers to as the “Agency.” See the Agency
Used by permission. at the Provincial Archives of Alberta, also played at other halls in the area, off was the only place that had elec-
PR1974.156/987, 1948. the reserve. tricity in and around the reserve
John Wilfrid “Wilf ” Laderoute Used by permission. This recording, one of the earliest in those days, so that’s where we
(1896–1984) was born in Revelstoke,   of Métis fiddle music in Alberta, was recorded. It was a lovely sunny
British Columbia and died in Gunn, The Anderson brothers—Pete (1908– made on the Enoch reserve in 1948. afternoon and we were doing this
Alberta. A veteran of the First World 1965), Lawrence (1904–1973), and As Gilbert Anderson, who played in the shade of some maple trees. It
War, Wilf brought back at least one Gilbert (1934-2011)—grew up in a banjo on the track, recalls, it was re- was lots of fun and there were a lot
tune from Europe, the “B Flat Waltz,” musical family on the Enoch Cree re- corded after Mass on a sunny Sunday of people there you know, just be-
which has been recorded by Gilbert serve, near Edmonton, Alberta. With afternoon: cause, as I say, it was quite novel.170
Anderson and other fiddlers. A Métis Pete on fiddle, Lawrence on fiddle,
fiddler with remarkable skill and guitar, or banjo, and Gilbert on guitar It was actually done on a very Throughout the 1940s and into the
rhythmic drive,Wilf was still learning or banjo, the brothers played for many primitive machine in about 1948 1950s, Pete and his brothers moved
new fiddle tunes at age eighty-eight, dances in the Enoch area during the and I remember that day just like 175 kilometres west of Edmonton,
just before he died.   1940s. Through the summer months yesterday because it was quite then to St. Albert and then back to
This tune was recorded by Gilbert they would play in barns and the gran- west Edmonton (called Jasper
Anderson, in Gunn, Alberta in 1981, ary for as many as fifty dancers. The Place at the time). They be-
when Wilf was eighty-five years old. granary had a good dance floor because gan to play at a few paid
He ably demonstrates the Métis fid- it was sealed well to stop the grain from dances, including the Jasper
dle style of Alberta. Switching easily getting out (and the mice from getting Place Legion, but on many
between three-, four-, and five-beat in). Near the end of each summer, the fewer occasions than when
bars, he creates a metric feel that is granary would be cleaned out, making they lived at Enoch. Pete and
almost constantly in flux. The melody it an ideal space for holding dances. Lawrence both worked at
in the first section closely resembles Dances, especially during the summer, the Charles Camsel Hospital
the standard version of this tune, but would often go from 7 p.m. to daylight in the 1950s, which at that
what Wilf plays here as the second the next day. During the colder months time was a tuberculosis san-
section is unique. It could be a ver- they played at the Enoch Hall because atorium, housing primar-
sion that Wilf made up or a version there was a stove there, or at house ily Aboriginal patients. There,
that is particular to Wilf’s commun- dances for twenty-five to thirty people the same Oblate record-
ity. [RO, SJ] at a time.The brothers packed their in- cutting machine that had re-
struments in old blankets and travelled Gilbert and Lawrence Anderson with Beatrice Callihoo, corded the Anderson broth-
1959. (Courtesy of Gilbert Anderson)
104 105

ers in 1948 was used to record them Metro Radomsky (1910–1995) grew Ukrainian Canadian tradition (still CD2 TRACK 14
and others at the hospital for a weekly up in northeast central Alberta, where practiced on the Prairies today), the Rubber Dolly
radio broadcast: Aboriginal patients he played at his first Ukrainian wed- band plays a march as the newlywed Gaby Haas
were able to send messages to their ding at the age of eleven. With some couple arrives at the wedding recep- (accompanying musicians unknown)
families, and in between the messages, sacrifice, his parents were able to send tion. This particular “Wedding March,” Gaby Haas and the Barn Dance Gang.
Pete, Lawrence, Gilbert and others him to school in Edmonton where he which is believed to have originated in Originally recorded in 1960s or 1970s.
played music. After the deaths of his received violin lessons from Ambrose western Ukraine, was popular in many Rereleased by Royalty Records, 2004. Used
much older brothers, Gilbert went on Holowach. Metro continued to per- of Alberta’s Ukrainian Canadian com- under license from Royalty Records Inc.
to become an influential fiddler in the form as a musician until his death, munities. Radomsky’s fiddling is at the
Edmonton area.   though he also worked as a profes- fore in this recording, carrying the tune;
Although this tune is known as sional grain buyer for the Pioneer we also hear the tsymbaly, accordion and
“Whiskey Before Breakfast” in many Grain Company for nearly forty a drum kit. The instruments on this

COURTESY OF ROYALTY RECORDS

fiddle communities, it was called “The years. He played mostly in and around track are the standard instruments of
Reel of Eight” in the Anderson broth- Edmonton, Alberta, though sometimes Ukrainian social dance band music in
ers’ circles because it was performed as far east as Thompson, Manitoba. Western Canada, particularly of the
to accompany a circle dance of the Metro recorded several albums with mid- and later twentieth century.171 
same name. Typical of much Métis fid- Heritage Records that were initially The tsymbaly doubles the melody in a
dling, Pete plays this tune with lots of funded by Edmonton’s Ukrainian lower range here, sometimes embel-
open string droning as well as asym- Bookstore. Metro was paid in records, lishing the tune slightly, especially at Gabriel “Gaby” Haas (1920–1987)
metrical phrasing; the A section is the idea being that he would sell them; the ends of phrases. In this recording, was born in Frantiskowy,
eight bars long, while the B section however, family members recall that he the accordion fills out some of the har- Czechoslovakia. Because Gaby’s
consists of nine bars. Pete’s short bow often gave them away to friends. mony while also doubling the tune of mother was Jewish and the family was
strokes and strong accents make this a the fiddle. A stand-up bass was another in danger from the rise of the Nazis,
highly rhythmic performance. [RO, SJ] instrument often found in Ukrainian they fled to Loon Lake, Saskatchewan
social dance bands in twentieth-century in 1938. Gaby began playing his piano
Canada. accordion at local dances and on
COURTESY OF KEN RADOMSKY

CD2 TRACK 13 This march is played at a brisk walk- CFQC Radio. His broadcasts from
Wedding March ing pace until the abrupt cadence (pre- Edmonton on CFRN (1940–1958)
Metro Radomsky sumably when the newlywed couple and CKUA (after 1944) were carried
(Metro Lawstiwka, tsymbaly; Bob has taken their seats at the reception). on CBC’s national networks, estab-
Mason, accordion; Joe Kozak, bass; Radomsky’s fiddling is characterized by lishing him as a popular old-time and
George Danyluk, drums) occasional slides up to, in and around country music performer.
Radomsky’s Orchestra: By the Fireside. From 1921 and into the late 1980s, notes, typical of the performance style Concurrently, he had starring tele-
Heritage Records  HR-35, ca. 1988; re- Radomsky played at hundreds of of fiddlers of his generation.These pitch vision roles on Chuckwagon (CFRN,
released Sunshine Records. Courtesy of Ukrainian Canadian weddings across variations reinforce the interesting 1955–1969), The Noon Show (later
Heritage Records. the western provinces. According to modal quality of the tune. [MO, RO] known as Eye-Opener) (CFRN-
106 107

Edmonton, 1956–1971), and Country CD2 TRACK 15 George] from May, and final- And Wilf Carter was honourary
Music (1969–1974). The multilingual Curly Hair ly one day I got a letter from judge in that. They had people
musician was also host for more than Fred Lang and the wife. I’d played with Cliff from RCA Victor Records,
forty years of CKUA’s Continental the Calgary Range Riders [Merriott, a guitarist] on the Columbia Records, and MGM
Musicale as well as other ethnically ori- (Tony Stolz, accordion; Curly Koochin, radio station, and they figured Records, all for judging there.
ented radio and television programs. guitar; Norm Towne, bass; Dixie Bill that I was a pretty good fiddle They had about nine big shots
Gaby once operated an Edmonton re- Hilton, guitar) player, see. But I’d just been from the States come up and
cord store called the European Music Fiddlin’ Favorites featuring Red Crawford. taught off the farm. I really judge. But, anyway, they entered
Shop, and was part-owner of several Aragon AR-205, ca. 1952. Recording couldn’t play, I thought. She said me in two, two places, in the
Edmonton restaurants (where he also courtesy of Roy Forbes. that the radio station had heard North West Contest and in the
performed). Often called “Canada’s   about this big fiddle contest in World Champion. Well [laughs],
Mr. Polka” (a title later shared with Vancouver, World Champion I won the World Champion and
Walter Ostanek), Gaby began record- Fiddle Player, see. And it was five hundred dollars!  I couldn’t
ing in 1950 with his band The a first. The Pacific National believe it. In 1950, in August.
Barndance Gang. He made over fifty Exhibition was putting it on. Yes, that five hundred dollars.

COURTESY OF FRED LANG

albums and sixty singles, mostly of
polkas and waltzes (many his own
compositions) for the Apex, Point,
London, Quality, and Royalty com-
panies. Several folios of his old-time
compositions were published by Fred Lang (1926–2007) was born in
Empire (Sharrell Music Publishers) Carman, Manitoba and died in
and Canadian Music Sales.172 Merritt, British Columbia, but lived
 The arrangement on this track almost twenty years of his life, from
is typical of old-time dance band ar- 1977 to 1996, in Alberta. He per-
rangements of the 1950s and 1960s. formed and composed fiddle tunes
The fiddle and accordion double the for well over fifty years. In August
melody on the first time through the 1950 he was named the “World
tune, followed by solos on accordion, Champion Fiddler” at the Pacific
guitar, accordion again and fiddle. National Exhibition in Vancouver,
Although individual variations in B.C., winning the vote of all nine
ornamentation and melody are minor, judges. He describes the experience
the solos maintain interest throughout in conversation with Alberta fiddler,
and showcase each musician’s ability Rod Olstad:  Calgary Range Riders, ca. 1952. From left to right, back row: Freddy Lang (fiddle), ?, Buddie
to make the tune his or her own. [RO, Reynolds (bass), ?, Tony Stolz (accordion). From left to right, front row: Don Thompson
SJ] So we were [working in Prince (steel guitar), Dixie-Bill Hilton (guitar). (Courtesy of Fred Lang)
108

Man!  That’s just like ten thou- “Curly Hair” was one of the
sand dollars today, you know. first tunes Fred ever composed; he
It paid bills and looked after dedicated it to his first daughter.
things.173 Showcasing a variety of playing tech-
niques such as pizzicato (plucking
Fred, with the Calgary Range the strings with the fingers of his left
Riders, released a number of 78 re- hand) in the A section, an accordion
cords through the Aragon recording solo in the B section, and double-
label of Vancouver. During the early stopped double bowing (also called
1950s, he toured nationally with the shuffle bowing or back bowing) in British Columbia
Range Riders, Papa Joe Brown and the C section, there is no doubt that
the Hillbilly Jewels and Canadian this tune would have been a crowd- No single style identifies British Columbian fiddle music, but it would be in-
country star, Wilf Carter. During pleaser at shows across the country. accurate to say that there is no distinctive fiddle culture in British Columbia.
this time, Fred recorded on the [SJ, RO] Today, fiddling in the province is characterized by stylistic diversity and a
Biltmore label of Montreal and was high degree of original composition. It is increasingly popular among young
a staff fiddler with Toronto’s Quality people through the mentorship of idiosyncratic musicians born from the
Records. 1950s through the 1970s, such as Daniel Lapp, Zavellenah Rokeby Thomas,
Calvin Cairns, and Oliver Schroer. At well-attended fiddle camps in Roberts
Creek, Smithers, Gavin Lake, and Saltpsring Island many styles of fiddling
are taught, including Irish, Québécois, Métis, western swing, Highland
Scottish and Cape Breton. The eclectic camp scene intersects with an es-
tablished fiddle competition circuit, linking fiddling in the province to the
Canadian old-time fiddle style, and a burgeoning bluegrass culture in urban
centres.
British Columbia’s current fiddle culture is best understood within the
broad context of its relatively late Euro-American settlement, and its sub-
sequently rapid cultural and economic development. As in the similarly di-
verse American upper Midwest,174 its history fostered a cultural eclecticism
that has not favoured a single or dominant folk music practice. Following
the completion of the national railway in 1885, forestry, mining and agri-
culture developed in the interior, along with fishing (and its associated can-
nery operations) on the Pacific coast. These industries provided employ-
ment for workers of mixed ethnic origins, including indigenous peoples,
Finns, Swedes, Japanese, Scots, South Asians, and groups from other parts of
Canada. Such heterogeneity has meant that there is little translocal continu-
ity of folk traditions, especially as communities are geographically diffuse
110 111

in this large province. Thus record- which focused on Arthur Lindstrom degree of regional stylistic distinct- diverse and include popular music,
ings and emigration have been the (born in Vilna, Alberta), Llewellyn iveness, it is nonetheless remarkable particularly country and western
most important factors in the trans- McPherson (Max) Sexsmith (origin- for the strength of the central fiddling music. His musical affinities were
mission and diffusion of fiddling in ally from Maymont, Saskatchewan), organization, the British Columbia shaped as much by what was avail-
British Columbia. and Frank Lowery (from Ranger, Old Time Fiddlers Association able on recordings, and the visits
The relatively late European Saskatchewan). All of these fid- (BCOTFA), the earliest and prob- of touring acts, as they were by his
settlement of British Columbia also dlers learned much of their reper- ably the biggest provincial fiddle as- immediate community. His famous
meant that local styles had little time toire from recordings, and demon- sociation in Canada. The organization “Ookpik Waltz” is one of any num-
to develop, and many of the histor- strate the influence of other fiddlers began in 1969 in Prince George, ber of original compositions by B.C.
ically influential fiddlers (including from the Prairies and Central and which was one of the province’s fiddlers—Daniel Lapp has compiled
those represented in this collection) Eastern Canada, particularly Don strongest fiddle communities (due over one thousand—some of which
emigrated to British Columbia from Messer, Andy DeJarlis and Graham in part to the influence of fiddlers have become popular across Canada
other provinces. This fact is con- Townsend. 175 such as Sexsmith and Lowery). Nine and abroad. [AH]
firmed by Roy Gibbons’ study of fid- While fiddling in British years later, fiddlers from other areas  
dling in Prince George from 1982, Columbia does not exhibit a high wanted to form a provincial organ-
ization, so they asked the Prince CD2 TRACK 16
George group if they could use the Cheslatta Lake Rag
name for a province-wide group. Max Sexsmith
The existing group agreed, and so (accompanying musicians unknown)
Prince George became Branch #1 Old Time Fiddlin by Max Sexsmith. Maple
of the provincial organization. Other Haze MH 7846, early 1980s.
branches were formed and by 2008  
there were eleven active branch-
es. The total membership of the
group is over seven hundred. Most

COURTESY OF DORIS SEXSMITH

branches hold annual fiddle contests
or jamborees; members also play at
local community events. The provin-
cial championship rotates between
branches with the BCOTFA setting
rules and criteria for all contests.176
While organization is strong, the Born in Maymont, Saskatchewan,
case of Frankie Rodgers exemplifies Max Sexsmith (1917–1993) started
the individualism that character- playing fiddle at age six on a three-
izes fiddling in the province today. quarter-size violin. Music was a
Frankie’s musical influences were family affair; his father and uncle
British Columbia.
112 113

were both fiddlers and all seven of ment is no doubt a favourite with sales man visited their farm, he CD2 TRACK 18
Max’s siblings played the fiddle and/ dancers as well. Written during 1963 tuned the instruments properly, and Barkerville Connection
or guitar. He learned most of his old- and 1964, the tune is modeled on they had to start learning all over Frank Lowery
time repertoire by ear from record- early twentieth-century dance tunes again. They later took some lessons (Daniel Lapp, guitar)
ings, radio, and other musicians.177  By that have become an accepted part of from a Rawleigh and Watkins sales- Personal Collection of Daniel Lapp, mid-
age fourteen, he was playing dances the old-time fiddle repertoire.179 [SJ] man who visited the family home 1990s. Used by permission.
in the Peace River area for about a every few months. As teenagers they  
dollar per night. Max took some les- would travel to Normandy Hall in
sons in 1934 from Professor CD2 TRACK 17 Winnipeg to listen to Andy DeJarlis;
Tennessee Hudson in northern Woodlake Waltz they also learned repertoire from
Alberta, but at seven dollars per Bob Montgomery listening to commercial record-

COURTESY OF PAIGE GARNETT

month, the lessons soon became too (Joyce Montgomery, piano; Arts ings.180 During World War Two, Bob
expensive. He spent the rest of the McMartin, acoustic guitar; Clayton enlisted in the RCAF and his fiddling
1930s riding freight trains, looking Kirkness, electric guitar) was temporarily abandoned. He
for work, always with his fiddle in Canadian Museum of Civilization, GIB-B-1, picked it up again when he moved to
hand. Max moved to Prince George, Roy Gibbons Collection, XV-G-48, 1978. Haney, B.C. where he became a
British Columbia in 1947. There he Used by permission. charter member of the British Frank Lowery (1932–2007), origin-
played weekend dances with his Columbia Old Time Fiddlers’ ally from Ranger, Saskatchewan,
group, The Rhythm Ranch Hands, for Bob Montgomery (b.1920) was born Association. Among his many hon- started to fiddle at age six on a half-
ten years. They also had a half hour in Minnedosa, Manitoba and playing ours, Bob has won the B.C. Old size fiddle given to him by his oldest
show every Friday night on CKPC violin by the age of ten. He found his Time Fiddlers’ Championship class brother. But long before that, at the
Radio. Max was a charter member first fiddle in a grain elevator in seven times and the Western age of two and a half, Frank used to
and the first president of the British Franklin, Manitoba. Using banjo Canadian Fiddle Championship keep time to the tunes played by his
Columbia Old Time Fiddlers’ strings, he set about teaching himself twice. He has been a frequent judge father by beating a set of knitting
Association. He has played in many how to play. His older brother, Ernie, at fiddle contests in Western Canada needles against the fingerboard of
competitions; his most prized trophy was teaching himself guitar at the and the United States. his father’s fiddle as he played. Frank
is the one he won for placing first in same time.When a traveling Rawleigh With its AABB structure, I-IV- had some instruction from his father,
the senior division of the Grand V-I chord structure, and double who played both fiddle and guitar,
National North American Fiddling stops restricted to the ends of phras- but he was largely self-taught, as
contest in Edmonton in 1987.178 es, “Woodlake Waltz” would be an were his brothers, one of whom
According to his wife, Doris, who example of what fellow B.C. fiddler played fiddle and the other guitar.
often accompanied him on the piano, Keith Wilson would call a “good old They also learned tunes from other
JOYCE & BOB MONTGOMERY
COURTESY OF THE BCOTFA

“Cheslatta Lake Rag” was one of time waltz.”181 This performance fiddlers, radio, and commercial re-
Max’s favourite compositions. With was recorded by Roy Gibbons on cordings. Frank didn’t always own a
the upbeat tempo, running bass line June 11, 1978 in Oyama, B.C. [SJ] fiddle; when money was tight he
and syncopated rhythm, this arrange- would have to sell his own fiddle and
114 115

then borrow one from the neigh- CD2 TRACK 19 shows that came to Canada. Frankie different traditions. Frankie wrote
bours in order to practice. After he Ookpik Waltz himself later toured with the Grand the tune in 1965; his recording of it
moved to Prince George, B.C. in Frankie Rodgers Ole Opry across Canada, playing the same year is included on this CD
1980, he stopped playing for about (Hank Rodgers, lead guitar; Rusty with fiddlers such as Chubby Wise set. He named the tune using the
fifteen years while he worked as a Campbell, bass; Shirley Rodgers, and Buddy Spicher. It is no wonder Inuktitut word for snowy or Arctic
welder and gas fitter and raised a rhythm guitar) that Rodgers is known for his owl. It is also sometimes mistakenly
family.182 Maple Sugar, Fiddle Favorites by Canada’s “American” fiddling flavour, evi- called the “Eskimo Waltz” or said to
“Barkerville Connection” is Old Time Fiddle King Frankie Rodgers of dent in his compositions, “Skiffle be an Inuit funeral dirge from the
just one of Frank’s many compos- the Rodgers Brothers Band. Point P-250 Fiddle,” “Lover’s Waltz,” and Pacific northwest.185 In fact, Frankie
itions. His daughter, Paige Garnett, LP, 1965. “Ookpik Waltz.”  Frankie later wrote the tune after watching a tele-
writes, “When my father wrote toured across Canada four times vision special on the Arctic, inspired
‘Barkerville Connection’ he was liv- with the Wilf Carter show. He re- by images of the cold miles of snow
ing in the Caribou area, just a few corded many LPs on Compo and and the little ookpik (owl). He start-
hours from Barkerville. That piece MCA labels.184 ed out to write a song with lyrics
was written with the travelers rid- “Ookpik Waltz” is a popular tune but didn’t get very far, and decided
ing in horse-drawn carriages in in the Western U.S. fiddle con- to play the melody as a fiddle tune
mind, hoping to make their connec- test scene. It was first heard at the instead. He acknowledges that the
tion with the other carriage, to get National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest extra bar before the return of the A
them to Barkerville from all points. in Weiser, Idaho in the early 1970s. section is unusual. He says the tune
It has another meaning, the connec- It has since been recorded by such felt rushed without the bar, and he
tion of old-time fiddling music from Frankie Rodgers (1936–2010), diverse groups as the Irish band, decided that since it was his tune, he
the eighteenth century, still being born in Egremont, Alberta, origin- Altan, the David Bromberg Quartet, could do what he wanted with it.186
enjoyed today. And he wrote it to ally wanted to play the guitar and and a number of fiddlers from many [SJ]
get people dancing, which it did.”183  wasn’t happy when his father gave
Barkerville is a revitalized historical him a fiddle instead. Then, at age
heritage site in British Columbia. It twelve, he saw a young boy, about
grew from the Gold Rush in 1861 the same age as himself, playing
and is a busy ghost town visited with a band at the radio station in
yearly by thousands of tourists. This New Westminster, B.C. (That
tune was recorded by well-known young boy turned out to be Roy
fiddler, Daniel Lapp, in his family Warhurst, now a well-known fid-
home in Prince George in the mid- dler from Alberta.) That changed
1990s. Daniel accompanies Frank his mind. He was further inspired
on the guitar, while his family plays by fiddlers like Americans Dale
a game of cards in the background. Potter and Tommy Jackson, who
[SJ] toured with the Grand Ole Opry
 117

sionary Edmund James Peck arrived at ested in the music introduced by the
the mission station on Blacklead Island whalers. They were encouraged by the
in 1894, Aboriginal religious and so- missionaries, who objected to trad-
cial traditions were still practiced itional Inuit music and dance with its
amongst the Inuit.191 By the beginning connection to native spirituality.194
of the twentieth century, European The voyageurs and trading post
music and dancing were more preva- agents were also a strong influence on
lent than traditional Inuit music in the the musical traditions of Aboriginal
Cumberland Sound area.192 Square communities in the north, introdu-
The North dances, accompanied by fiddle, cing French and Scottish fiddle and
were held every Saturday evening on accordion playing and square dan-
Fiddling and accordion playing in the north date back to the early days of the Blacklead Island.193 Because music cing.195 In more isolated Aboriginal
European whaling industry. Because of its reputation as a safe and profitable played such an important role in Inuit communities, the tunes tend to main-
whaling ground, the Cumberland Sound area of Baffin Island was an impor- culture before contact, it is not sur- tain irregular structures and older
tant centre of whaling activity and a wintering ground for vessels throughout prising that the Inuit would be inter- dance styles, while the Métis fiddling
the nineteenth century. Contact between British and American whalers and the
local Inuit population became even more frequent with the opening of year-
round whaling stations, following a number of ship disasters in the 1830s due
to poor weather and dangerous conditions.187 Whalers hired the Inuit to work at
the stations as well as to provide them with meat. Along with the introduction of
new material goods, including musical instruments (��������������������������
each employee of the whal-
ing station received, in addition to food and tobacco, a gun and a harmonium,
“or something else of that nature”),188 came the opportunity for regular and pro-
longed socializing between whaling crews and the Inuit, which included dances
accompanied by tunes played on the fiddle, and later the concertina and button
accordion.The fiddler was an important member of the whaling crew. His music
helped the crews through exhausting and monotonous work, as well as kept
them out of trouble during their free time. Crews danced to the music both for
exercise and entertainment.189
Fiddles, and later accordions and concertinas, were sold through the
Hudson’s Bay stores and the Inuit were soon playing music themselves. Reports
from whaling and exploring ships indicate that by mid-nineteenth century Inuit
women were quite experienced in European-style dancing, and that fiddles and
concertinas were played equally well by whalers and the Inuit, who shared a
common repertoire.190 The speed of the transition from traditional music and
dancing (drum dancing) to European jigs and reels is notable.When English mis-
The North.
118 119

in the Great Slave area is more al- toire, are becoming the most popular country dance, and the square dance, There were many versions and varia-
lied to Prairie traditions, connected dance music in many communities. as they are described by dance histor- tions of the traveling step, each dancer
by historical water routes. Currently, Accordion playing is popular in the ian Tom Flett.199 Originally, each of seeming to make it his or her own.The
fiddling as a community dance trad- eastern Arctic. Most communities in these dances was unique and had its stationary step was also used when two
ition seems to be strongest among the the eastern Arctic have at least one ac- own specific movements, but the Inuit or three solo dancers took to the floor
Gwich’in peoples of the Mackenzie cordion player, and many have sever- of Pangnirtung combined them into a and danced facing each other.200 While
Delta area, which crosses both ter- al.196 Ethnologist Maija Lutz’s research single dance. Common dance forma- Maija saw “Eskimo dancing” accom-
ritories and goes into Alaska. Several in Pangnirtung in the 1970s revealed tions included parallel lines and con- panied only by solo accordion, she be-
Gwich’in fiddlers, especially those that although the music and dance centric circles, with lots of swinging lieves that, since most of the accordion
from Old Crow, Yukon Territory, have introduced to the Inuit by whalers and and partner switching. Occasionally tunes she recorded were more idio-
made recordings over the years, but explorers were still important in that the dancers formed a square of four matic to the fiddle, the fiddle would
few are widely available. The older community, they were being replaced couples; however, this configuration have formerly been more popular than
repertoire consists of fur trade tunes by more contemporary music and was used less frequently, perhaps be- the accordion. Maija Lutz describes
such as “Red River Jig,” “Drops of dancing. Rock dances, called qadlunaaq cause it seemed to be important to mumiqtut as an important link to the
Brandy,” “Duck Dance,” “Soldier’s Joy,” (“white man”), were held every Friday have as many people on the dance floor past and a reminder of an Inuit former
“Fairy Reel,” “MacDonald’s Reel,” and night, with music supplied by a local as possible. The footwork consisted of way of life.201 (According to visitors
the “Handkerchief Dance,” often with band consisting of three guitarists and a traveling step, which looked like a from some other communities such as
changing metres or rhythmic group- a drummer. The dance was attended fast walking step, and a stationary step, Pond Inlet and Cape Dorset, “Eskimo
ings. These have been supplemented primarily by teenagers and young which was only vaguely described. dancing” played a more important role
by more recent old-time tunes such as adults, although older adults were in-
“Crooked Stovepipe,” “Whisky Before terested as well; it was considered a
Breakfast,” “Big John MacNeill,” community event.197
“Buffalo Gals,” “Miller’s Reel” and By this time, the European music
“Arkansas Traveler,” often also played and dancing introduced by the whal-
asymmetrically. These tunes are used ers, called “Eskimo dancing” (identi-
for old “square” dances which are per- fied by the word mumiqtut,198 which is
formed by many couples in a large cir- simply the generic word for dancing),
cle. This tradition, however, is giving was performed only on special occa-
way in many places to a newer reper- sions, such as Christmas, birthdays,
toire of two-steps and foxtrots largely or to celebrate a visitor from out of
adapted from popular and country town.These dances were held in either
songs, such as “Honky-Tonk Angel,” private homes or the community hall
“Blackboard of My Heart,” and even and were always accompanied by ac-
“You Are My Sunshine.” These tunes, cordion. Maija describes the “Eskimo
as well as waltzes, which are generally dancing” that she witnessed in the
from the Canadian old-time reper- 1970s as a combination of the reel, the Meeka Angnakak, Pangnirtung, Nunavut, February 1974. (Courtesy of Maija Lutz)
120 121

in Pangnirtung among a wider age documented non-Aboriginal per- Yukon with dog and all that and just always
group than in other Inuit communities formances in the north.206 By the   sing.”211 Singing was the traditional
they knew.)202 Although
�����������������������
the Inuit but- early twentieth century, settlers were CD2 TRACK 20 way for young men to learn the estab-
ton accordion tradition went through playing fiddle, mandolin, button ac- Devil’s Dream lished repertoire of fiddle melodies.
a period of decline, accordion player cordion, and guitar for home enter- Charlie Peter Charlie He also learned by playing back-up
Andrew Atagotaluk believes that inter- tainment and local dances. It was not (guitar player unknown) guitar before he picked up the fid-
est in the instrument amongst younger uncommon for mining compounds Home recording in the possession of Ben dle.212 Charlie Peter’s favourite fid-
Inuit is on the rise in the early twenty- to employ musicians to entertain the Charlie, n.d. Used by permission. dlers were John Firth and Firth’s son,
first century. workers and their families; for exam- William. “[William] really could play,
In contrast to the older male-dom- ple, in the 1930s the Wernecke Camp and I learned lots out of him. So he
inated fiddle tradition, elderly women Orchestra performed with two ban- was the best fiddler I ever see.”213
accordion players are not uncommon. jos, two fiddlers, two saxophones and (Born in Stromness, Orkney in 1854,
Simeonie Keenainak and Andrew a bass drum.207 John Firth arrived in Fort McPherson

COURTESY OF BEN CHARLIE

Atagotaluk, two of the accordion play- The commercial recording in- in 1871 where he married a Gwich’in
ers featured on this recording, remem- dustry in the north is quite recent. woman; his son, William, was one of
ber many adult women playing the Many musicians, such as Kole Crook, the couple’s twelve children.
accordion when they were young.203 Charlie Peter Charlie, Johnny Beaulieu Beginning as a dog sled driver, John
Maija Lutz recorded only women ac- and Morris Lafferty, made only home worked his way up to a position as
cordion players during her fieldwork and unreleased recordings. CBC Charlie Peter Charlie (1919–2008) chief factor at trading posts in Fort
in Pangnirtung in the 1970s and says North has played a significant role, not was the elected chief of the Old Crow McPherson, La Pierre’s House, and
that she rarely saw a man playing the only in recording since the 1970s, but Band from 1956 to 1968, and a well- Rampart House. He retired in 1921
accordion.204 Simeonie Keenainak, the also in staging such events as theYukon known Gwich’in fiddler, admired for and died in Fort McPherson in
first man in his community to learn to Fiddle Contest (1978–1994) and the his “relentless hard driving style.”209 1939.)214 Charlie would often play for
play the accordion, explains that men True North Concerts (1982–present) Charlie Peter did not start playing twelve-hour stretches, sometimes
were often away from their homes on which always featured fiddling. More until he was given a fiddle by his with his son Douglas accompanying
extended hunting trips. They were recently, high-quality digital technolo- brother-in-law at age eighteen: “Well him on guitar. For him, fiddling cre-
too busy trying to feed their family to gies and the Internet have made both right there I just want to learn. I just ated its own euphoria: “Sometimes at
learn to play the accordion. Women the recording and marketing of per- took that fiddle home and started to a really big dance you sweat all night.
were also busy, but closer to home, formers in the north more economi- work on it—that’s in October, but I Play hard and make you sweat. Next
and so it was easier for them to find cally feasible.208 Local recording stu- know all the songs already, and I still morning when you get up you just
time to practice their music.205 dios (notably Old Crow inWhitehorse, use those songs.”210 He learned to feel good.”215
There are also many excellent non- Spiritwalker in Yellowknife, and play by attending dances, listening to Charlie Peter called “Devil’s
Aboriginal musicians in the north, al- Inukshuk in Inukjuak) and radio and old timers, and singing: “All the time Dream” his signature tune.216 His
though most have moved there from television networks are actively pro- when I do something, I just sing, sing, performance on this undated record-
other places. Vaudeville acts of the moting local music to local, national sing, all the time… and pretty soon ing showcases the use of drone strings
1890s Yukon gold rushes are the first and international audiences. [AL, SJ] I’m trapping, and daytime I travel and sliding into notes, played by short
122 123

bow strokes and a heavy bow pressure Although his family loved and a Native-owned bar in the city. Joe The Yukon Fiddle Contest was
that results in a strong, rough tone; played music, none of them played has also played in CBC-sponsored sponsored by CBC as part of the
these are all trademarks of a Gwich’in the fiddle. Joe learned by listen- concerts across Canada, and trav- Sourdough Rendezvous, a four-day
fiddle style.217 Mishler credits the ing to and watching fiddlers who elled throughout North America event of Northern culture held in
unique tone to “a conscious attempt played live every Saturday after- promoting tourism in the Yukon Whitehorse since 1964. In this per-
to replicate the traditional sound of noon on radio station CKSB in St. with his fiddle. formance, from 1985, Peter and Joe
elder fiddlers, a sound aesthetically Boniface, Manitoba; he was par- Peter Dawson (b.1936) was born opened the event with this medley
marked as being Indian.”218 He cau- ticularly drawn to the fiddling of in Dauphin, Manitoba, but grew up of well-known reels, “St. Anne’s
tions non-Gwich’in listeners not to Andy DeJarlis. in the Okanagan Valley of British Reel” and “Angus Campbell.” The
dismiss this tone as inexperienced Columbia. He began studying violin two play in harmony, a common
“squeaking and scraping.” Like many at age five, though with a father and practice in the Duet class of old-

CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Aboriginal fiddle styles, the phrase grandfather both playing fiddle, he time fiddle contests. [SJ]

JOE LOUTCHAN, COURTESY OF THE

lengths of this performance are asym- preferred to play fiddle and coun-
metric. The A phrase is usually eight try music.219  As a teenager, Peter
and a half beats long; the B phrase played regularly on radio stations CD2 TRACK 22
is usually ten beats long. “Devil’s and for dances throughout south- Eight Couple
Dream” is a popular tune in many ern British Columbia. He started Ben Charlie
fiddle traditions; in the British Isles it playing professionally in 1954 on (Jimmy Linklater, guitar; Jimmy Salt,
is often called “The Devil Among the cross-Canada tours. He was the drums)
Tailors.” [SJ] Joe’s favourite fiddling mem- staff fiddler for the radio station Ben Chuck: Old Crow Fiddler. HTA 12336,
ories are of the barn dances he WWVA in Wheeling, West Virginia, ca. 2004. Used by permission.
played in small rural communities 1956–1960, and a back-up musi-
CD2 TRACK 21 throughout the province starting cian on the Grand Ole Opry. Peter
St. Anne’s Reel / at around age seventeen. He also makes and repairs fiddles and has
Angus Campbell enjoyed the Ukrainian weddings he operated Peter Dawson Violins in
Joe Loutchan played for in northern Manitoba. Ottawa since the mid-60s until his

COURTESY OF BEN CHARLIE

and Peter Dawson After moving to the Yukon in 1962, recent retirement.220
(Herbie Bowman, piano) the venues changed. He still played

PETER DAWSON, COURTESY OF PETER DAWSON

Yukon Archives CD 47(318) 1, CBC for dances and bonspiels in com-
Yukon Old Time Fiddle Contest 1985, munities, like Inuvik, with a large
Part 1, 1985. Courtesy of the Canadian Native population, but interest in
Broadcasting Corporation. fiddle music in Whitehorse, where Ben Charlie (b.1941) is from a
he lives, has been sporadic. The well-known family of Gwich’in fid-
Originally from Manitoba, Joe Yukon Fiddle Contest lasted only dlers from Old Crow, including his
Loutchan (b.1938) became inter- sixteen years (1978–1994). More father Charlie Peter Charlie and his
ested in fiddling at age fourteen. constant has been his weekly gig at brother Doug Charlie. Ben taught
124 125

himself to play the fiddle in his late choreographed for eight couples, Northwest Territories the fiddle over the bottom end of the
teens by listening to his elders play. in common practice it is danced by   fingerboard with two sticks (known
He has played in many music festi- as many couples as wish to take to CD2 TRACK 23 as “beating straws” in some trad-
vals in the Yukon, Northwest the dance floor. The dance is a dir- Devil’s Reel itions—knitting needles were also
Territories, and Alaska. He is an an- ect descendent of a Scottish and Johnny Beaulieu used to hit the strings) to sound an
nouncer for Gwich’in Gingik NeeKaii, Orcadian dance called variously Home recording, ca. 1962. accompanying chord.
a current affairs program broadcast “The Scotch Reel,” “The Highland Used by permission. “Devil’s Reel” is a popular tune
in the Gwich’in language on CHON Reel,” “The Reel of Four,” or “The   in the north, used for both square
in Whitehorse. He also plays fiddle Foursome Reel,” although it has a dancing and solo percussive dancing.
regularly on the station. different opening pattern.222 Craig Although square dancing is becom-
This tune, known in Old Crow Mishler writes that although there ing less popular and solo percus-

COURTESY OF THE BEAULIEU FAMILY

as “Eight Couple” or in Gwich’in was some French Canadian influ- sive dancing has all but disappeared
as “Nihk’iidqq” (translating to “two ence by fiddlers such as Antoine in southern communities of the
fours”), is a Métis adaptation of the Houle, Baptiste Boucher, and Northwest Territories, such as Fort
Scottish tune “Lord MacDonald’s Moses Mercier, the strongest in- Resolution, Angus Beaulieu says that
Reel.”  Like his father and other fluence on the Gwich’in fiddle and these dance traditions are still popu-
Gwich’in fiddlers, Ben slides be- dance tradition is that of Scotland, lar in more northern communities,
tween notes, uses frequent drones and specifically, Orkney.223 By Johnny Beaulieu (1907–1981), a such as Déline and Tulita, where he
and double stops and short bow 1848, over three quarters of all Deninu Métis fiddler, lived all his life is often asked to play.226 Johnny chan-
strokes. His bow pressure is heavier Hudson’s Bay Company employees in Fort Resolution, Northwest ges the tuning of his fiddle (called
than is common in many fiddle tra- in Northern Canada were Scots Territories. According to his nephew “cross-tuning”)—A E A E—in order
ditions, although not as heavy as his and Orkneymen.224 Mishler writes Angus, Johnny probably learned to to facilitate the use of droning notes.
father’s. that although Orcadian and Scottish fiddle by listening to his uncle George According to Angus Beaulieu, there
This tune is associated with a music and dance have changed con- Norn (1878–1949), who was a popu- are several tunes in the local reper-
dance, also called “Eight Couple,” siderably since this time, Gwich’in lar fiddler in the area. Angus remem- toire for which fiddlers retune, in-
throughout Aboriginal communi- music and dance has remained rela- bers attending dances in his youth at cluding “Devil’s Dream” and “Red
ties in the Northwest and south tively unchanged. New dances and which his two older relatives, Johnny River Jig.” “Devil’s Reel” is reminis-
into North Dakota. The dancers tunes have been added to Gwich’in and George, were playing. They cent of American folk styles, where
move through various figures, in- repertoire throughout the twenti- played without accompaniment and cross-tuning is still common, and old
cluding two and four parallel lines eth century, but not replaced it.225 without amplification. They often Scottish and Shetland Island music.
and elaborate figure eights. The [AL, SJ] played simultaneously to augment Johnny begins the tune by playing
couples jig or “set” in one spot, fac- their volume, either in unison or with the A section three times, and the re-
ing each other, during the lower the second fiddler playing chords to mainder of the performance follows
section of the tune, and travel dur-   accompany the lead fiddle’s melody. a conventional AABB structure. Each
ing the second or higher part of the Angus also remembers seeing the section is eight and a half bars long.
melody.221 Although the dance is men take turns hitting the strings of [AL, SJ]
126 127

CD2 TRACK 24 one finger, sliding it up and down the of two and three. Using this changing promoting fiddling in the North, espe-
Crooked Stovepipe string to find the right pitch. On his metre, the A part could have seven cially amongst First Nations youth.227 
Angus Beaulieu next tune he added a second noting bars, with the following beats per In 1997, Kole recorded some
(Leandre Beaulieu, guitar)  finger, then a third. He learned pri- bar: 2, 3, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2. [SJ] tracks for a CD, to be called The Bush
Home recording, 1974. Used by permission. marily from watching and listening to Fiddler, at the home of Helen Edgar
his uncle Johnny Beaulieu and great- in New Brunswick. It is unusually
uncle George Norn. Angus was soon CD2 TRACK 25 eclectic, even containing tunes from
playing for dances and events all over Amazing Grace Eastern European traditions. “Amazing
the north, often traveling to gigs on Kole Crook Grace” is a favourite tune in the North
COURTESY OF ANGUS BEAULIEU dogsled. He has played with the same (Helen Edgar, piano) where it is often the first tune taught
band, Native Cousins, for over forty Unreleased recording, 1997. to young students. This track dem-
years. He was also the leader of the Used by permission. onstrates Kole’s skill at creating a
house band for the Sourdough unique arrangement of a familiar tune
Rendezvous in Yellowknife for twen- through melodic and rhythmic varia-
ty-two years, from 1970 to 1992. In tions and techniques such as pizzicato
As a young child, Angus Beaulieu 2006, Angus had a stroke and doctors and double-stopping. [AL, SJ]

COURTESY OF JENNIFER SKEARD

(b.1934) was taken by his grandfather told him he would never play again.
to community dances in Fort He credits the constant care and en-
Resolution where his grandmother’s couragement of his wife, Dorothy, for  
brother, George Norn, was fiddling. the fact that less than a year later he Nunavut
Although there was always a fiddle in was playing again.  
the house, he wasn’t allowed to touch Angus says that “Crooked CD2 TRACK 26
it. Then one day, after his grandmoth- Stovepipe” is a favourite tune in the Born in Hay River, Northwest Tune for square dancing
er had passed away, and his grandfa- north and often used for the first or Territories, Kole Crook (1974–2001) Kudloo Pitsiulak
ther was out of the house, thirteen- second change of a square dance. This started to play on his grandfather’s Maija Lutz Collection, 1973.
year-old Angus took the fiddle down performance is an example of a well- fiddle at age thirteen. He was helped Used by permission.
and tried to scratch out a tune. When known tune made unique by Angus. by Richard Lafferty from Hay River as
his grandfather came in unexpectedly Although the B part, with its regular well as Angus Beaulieu from Fort
and caught him at it, Angus quickly eight-bar phrasing, will be familiar to Resolution. In his early twenties, Kole
put the fiddle away and nothing was most fiddlers, the irregular phrasing travelled throughout the North teach-
said. The next time his grandfather in the A part of the tune is perhaps ing young people to fiddle with Andrea

COURTESY OF MAIJA LUTZ

was out of the house, Angus tried the an influence from his Deninu Métis Hansen, co-founder of Strings Across
fiddle again. Again, he was caught and heritage. Counted strictly with two the Sky. Kole died tragically in a plane
nothing was said, so Angus took it as beats to a bar, the A part also consists crash on New Year’s Eve, 2001. The
tacit approval. His first tune was of eight bars; however, Angus phrases Kole Crook Fiddle Association carries
“Rubber Dolly,” which he played with it differently, switching between bars on Kole’s legacy by preserving and
128 129

This dance tune is played on the ac- plays the B section straight, as two This track was recorded dur- learned primarily from his father and
cordion by Kudloo Pitsiulak (b. phrases of four beats in length, but ing a dance held in the Pangnirtung remembers that his family always had
ca.1900—d. ca.1980s), who was in she extends the A sections by hold- Community Hall as part of a con- an accordion with them, whether
her seventies when it was recorded ing the pick up and ending notes of ference attended by delegates from they were living in an igloo or a sod
by ethnologist Maija Lutz. Kudloo the phrases for extra beats. The two various communities. Several wom- house. When he became a young
was born on Blacklead Island, the site B phrases have four and a half and en took turns providing accordion adult, he got his own instrument. His
of one of the most important five beats respectively. This track and accompaniment for the dancing. wife also plays accordion, and they
Cumberland Sound whaling stations the following one were recorded in Niviaqsiaq plays most of the tune raised a musical family. Today Andrew
and the first mission station to be es- Pangnirtung, Nunavut in the fall and in the standard AABB structure. is busy as the Bishop of Nunavut for
tablished on Baffin Island. Kudloo re- winter of 1973. [ML, SJ] Occasionally, she plays only one B the Anglican Church of Canada, but
membered some traditional songs section at a time. While the B sec- he continues to play music, primarily
even though she had been discour- tions are always nine beats long, the A at Christmas dances and other cele-
aged by a relative from learning them CD2 TRACK 27 sections vary between eight and nine brations. Andrew recalls the igloos
after the missionaries came. She had Ilavaliak beats. [ML, SJ] that were built for Christmas dances
never seen singing and dancing done Niviaqsiaq Nowdlak in his childhood which would hold
to the traditional frame drum. Maija Lutz Collection, 1973. fifty to sixty people. It would get so
“Eskimo dancing,” now called “square Used by permission. CD2 TRACK 28 warm inside that the dancers would
dancing,” however, was a weekly oc- Liverpool Hornpipe have to go outside to cool off. Dances
currence on Blacklead Island, and she Andrew Ataguttaaluk were also held between the summer
learned to play accordion for dances Jim Hiscott Collection/CBC, 1998. Courtesy and winter months when thin ice
as a young girl. A much younger ac- of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. made hunting dangerous. They would
cordion player from Pangnirtung, COURTESY OF LOOEE ARREAK last for hours and involve the entire
Simeonie Keenainak, remembers community. In between dance sets,
hearing that when she sat to play, her Inuit games were played.229 Each

COURTESY OF ANDREW ATAGOTALUK

head barely showed above the instru- dance can be quite long, typically
ment.228 All of the tunes Kudloo about thirty minutes, and Andrew re-
played for the recording session with members playing one tune non-stop
Maija were tunes used to accompany Currently living in Pangnirtung, for two hours. Andrew is pleased that
square dancing. Niviaqsiaq Nowdlak was born in the accordion is becoming a popular
Simeonie says that Kudloo had 1942 in Nunataaq, an outpost camp instrument in Inuit communities
a style different from any other ac- on Cumberland Sound, east Baffin again after years of silence.
cordion player he knew (including Island. She learned to play accordion Born along the coast of Boothia “Liverpool Hornpipe” was re-
himself, though she was his model) from a relative when she was about Peninsula, north of Thom Bay, corded by Jim Hiscott in St. Thomas’
because she added extra notes or ten years old. She enjoyed playing for Nunavut in 1950, Andrew Anglican Church, Inukjuak for a se-
beats in between the lines. We hear community dances, as well as at home Ataguttaaluk started playing the ac- ries he produced for CBC Radio Two
her unique style on this track; she for her family. cordion when he was a young boy. He in 1998/99 called “Highway One.”
130 131

Andrew changes this well-known who, he says, learned from the He is often featured in regional and recorded by producer Jim Hiscott
tune slightly by adding a beat to the whalers on whaling ships. Since national media for his musicianship and technician Marc Demers for
end of each phrase in the A section, they had no way of listening to and cultural community efforts. the CBC Sixtieth Anniversary
and one beat at the end of the B sec- tapes or recording music at that Simeonie learned this set of Inuit Accordion Festival. The five-
tion. There does not seem to be any time, everything they learned was square dance tunes from the elders hour concert, which took place
pattern in the way he structures the A from listening first hand to other in his community, but plays the on Saturday, June 29, 1996 in the
and B parts of the tune; he varies the musicians. Kudloo Pitsulak, fea- tunes in his own distinctive style. Anglican Parish hall of Iqaluit, was
number of phrase repetitions from tured earlier on the CD set, was Although in some Inuit commun- attended by over three hundred
once to three times, resulting in the Simeonie’s role model as a musi- ities the dancers prefer the musi- people and followed by a commun-
following structure: AA BBB A BB cian. Because the two were living in cians not to change tunes in the ity dance.234 [SJ]
AA B A B A BB AA B AA B A. [SJ] different camps and Simeonie could middle of a set,232 Simeonie likes to  
not hear her play as often as he change tunes to add musical inter-
  would have liked, when the tech- est and give the dancers a boost of CD2 TRACK 30
CD2 TRACK 29 nology became available, she made energy, especially since one square Beluga Waters
Iqsaakik / Sialaanqujaqsiut a tape for him so that he could learn dance might last two hours, de- Colin Adjun
Simeonie Keenainak her tunes. As a teenager, Simeonie pending on how many dancers are (Pat Braden, bass; Norman Glowach,
(Tim Eviq, guitar; George Qaqasik, loved square dances. When, at age involved. While Simeonie knows acoustic guitar, drums; Darryl Heinzig,
bass; Juilee Veevee, drums) twenty-four, he realized that accor- the names of the tunes only in piano; Eric Fuglsang, electric guitar)
Jim Hiscott Collection/CBC, 1996. Courtesy dion music was dying out, he start- Inuktitut, both are familiar in Beluga Waters. Spiritwalker SWP 398,
of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. ed to play more seriously in order other fiddle traditions. The A part 1997. Used by permission.
  to keep the tradition alive. Simeonie of “Iqsaakik” is very similar to the
began playing on a piano accordion, B part of the southern American
but found it hard to play fast tunes, version of song and fiddle tune
so quickly switched to a button ac- “Bonaparte’s Retreat.” The A and
cordion. He enjoys playing fast B parts of “Sialaanqujaqsiut” are the
PHOTO BY GENE RAMSBOTTOM

COURTESY OF COLIN ADJUN

COURTESY OF JIM HISCOTT

square dances and is renowned for same as the Scottish pipe tune “The
his stamina, often playing for hours Barren Rocks of Aden”; a third part
until his thumbs are blistered. is taken from the Scottish tune, “My
Simeonie says, “The only thing I Love is But a Lassie Yet.”233 This
know is when the people dancing set of tunes is a good example of
Simeonie Keenainak (b.1948), of are happy, they keep your energy how the Inuit made European tunes Colin Adjun (b.1944), known as “the
Pangnirtung, Nunavut, is probably up. If they get bored… then you get their own. Simeonie plays at a fast fiddler of the Arctic,” says that when
the best known of contemporary bored too. When they’re having tempo with lots of energy, and con- he was born, on the Arctic coast in
Inuit button accordion players.230 fun, you’re having fun.”231 Simeonie cludes the set with a “shave and a the small community of Rymer
He learned to play the accordion is a retired RCMP officer and avid hair cut” ending, to the delight of Point on Victoria Island, there was
from the elders in his community hunter and wildlife photographer. the audience. This set of tunes was “music in my head,” and “once you
132 133

have the tune in your head, you re- up later than the other students be- Endnotes
member it.”235  Colin learned to play cause the dancers wouldn’t let him
as a young boy living on Reid Island: leave.237 Colin has since traveled 1. For more on gender and fiddling in Canada, see Beverley Diamond, “The
“My two uncles [Charlie Avakana from coast to coast playing at com- Interpretation of Gender Issues in Musical Life Stories of Prince Edward
and John Kuneyuna] played the fid- munity celebrations, special events Islanders,” in Music and Gender: Negotiating ShiftingWorlds, eds. Pirkko Moisala
dle, and they taught me when we and music festivals. When he is not and Beverley Diamond (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000), 99-139;
were living in the outpost camp.”236 making music on any of the seven in- Sherry Johnson, “’If you want to win you’ve got to play it like a man’:  Music,
He remembers gathering around the struments he plays, he is a Wildlife Gender, and Value in Ontario Fiddle Contests,” Canadian Journal for Traditional
radio with his family to listen to the Officer with the Nunavut Territorial Music/Revue de Musique Folklorique Canadienne 27 (2001), 10-19; and Sherry
Saturday Night Hoedown out of Government. Johnson, “Gender Consciousness Among Women Fiddlers at Ontario Fiddle
Edmonton. Colin learned much of “Beluga Waters” is the title track Contests,” Canadian Folk Music Bulletin/Bulletin de Musique Folklorique Canadienne
his early repertoire from this show, from Colin’s third and latest re- 34, no. 1-2 (2000), 3-6.
which broadcast only fiddle and cording, which consists entirely of 2. Collection Archives des Ursulines du Québec [CAUQ], Livre des dépenses,
square dance music. By the age of his own compositions. This dance- N° 10, 1 avril au 30 novembre 1843.
twelve he was playing regularly for able waltz highlights guitar and key- 3. CAUQ, Prospectus, Objets d’enseignement, 1847.
local square dances in Coppermine board solos in addition to Colin’s 4. Collection Musée des Ursulines de Trois-Rivières, N° 1195-1033.
(now Kugluktuk) where he attended fiddling. Colin adds a lot of droning 5. L’Artisan, Québec, vendredi 24 mai 1844.
school; one of the benefits of being and double-stopping, which thick- 6. Musée de l’Accordéon. http://accordeon.montmagny.com/carrefour/
the local fiddler is that he got to stay en the texture. [AL, SJ, MV] index_f.aspx?CategoryId=690, accessed June 18, 2010.
7. For more on the accordion in Canada, see Carmelle Bégin, La musique
traditionnelle pour accordeon diatonique: Philippe Bruneau, (Ottawa: Musées
nationaux du Canada, 1983), CCECT, dossier 47; Ian Bell, “The Big Squeeze:
Button Accordions in Canada,” Canadian Folk Music Society Bulletin/Bulletin de
Musique Folklorique Canadienne 21, no. 3 (1987), 4-7; Ian Bell, “The Big Squeeze
Part Two: Accordions in Canada—Styles and Sources,” Canadian Folk Music
Society Bulletin/Bulletin de Musique Folklorique Canadienne 21, no. 4 (1987), 7-14;
Yves Le Guével, La musique traditionelle instrumentale Canadienne-Française
en milieu urbain: Le cas de Québec (1930–1960), (M.A. thesis, l’Université
Laval, 1997); Lisa Ornstein, “Une exposition itinerante sur l’accordeon au
Québec,” Canadian Folk Music Society Bulletin/Bulletin de Musique Folklorique
Canadienne 21/3 (1987), 7-8.
8. The contributions of Yves Le Guével have been excerpted with permission
from his article “The Implantation of the Accordion in Quebec: From the
Origins to the 1950s,” (http://www.mnemo.qc.ca/html2/99(29)a.html,
Inuit woman Martha plays the concertina for a group of dancing boys, Resolute Bay accessed July 7, 2010). It was originally published in French as “L’implantation
(Qausuittuq), N.W.T. (now Nunavut), Canada, 1956. (Photo by Gar Lunney. Courtesy of the de l’accordéon au Québec: Des origines aux années 1950,” Bulletin Mnémo 4,
National Film Board of Canada,Library and Archives Canada, PA-179002)
134 135

no. 1 (1999), http://www.mnemo.qc.ca/spip/spip.php?article33, and later 28, 2010.

translated into English for the website by Juliette Champagne. 22. Anne Lederman, Fiddling in Canada, http://www.annelederman.
9. Anne Lederman, “Fiddling,” in Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, 2nd Ed, eds. com/EMC_article.pdf, accessed July 10, 2010; Sheldon MacInness, Early
Helmut Kallman and Gilles Potvin (Toronto:  University of Toronto Press, Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings. Folklore & Ethnomusicology, Cape Breton
1992), p. 455. The document is available online at Hieroseme Lalamen, University, http://culture.cbu.ca/folklore/fiddle/introduction.html, accessed
“Journal Begun, 1645, November,” The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents:Travels April 1, 2010. For further information on the influence of commercial
and Explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France, 1610-1791,Vol. XXVII, recordings on the fiddle music of Cape Breton, see Ian McKinnon, Fiddling to
Hurons, Lower Canada: 1642-1645, ed, Reuben Gold Thwaites (Cleveland, OH: Fortune: The Role of Commercial Recordings Made By Cape Breton Fiddlers
The Burrows Brothers Company, 1898), p. 100, http://puffin.creighton. in the Fiddle Music Tradition of Cape Breton Island (M.A. thesis, Memorial
edu/jesuit/relations/relations_27.html, accessed June 28, 2010. University, 1989).
10. Lederman, “Fiddling,” 1992, p. 455. 23. Lederman, Fiddling, 2010.
11. “Livres de contredanses,” Musée de la civilisation, collection du Séminaire 24. Lederman, Fiddling, 2010.
de Trois-Rivières, Collection Montarville Boucher de LaBruère, CL-0032- 25. Keith MacMillan, “Broadcasting,” in Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, 2nd Ed,
01004. eds. Helmut Kallman and Gilles Potvin (Toronto:  University of Toronto Press,
12. “Manuscrit de contredanses,” Musée de la civilisation, collection du 1992), 162-67.
Séminaire de Québec, fonds Édouard Bacquet, carton 1, no. 8, 13f. 26. Margaret Daly and Mark Miller, “George Wade and the Cornhuskers,” in
13. Lederman, “Fiddling,” 1992, p. 455. Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, 2nd Ed, eds. Helmut Kallman and Gilles Potvin
14. Lederman, “Fiddling,” 1992, p. 455. See also Maija Lutz, The Effects of (Toronto:  University of Toronto Press, 1992), p. 1380.
Acculturation on Eskimo Music of Cumberland Peninsula (Ottawa: National Museums 27. Blaine Allan, CBC Television Series, 1952-1982. Queen’s Film and Media,
of Canada, 1978). 1996, http://www.film.queensu.ca/CBC/Index.html, accessed Jan. 26, 2009.
15. Lederman, “Fiddling,” 1992, p. 455. 28. Richard Green, “Don Messer and his Islanders,” in Encyclopedia of Music in
16. Lederman, “Fiddling,” 1992, p. 455. Canada, 2nd Ed, eds. Helmut Kallman and Gilles Potvin (Toronto:  University
17. Ken Perlman, The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island:  Celtic and Acadian Tunes of Toronto Press, 1992), p. 618. For biographical information on Don Messer
in Living Tradition (Pacific, MO:  Mel Bay Publications, 1996), p. 15. see also Johanna Bertin, Don Messer:The Man Behind the Music (Fredericton, NB:
18. L’Association des Loisirs Folkloriques du Québec was established at the Goose Lane Editions, 2009).
same time; in 1985, the two united to become l’Association Québécoise des 29. Lederman, “Fiddling,” 1992, p. 456.
Loisirs Folkloriques. See “Historique,” Association Québécoise des Loisirs 30. Johanne Trew, “Conflicting Visions: Don Messer, Liberal Nationalism and
Folkloriques, http://www.quebecfolklore.qc.ca/02_historique.htm, accessed the Canadian Unity Debate,” International Journal of Canadian Studies 26 (2002),
November 22, 2010. p. 52.
19. Ron MacInnes, prod., Vanishing Cape Breton Fiddler (Canadian Broadcast 31. Art Jamison, interview with Sherry Johnson, February 16, 2003.
Corporation, 1972). 32. BBC, Take the Floor, interviews with Ken Gamble, Ed Gyurki and Scott
20. See Gabriel Labbé, Les Pionniers du disque folklorique québécois 1920-1950 Woods, radio broadcast, 1998; Neil Rosenberg, “Don Messer’s Modern
(Montréal: Les Éditions de l’Aurore, 1977) for more on early Quebec fiddle Canadian Fiddle Canon,” Canadian Folk Music Journal/Revue de Musique Folklorique
and accordion recordings. Canadienne 22 (1994), p. 26; Johanne Trew, Music, Place and Community: 
21. The Virtual Gramophone: Canadian Historical Sound Recordings, Library Culture and Irish heritage in the Ottawa Valley (Ph.D. diss., University of
and Archives Canada, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/4/4, accessed June Limerick, 2000), p. 188.
136 137

33. Trew, Music, Place and Community, 2000, p. 188. Musique Folklorique Canadienne 19, no. 3 (1985), 11-12; Ivan Hicks, “Old-time
34. John Crozman, A Fiddler’s Handbook (London, ON: Arco Music, 1985), p. 6. Fiddling in New Brunswick,” Canadian Folk Music Bulletin/Bulletin de Musique
35. Lederman, “Fiddling,” 1992, p. 850. Folklorique Canadienne 19, no. 3 (1985), 16-17.
36. See Trew, Music, Place and Community, 2000, p. 188, where she writes 49. Lederman, Fiddling, 2010.
that removing ornaments from a tune has been called “Canadianising” the tune. 50. Kate Dunlay and David Greenburg, eds., Traditional Celtic Violin Music of
Although some ornamentation is used in the Canadian old-time style, it is Cape Breton (Toronto:  DunGreen Music, 1996), p. x.
minimal in comparison with more ornate styles such as French Canadian, Irish, 51. David Reiner and Peter Anick, eds., Mel Bay’s Old-Time Fiddling Across
and Cape Breton. America (Pacific, Missouri:  Mel Bay Publications, 1989).
37. CBC Radio One, Grassroots, Martin Chapman interviewing Graham 52. Colin Harding Quigley, Creative Processes in Musical Composition:
Townsend, radio broadcast, June 1982. French-Newfoundland Fiddler Emile Benoit (Ph.D. diss., University of
38. Dawson Girdwood, interview with Sherry Johnson, May 4, 2001. California, Los Angeles, 1987); Colin Harding Quigley, “A French-Canadian
39. Lederman, “Fiddling,” 1992, p. 456. Fiddler’s Musical Worldview: The Violin is ‘Master of the World,’” in Selected
40. See James John Hornby, “The Great Fiddling Contests of 1926,” The Island Reports in Ethnomusicology: Issues in the Conceptualization of Music 7, eds.,
Magazine 7 (1979), 25-30. James Porter and Ali Jihad Racy (Los Angeles, CA: University of California,
41. Diamond, “The Interpretation of Gender Issues,” 2000, p. 130; James John 1988), 99-122; Colin Harding Quigley, “Catching Rhymes: Generative
Hornby, The Fiddle on the Island:  Fiddling Tradition on Prince Edward Island Musical Processes in the Compositions of a French-Newfoundland Fiddler,”
(M.A. thesis, Memorial University, 1982), p. 78. Ethnomusicology 37, no. 2 (1993), 155-200; Colin Quigley, Music from the Heart:
42. Sherry Johnson, Negotiating Tradition in Ontario Fiddle Contests (Ph.D. Compositions of a Folk Fiddler (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1995).
diss.,York University, 2006). 53. Gerald S. Doyle, Old-Time Songs of Newfoundland (St. John’s, Newfoundland:
43. For example, see Virginia Garrison, Traditional and Non-traditional Gerald S. Doyle Limited, 1955, 1966, 1978) Kenneth Peacock, The Native
Teaching and Learning Practices in Folk Music: An Ethnographic Field Study of Songs of Newfoundland (Ottawa: National Museum of Man, 1960); Kenneth
Cape Breton Fiddling (Ph.D. diss., University of Wisconsin—Madison, 1985) Peacock, Songs of the Newfoundland Outports (Ottawa: National Museum of Man,
on the transmission of fiddling on Cape Breton Island. 1965); E.B. Greenleaf and G.Y. Mansfield, Ballads and Sea Songs of Newfoundland
44. Craig Mishler, The Crooked Stovepipe:  Athapaskan Fiddle Music and Square (Hatboro, PA: Folklore Associates, 1968 [1933]); Maud Karpeles, Folk Songs
Dancing in Northeast Alaska and Northwest Canada (Urbana and Chicago:  from Newfoundland (London: Faber and Faber, 1971); Genevieve Lehr, Come and
University of Illinois Press, 1993), p. 60. I Will SingYou: A Newfoundland Songbook (Toronto: University of Toronto Press,
45. Heather Sparling, Puirt-a-Beul: An Ethnographic Study of Mouth Music 1985). For more on folksong collecting in Newfoundland and Labrador, see
in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia (M.A. thesis,York University, 2000); Heather Peter Narváez, “Newfoundland Vernacular Song,” in Popular Music: Style and
Sparling, Song Genres, Cultural Capital and Social Distinctions in Gaelic Cape Identity, eds. Will Straw, Stacey Johnson, Rebecca Sullivan and Paul Friedlander
Breton (PhD diss.,York University, 2006). (Montreal: Centre for Research on Canadian Cultural Industries and
46. Leroy Brown, interview with Rod Olstad, March 22, 1995. Institutions, 1995), 215-19.
47. Alfie Myhre, interview with Rod Olstad, September 4, 1996. For excerpts 54. Kelly Russell, Rufus Guinchard:The Man and his Music (St. John’s, NL: Harry
from this and other interviews as part of the Northern Alberta Fiddle Project, Cuff Publications. 1982).
see http://www.fwalive.ualberta.ca/mvtmc/en/html/narratives.php?id=6, 55. For example, Kelly Russell, Kelly Russell’s Collection:The Fiddle Music of
accessed July 27, 2010. Newfoundland and Labrador,Volume One, Rufus Guinchard and Emile Benoit (St.
48. Bill Guest, “’Down East’ Fiddling,” Canadian Folk Music Bulletin/Bulletin de John’s, NL: Pigeon Inlet Productions, 2000); Kelly Russell, Kelly Russell’s
138 139

Collection The Fiddle Music of Newfoundland and Labrador: All the Rest (St. John’s, 68. Osborne, “We didn’t have a bed for a Violin!”.
NL: Pigeon Inlet Production, 2003); Christina Smith, The Easiest Dance Tunes 69. Christina Smith, “Fiddling Around Newfoundland: Part One - Codroy
From Newfoundland and Labrador (St. John’s, NL: Battery Radio Publications, Valley and Port au Port,” Newfoundland Quarterly 96, no.1 (2003), 21-23;
2006); Christina Smith, Inshore Fiddling (St. John’s, NL: Inshore Publications, Christina Smith, “Fiddling Around Newfoundland: Part Two - Great Northern
2008). Peninsula and East Coast,” Newfoundland Quarterly 96, no.2 (2003), 49-51.
56. Colin Quigley, Close to the Floor: Folk Dance in Newfoundland (St. John’s, NL: 70. See Kelly Russell, All the Rest, for tunes collected from Inuit and Métis
Memorial University, 1985). fiddlers in Labrador in 1979.
57. Evelyn Osborne, “We didn’t have a bed for a Violin! We Had a Bag!” 71. Tim Borlase, email communication with Sherry Johnson, January 26, 2010.
Exploring Fiddlers and Dance Music in Red Cliff, Bonavista Bay and Bay de 72. Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1870-1885, The Library
Verde, Conception Bay (M.A. thesis, Carleton University, 2003). of Congress, Sept. 23, 2002, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/smhtml/
58. Paula Flynn, “Don Randell: Mistaken Fiddling Dichotomies,” Newfoundland audiodir.html#7901966, accessed August 20, 2009.
and Labrador Studies 22, no. 1 (2007), 165-186. 73. Maria Uvloriak Lyall, phone conversation with Sherry Johnson, April 1,
59. Evelyn Osborne, “Fiddling with Technology: The Effect of Media on 2010.
Newfoundland Traditional Musicians,” Newfoundland and Labrador Studies 22, 74. For several examples of Mi’kmaq fiddling, see Janice Tulk, prod., Welta’q:
no.1 (2007), 187-204. “It Sounds Good”: Historic Recordings of the Mi’kmaq (St. John’s, NL: Research
60. Evelyn Osborne, Fiddling with Style: Negotiating Celticism in the Centre for the Study of Music, Media, and Place, Memorial University of
Traditional Instrumental Music of Newfoundland and Labrador (Ph.D. diss., Newfoundland, 2009).
Memorial University of Newfoundland, forthcoming). 75. Jean Daigle, ed., The Acadians of the Maritimes (Moncton: Centre d’Etudes
61 Christina Smith, “Crooked as the Road to Branch: Asymmetry in Acadiennes, 1982).
Newfoundland Dance Music,” Newfoundland and Labrador Studies 22, no. 1 76. Guest, “’Down East’ Fiddling”; George A. Proctor, “Fiddle Music as a
(2007), 139-164. Manifestation of Canadian Regionalism,” in Explorations in Canadian Folklore, eds.
62. Michael Taft, A Regional Discography of Newfoundland and Labrador 1904-1972 Edith Fowke and Carole Carpenter (Toronto:  McClelland & Stewart, 1985),
(St. John’s, NL: Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1975). 225-236.
63. Taft, A Regional Discography; Neil V. Rosenberg, “Newfoundland Fiddle 77. Guest, “’Down East’ Fiddling,” p. 12.
Recordings: An Annotated Discography,” Canadian Folk Music Bulletin/Bulletin de 78. Frederick J. Kennedy, “Why Don’t We Stage an Old-time Fiddling
Musique Folklorique Canadienne 19, no. 3 (1985), 5-6. Contest?” The Maritime Fiddle Festival, http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/
64. Taft, A Regional Discography. marfiddlefest/history.htm, accessed December 5, 2005.
65. Emile Benoit, Emile’s Dream (St. John’s, NL: Pigeon Inlet Productions, 79. Jim Delaney, personal communication with Sherry Johnson, December 3,
1979); Emile Benoit, It Comes From the Heart/CaVient du Tchoeur (St. John’s, NL: 2004.
Pigeon Inlet Productions, 1982); Emile Benoit, Vive La Rose (St. John’s, NL: 80. MacInnes, Vanishing Cape Breton Fiddler. For an analysis of the situation that
Amber Music, 1992). led to the making of the film Vanishing Cape Breton Fiddler, see Marie Thompson,
66. Rufus Guinchard, Rufus Guinchard-Newfoundland Fiddler (St. John’s, NL: “The Myth of the Vanishing Cape Breton Fiddler: The Role of a CBC Film in the
Breakwater, 1978); Rufus Guinchard, Step Tunes and Doubles (St. John’s, NL: Cape Breton Fiddle Revival,” Acadiensis 35, no.2, 1-81.
Pigeon Inlet Productions, 1982); Rufus Guinchard, Humoring the Tunes (St. 81. Elizabeth Anne Doherty, The Paradox of the Periphery: Evolution of the
John’s, NL: SingSong, 1990). Cape Breton Fiddle Tradition 1928-1995 (Ph.D. diss., University College
67. Minnie White, The Hills of Home (St. John’s, NL: SingSong, 1994). of Cape Breton, 1996); Kate E. Dunlay, Traditional Celtic Fiddle Music of
140 141

Cape Breton (M.A. thesis, Indiana University, 1986); Dunlay and Greenberg, Folklorique Canadienne 19, no. 3 (1985), 13-15; MacIntyre, “Fiddling.”
Traditional CelticViolin Music; Jacqueline Ann Dunn, Tha Blas na Gaidhlig air 89. McKinnon, Fiddling to Fortune, p. 20.
a h-uili Fidhleir [The Scottish Accent in the Fiddle] (B.A. thesis, St. Francis 90. For more on the development of the Cape Breton piano style see Richard
Xavier University, 1991); Burt Feintuch, “One Week on the Céilidh Trail,” in MacKinnon, “Victorian Parlour Instrument Meets the Celtic Fiddle: The
Essays in Honor of Edward D. Ives, eds. Pauleena MacDougall and David Taylor Dynamics of the Cape Breton Piano Style,” in Discovering Cape Breton Folklore, ed.
(Maine: Maine Folklife Center, 2000), 61-95; Burt Feintuch, “The Conditions Richard MacKinnon (Sydney, NS: Cape Breton University Press, 2009), 30-43.
for Cape Breton Fiddle Music: The Social and Economic Setting of a Regional 91. Joan Flett and Tom Flett, Traditional Step-Dancing in Scotland (Edinburgh:
Soundscape,” Ethnomusicology 48, no. 1 (2004), 73-104; Garrison, Traditional Scottish Cultural Press, 1996), p.187; Frances MacEachen, “Step Dancing in
and Non-traditional; Glenn Graham, Cape Breton Fiddle Music: The Making Cape Breton,” in International Encyclopedia of Dance, Vol. 5, ed. Selma Jeanne
and Maintenance of a Tradition (M.A. thesis, Saint Mary’s University, 2004); Cohen (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 697.
Jeffrey James Hennessey, Fiddle Grooves: Identity, Representation, and the 92. MacEachen, “Step Dancing,” p. 697.
Sound of Cape Breton Fiddle Music in Popular Culture (Ph.D. diss., University 93. Ibid.
of Toronto, 2008); Jessica Herdman, The Cape Breton Fiddling Narrative: 94. For more on Cape Breton step dancing, see Sheldon MacInness, “Step
Innovation, Preservation, Dancing (M.A. thesis, University of British Dancing: Gach taobh dhe’n Uisge (Both Sides of the Water),” in The Centre of the
Columbia, 2008); Joseph Clifford McGann, Dan R. MacDonald: Individual World at the Edge of a Continent: Cultural Studies of Cape Breton Island, ed. Carol
Creativity in the Cape Breton Fiddle Tradition (M.A. thesis, Memorial Corbin and Judith A. Rolls (Sydney, NS: University College of Cape Breton
University of Newfoundland, 2002); McKinnon, Fiddling to Fortune; Marie Press, 1996), 111-118.
Thompson, The Fall and Rise of the Cape Breton Fiddler: 1955-1982 (M.A. 95. James John Hornby, “A Survey of Fiddling on Prince Edward Island,”
thesis, Saint Mary’s University, 2003); Thompson, “The Myth of the Vanishing Canadian Folk Music Bulletin/Bulletin de Musique Folklorique Canadienne 19, no. 3
Fiddler.” (1985), p. 7.
82. John G. Gibson, Traditional Gaelic Bagpiping 1745-1945 (Montreal: McGill- 96. Bill Guest, Canadian Fiddlers (Hantsport, NS: Lancelot Press, 1985), p.224.
Queen's University Press, 1998); Barry William Shears, Highland Minstrel to 97. Guest, Canadian Fiddlers, p. 50.
Tourist Icon: The Changing Role of the Highland Piper in Nova Scotia Society, 98. James Littleton, dir., Celtic Spirits, (Toronto: National Film Board of
1773-1973 (M.A. thesis, Saint Mary’s University, 2005). Canada, 1978).
83. See Dunlay and Greenberg, Traditional Celtic Violin Music for a detailed 99. Published by Cape Breton Books, www.capebretonbooks.com.
musical analysis of Cape Breton fiddle style. For other discussions of Scottish- 100. Alfred Moffat, arr. Braemar Collection of Highland Music for Piano
Canadian and Cape Breton fiddle style, see David Ennis, Fiddling in Lanark (Glasgow: Bayley and Ferguson, n.d.).
County:  A Medium for the Examination of Acculturation in Canadian Music 101. A.J. MacMillan, A West Wind to East Bay: A Short History and a Genealogical
(M.A. thesis, Carleton University, 1986); Sandy MacIntyre, “Fiddling, Cape Tracing of the Pioneer Families of the East Bay Area of Cape Breton (Sydney, NS: Music
Breton Style,” Fiddler Magazine (Summer 1996), 4-8. Hill Publications, 2001), p. 63.
84. Dunlay and Greenberg, Traditional Celtic Violin Music, pp. 13-14. 102. Allister MacGillivray, A Cape Breton Ceilidh (Sydney, NS: Sea-Cape Music,
85. Dunlay and Greenberg, Traditional Celtic Violin Music, p. 13. 1988), pp. 208-9.
86. Dunlay and Greenberg, Traditional Celtic Violin Music, p. 12. 103. Alex Currie, interview with Paul MacDonald, 1993.
87. Mary Jane Lamond, interview with Sherry Johnson, March 8, 1998. 104. MacGillivray, A Cape Breton Ceilidh, p. 190.
88. Dunlay and Greenberg, Traditional Celtic Violin Music, p. 11. See also Paul 105. Perlman, The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island, p. 41.
Cranford, “Cape Breton,” Canadian Folk Music Bulletin/Bulletin de Musique 106. Ibid., p. 46.
142 143

107. Ken Perlman, liner notes from The Prince Edward Island Style of Playing:  (Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1982), p. 12.
Fiddlers of Eastern Prince Edward Island, Round CD 7015, 1997. 118. Arima and Einarsson, “Whence and When,” p. 24.
108. Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival, http://www.rollobayfiddlefest.ca, accessed 119. Ibid.
Aug. 2, 2010. 120. Moravian Mission, Periodical Accounts of the Moravian Brethren 21 (1853-
109. Gary Copeland, Fiddling in New Brunswick:The History and Its People 1855) in Lutz, Musical Traditions, p. 13.
(Moncton, NB: Gary L. Copeland Associates, 2006), pp. 72-3. 121. Arima and Einarsson, “Whence and When,” pp. 36-37.
110. Matilda Murdoch, personal communication with Amanda Ironside, Jan. 6, 122. Ibid., pp. 29, 36-37.
2009. 123. Information from Pirkko Moisala, former director of the Sibelius Museum
111. Minstrel Songs, Old and New (Boston: Oliver Ditson & Co., 1883). (Turku) which houses a large collection of virsikantele.
112. Copeland, Fiddling in New Brunswick, p. 484. 124. Inuit Games and Songs/Chants et Jeux des Inuit Canada, Philips 6586036
113. Pierre Chartrand, “La Gigue Québécoise dans la marge de celle des Îles (1978) [sound recording].
Britanniques,” Bulletin Mnémo 12, no. 1 (2009), http://www.mnemo.qc.ca/ 125. Bob Rogers, dir., Fiddlers of James Bay (National Film Board of Canada,
spip/spip.php?article150, accessed February 25, 2011 and Pierre Chartrand, Nishnawbe Institute, 1980) [film].
“Le Quiproquo de la Gigue au Québec,” Canadian Folk Music Bulletin/Bulletin 126. Annette Chrétien, “Mattawa, Where the Waters Meet”: The Question of
de Musique Folklorique Canadienne 38, no. 4 (2004-5), 1-4; For more on step Identity in Métis Culture (M. A. thesis, University of Ottawa, 1996).
dancing in Quebec, see Pierre Chartrand, Gigue et Revivalisme au Quebec: 127. Johanne Trew, “Ottawa Valley Fiddling:  Issues of Identity and Style,”
L’exemple du Brandy (M.A. thesis. Universite de Paris-Sorbonne, 1989- British Journal of Canadian Studies 11 (1996), 339-344; Trew, Music, Place and
90) and Ellen Shifrin, “Folk and Traditional Dance in French Canada,” in Community.
International Encyclopedia of Dance, Volume 3, ed. Selma Jean Cohen (New York: 128. Sherry Johnson, “Changing Age Demographics and Competing Agendas:
Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 36. Challenges for the Future of Ontario Fiddle Clubs,” in Folk Music,Traditional
114. For more on fiddling and accordion playing in Quebec, see Roland Music, Ethnomusicology: Canadian Perspectives, Past and Present, eds. Anna Hoefnagels
Boutot, “La musique traditionnelle au Québec,” Canadian Folk Music Bulletin/ and Gordon Smith (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars’ Press, 2008), 135-49.
Bulletin de Musique Folklorique Canadienne 19, no. 2 (1985), 7-10; Jean-Pierre 129. Johnson, Negotiating Tradition.
Joyal, “Le Processus de Composition dans la Musique Instrumentale du 130. Trew, “Ottawa Valley Fiddling,” pp. 156-7.
Quebec,” Canadian Journal for Traditional Music/Revue de Musique Folklorique 131. Mark Miller, “CKNX Barn Dance,” in Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, 2nd
Canadienne 8 (1980), 49-54; Gabriel Labbé, Musiciens traditionnels du Québec Ed, eds. Helmut Kallman and Gilles Potvin (Toronto:  University of Toronto
(1920–1993) (Montréal : VLB Éditeurs, 1995); Lisa Ornstein, “Instrumental Press, 1992), p. 272; A Brief History of the Barn Dance. The Barn Dance
Folk Music of Quebec:  An Introduction,” Canadian Journal for Traditional Music/ Historical Society and Entertainment Museum, http://www.thebarndance.ca/
Revue de Musique Folklorique Canadienne 10 (1982), 3-11. history.htm, accessed June 20, 2009.
115. Lucien M. Turner, Indians and Eskimos in the Quebec-Labrador Peninsula: 132. Pip Wedge, Cross Canada Barndance. Canadian Communications
Ethnology of the Ungava District, Hudson Bay Territory (Quebec: Comeditex, 1979 Foundation: Programming (2002), http://www.broadcasting- history.ca/
[1894]), pp. 258-259. programming /television/programming _popup.php?id=4, accessed July 31,
116. Eugene Y. Arima and Magnus Einarsson, “Whence and When the Eskimo 2009.
Fiddle?” Folk 18 (1976), 26-27. 133. Brock Silversides, “The Don Messer Archival Collection,” in Don Messer:
117. Ernest William Hawkes, The Labrador Eskimo (Ottawa: Geological Survey The Man Behind the Music, auth. Johanna Bertin (Fredericton, NB: Goose Lane
of Canada, 1916) in Maija Lutz, Musical Traditions of the Labrador Coast Inuit Editions, 2009), p. 262.
144 145

134. Guest, Canadian Fiddlers, pp. 124-5. Ukrainian Studies, 1984), 49-56. 
135. Mark Miller, “Graham Townsend,” in Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, 2nd 153.Yablochko, Isaac Babel Website at Stanford University, http://www.
Ed, eds. Helmut Kallman and Gilles Potvin (Toronto:  University of Toronto stanford.edu/group/isaac_babel/gallery/yablochko.htm, accessed January 19,
Press, 1992), p. 1308. 2009.
136. Ibid. 154. For more on Western Canadian First Nations and Métis fiddling and
137. Guest, Canadian Fiddlers, pp. 199-200. dancing, see Byron Dueck, Festival of Nations: First Nations and Métis Music
138. Eleanor Townsend, The Townsend Old-Time Fiddle Method (Markham, ON: and Dance in Public Performance (Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 2005);
Mayfair Publications, 1996). Byron Dueck, “Public and Intimate Sociability in First Nations and Métis
139. Harvey Bassett, “Christmas in the Fur Trade,” The Beaver 272 (1941), 20. Fiddling,” Ethnomusicology 51/1 (2007), 30-63; Anne Lederman, Old Native
140. Peter Erasmus, Buffalo Days and Nights (Calgary, AB: Fifth House, 1999), and Métis Fiddling in Two Manitoba Communities:  Camperville and Ebb and
p. 43. Flow (M.A. thesis,York University, 1986); Anne Lederman, “Old Indian and
141. See the newspaper clipping at http://www.fwalive.ualberta.ca/mvtmc/ Métis Fiddling in Manitoba:  Origins, Structure, and Questions of Syncretism,”
en/html/metadataResultXML.php?uri= Canadian Journal for Traditional Music/Revue de Musique Folklorique Canadienne 19
http://www.fwalive.ualberta.ca/vmctm_api/metadata/NAFC_IMG-37.jpg, (1991): 40-60.
accessed June 8, 2009. 155. Margaret Daly and Betty Nygaard King, “King Ganam,” in Encyclopedia
142. Rod Olstad’s Fiddling Journey, Northern Alberta Fiddle Project, Virtual of Music in Canada, 2nd Ed, eds. Helmut Kallman and Gilles Potvin (Toronto: 
Museum of Canadian Traditional Music, University of Alberta, 2007, http:// University of Toronto Press, 1992), p. 512.
www.fwalive.ualberta.ca/mvtmc/en/html/narratives.php?id=9&sec=2, 156. King Ganam’s Jigs and Reels (Toronto: BMI Canada, 1956).
accessed June 8, 2009. 157. H. Allen Anderson, “Carl Stuart Hamblen,” The Handbook of Texas Online,
143. Leah Dorion-Paquin and Lyndon Smith, “The History of Métis Fiddling,” Texas State Historical Association, last updated May 30, 2010, http://www.
In Drops of Brandy:  An Anthology of Métis Music (Saskatoon, SK:  Gabriel Dumont tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/HH/fhafq.html, accessed June 10,
Institute, 2002), p. 7. 2010.
144. Ibid., p. 18. 158. John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax, Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads
145. See Roy W. Gibbons, “La Grande Gigue Simple and the Red River (New York: MacMillan Company, 1966 [original 1910]).
Jig: A Comparative Study of Two Regional Styles of a Traditional Fiddle 159. John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax, Folk Song USA (American Ballads and Folk
Tune,” Canadian Folk Music Journal 8 (1980), 40-48. Songs) (New York: Duell, Sloan, and Pearce, 1967 [original 1934]), p.198.
146. See Mishler, The Crooked Stovepipe, pp. 65-68 for a discussion of the “Red 160. Don Retson, “Accordionist Olaf Sveen was a celebrity in Alberta, as well
River Jig” in Gwich’in First Nation culture of the north. as in his native Norway,” The Edmonton Journal, Saturday, December 15, 2007.
147. Ibid., pp. 18-20. 161. For more on Olaf Sveen, see Richard Green, “Olaf Sveen,” in Encyclopedia
148. Anne Lederman, Metis Dancing in Southwestern Manitoba, Unpublished Field of Music in Canada, 2nd Ed, eds. Helmut Kallman and Gilles Potvin (Toronto: 
Report for the Museum of Civilization, 1988. University of Toronto Press, 1992), p. 1267; Olaf Sveen, “I’m Olle Myself! ,”
149. Ibid., p. 35. Canadian Folk Music Bulletin/Bulletin de Musique Folklorique Canadienne 28, no.4
150. Ibid., p. 4. (1994), 3-9.
151. Guest, Canadian Fiddlers, pp. 153-7. 162. Jack Olson, interview with Trent Bruner, April 1996.
152. Robert Klymasz, “Folk Music,” In Visible Symbols: Cultural Expression among 163. Eric Karolat, interview with Trent Bruner, July 1992.
Canada’s Ukrainians, ed. Monoly R. Lupul (Edmonton: Canadian Institute of 164. Brian Cherwick, Polkas on the Prairies: Ukrainian Music and the
146 147

Construction of Identity (Ph.D. diss., University of Alberta, 1999), p. 70. 183. Paige Garnett, email communication with Sherry Johnson, January 13,
165. Jaroslav Bohdan Rudnycky, Ukrainian-Canadian Folklore (Winnipeg: 2009.
Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, UVAN, 1960). 184. Guest, Canadian Fiddlers, pp. 178-79.
166. Andriy Nahachewsky, First Existence Folk Dance Forms Among 185. Andrew Kuntz, The Fiddler’s Companion:  A Descriptive Index of North
Ukrainians in Smoky Lake, Alberta and Swan Plains, Saskatchewan (M.A. American and British Isles Music for the Folk Violin and Other Instruments,
thesis, University of Alberta, 1985). http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers, accessed December 23, 2008.
167. Andriy Nahachewsky, The Kolomeyka: Change and Diversity in Canadian 186. Frankie Rodgers, phone communication with Sherry Johnson, August 13,
Ukrainian Folk Dance (Ph.D. diss., University of Alberta, 1991); Marcia 2009.
Ostashewski, Performing Heritage:  Ukrainian Festival, Dance and Music in 187. Lutz, The Effects of Acculturation, p. 61.
Vegreville, Alberta (Ph.D. diss.,York University, 2009). 188. Franz Boas The Central Eskimo (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,
168. Brian Sklar, email communication with Sherry Johnson, September 3, 1964 [1888], p. 59 in Lutz, The Effects of Acculturation, p. 68; Franz Boas,
2009. “Cumberland Sound and its Eskimos,” The Popular Science Monthly 26 (1885), p.
169. Ibid. 769 in Lutz, The Effects of Acculturation, p. 68.
170. Gilbert Anderson, interview with Rod Olstad, November 1996. 189. Lutz, The Effects of Acculturation, p. 84.
171. Cherwick, Polkas on the Prairies, pp. 52-57. 190. David Moore Lindsay, A Voyage to the Arctic in the Whaler Aurora (Boston:
172. Pepe Haas, email communication with Rod Olstad, April 2008; Shari Dana Estes and Company, 1911), p. 106 in Lutz, The Effects of Acculturation, p.
Haas, phone communication with Rod Olstad, January 2008; Olaf Sveen, 76.
“Canada’s Mr. Polka,” Canadian Folk Music Bulletin/Bulletin de Musique Folklorique 191. Lutz, The Effects of Acculturation, p. 87.
Canadienne 30, no.1 (1996), 20-22. 192. Ibid., p. 77.
173. Rod Olstad, ed., Freddy Lang’s New Time Fiddle Tunes (Edmonton: Fiddler’s 193. Ibid., p. 88.
Dream Music, 1999), p. 2. 194. Ibid., p. 78.
174. James P. Leary, Polkabilly: How the Goose Island Ramblers Redefined American 195. Nicole Beaudry, “Subarctic Canada,” in The Garland Encyclopedia of World
Folk Music (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006). Music, Volume 3,The United States and Canada, ed. Ellen Koskoff (New York and
175. Roy Gibbons, As it Comes: Folk Fiddling in Prince George, British London: Garland Publishing, 2001), p. 391.
Columbia, Canadian Centre for Folk Culture Studies, Mercury Series, Paper No. 196. Jim Hiscott, “Inuit Accordion Music—A Better Kept Secret,” Canadian
43 (Ottawa:  National Museum of Man, 1982). Folk Music Bulletin/Bulletin de Musique Folklorique Canadienne 34, no.1-2 (2000),
176. British Columbia Old Time Fiddlers’ Association (Prince George, B.C.:  British p. 17.
Columbia Old Time Fiddlers’ Association., 1990). 197. Lutz, The Effects of Acculturation, p. 85.
177. Ibid., p. 8. 198. See Lutz, The Effects of Acculturation, p. 87 for a discussion of how the
178. Guest, Canadian Fiddlers, pp. 188-89. meaning of the term mumiq has changed over time. In the 1820s, it was used
179. Gibbons, As it Comes, p. 6. by the Inuit to refer to traditional singing and dancing; by the 1970s, Inuit
180. Roy Gibbons, Folk Fiddling in Canada:  A Sampling, Canadian Centre residents of Pangnirtung used the word uniqaqtuak to refer to the traditional
for Folk Culture Studies, Mercury Series, Paper No. 35 (Ottawa:  National songs and dances. The term mumiq, then, would seem to be used to refer to the
Museum of Man, 1981), p. 53. dominant form of music and dancing at the time.
181. Keith Wilson, interview with Sherry Johnson, August 28, 2001. 199. Joan Flett and Tom Flett, Traditional Dancing in Scotland (Nashville:
182. Gibbons, As it Comes, p. 8. Vanderbilt University Press, 1966), pp. 1-2 in Lutz, The Effects of Acculturation,
148 149

p. 90. 228. Simeonie Keenainak, phone conversation with Sherry Johnson, May 15,
200. Lutz, The Effects of Acculturation, pp. 90-91. 2010.
201. Ibid., p. 119. 229. Hiscott, “Inuit Accordion Music,” p. 17.
202. Maija Lutz, email communication with Sherry Johnson, January 6, 2010. 230. Ibid., p. 16.
203. Hiscott, “Inuit Accordion Music,” p. 17. 231. Peter Skinner, prod., Dancing with the Northern Lights: 50 Years of
204. Lutz, The Effects of Acculturation, p. 91. Northern Music and the CBC, Part Four. CBC North, 2009, http://www.cbc.
205. Simeonie Keenainak, phone conversation with Sherry Johnson, February ca/north/features/50, accessed June 23, 2009.
22, 2010. 232. Ibid., p. 18.
206. Ibid., p. 1277. 233. Ian Bell, email communication with Sherry Johnson, October 28, 2009.
207. Ibid. 234. Hiscott, “Inuit Accordion Music,” p. 16.
208. Beverley Diamond, “Overview, Northern Canada,” in The Garland 235. Nunatsiaq News, January 18, 2002.
Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 3,The United States and Canada, ed. Ellen 236. Ibid.
Koskoff (New York and London: Garland Publishing, 2001), p. 1278. 237. Colin Adjun, phone conversation with Sherry Johnson, October 19, 2009.
209 Mishler, The Crooked Stovepipe, p. 45.
210. Ibid.
211. Ibid., p. 49.
212. Ibid., p. 60.
213. Ibid., p. 20.
214. Ibid.
215. Ibid., p. 45.
216. Ibid., p. 58.
217. Ibid., p. 53.
218. Ibid., p. 54
219. Guest, Canadian Fiddlers, p. 50.
220. Peter Dawson, www.peterdawson.ca, accessed June 11, 2009.
221. For a more detailed description of the dance, see Mishler, The Crooked
Stovepipe, p. 85.
222. Ibid.
223. Ibid., p. 19.
224. Robert Michael Ballantyne, Hudson’s Bay (Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle,
1972 [1848]) in Mishler, The Crooked Stovepipe, p. 19.
225. Mishler, The Crooked Stovepipe, p. 21.
226. Angus Beaulieu, phone conversation with Sherry Johnson, February 23,
2010.
227. The Kole Crook Fiddle Association, Fiddling in the NWT, http://
fiddlingnwt.com/kolecrook_about.html, accessed July 20, 2010.
150 151

Acknowledgements Ronald Labelle

  Verna Larson
Regional advisors, researchers, and writers: Daniel Lapp
Evelyn Osborne Newfoundland Marie Livingstone
Meghan Forsyth Acadia Maija Lutz
Sheldon MacInness Cape Breton Bob Mason
Lisa Ornstein and Éric Favreau Quebec Paul McDonald
Sherry Johnson Ontario and the North Doug McNaughton
Anne Lederman Manitoba and the North Norma Martin
Trent Bruner Saskatchewan Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Folklore and Language Archive
Rod Olstad Alberta (MUNFLA)
  Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate-Canada
Additional assistance with research and writing: Anita O'Keefe
Gilbert Anderson Marcia Ostashewski
Georges Arsenault Regula Qureshi
Anita Best Robert Richard
Émile Blinn Barbara Rieti
Ada Brown Charles D. Roach (Les Trois Pignons)
Alberta Historical Resources Foundation Radomsky Family
Calgary Fiddlers Neil V. Rosenberg
Carrefour mondial de l’accordéon Wilma Rothbauer
Centre d’études acadiennes Anselme-Chiasson, University of Moncton Royalty Records
Pierre Chartrand, Centro Mnémo Lynn Russwurm
Brian Cherwick Christina Smith
Collection Société Saint-Pierre David Stark
Charlie Conway (maps) Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Gary Copeland Hank Ukrainetz
David Descheneau La Voix Acadienne
Beverley Diamond Phil and Vivian Williams, Voyager Recordings and Publications
Tiber F.M. Falzett Louise Wrazen
Mark Finch Calvin Vollrath
FolkwaysAlive Mila Volpe
Pepe and Shari Haas York University
Kristin Harris Walsh  
Ivan and Vivian Hicks Thanks also to the musicians, families and collectors who kindly gave their
Andy Hillhouse permission to use these tracks.
Jim Hiscott
Maureen Houston Note: We have made every effort to contact musicians and family members,
Amanda Ironside as well as recording companies. If we have missed you, please contact MMaP,
Mathew Johnson School of Music, Memorial University, St. John’s, NL A1C 5S7. 709-864-
2058/www.mun.ca/mmap.
152 153

Author Biographies MEGHAN FORSYTH is an ethnomusicologist specializing

in Acadian instrumental music in eastern Canada. She is
a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow at Memorial University
SHERRY JOHNSON grew up traveling across Canada of Newfoundland. Her current projects explore issues
with her five siblings, step dancing and playing the of creativity, cultural tourism, and identity in Acadian
fiddle. She received her Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology music and dance of les Îles-de-la-Madeleine (Quebec)
in 2006 from York University, writing about issues of and Prince Edward Island; she has also conducted re-
tradition within the Ontario fiddle and step dancing search on fiddling in the Shetland Isles (UK). Meghan holds a Ph.D. from the
contest community in her dissertation. She now teach- University of Toronto and is the recipient of the 2008 Sir Ernest MacMillan
es in the Music Department at York University, where Memorial Foundation’s Award for Research in Canadian Music. She balances her
she tries to squeeze a little bit of fiddling and step dan- academic interests with healthy doses of music-making as a traditional fiddler,
cing into every course she teaches. Sherry remains active in the Ontario fiddle and classical violinist, and instructor.
step dancing community as a performer, teacher, accompanist, and judge.
Originally from Manitoba, ANNE LEDERMAN is a musician
TRENT BRUNER has been active as a house accompan- (fiddle, voice, piano, mandolin) composer and researcher.
ist at fiddle contests throughout Canada and the United She has performed and recorded with bands MuddyYork,
States since 1990, including seventeen years as house ac- The Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band, Njacko Backo, her own
companist for Canada’s national fiddle championship, the group, Fiddlesong, and a new fiddle-based trio, Eh. She has
Canadian Grand Masters. He has appeared as a piano ac- recorded four CDs under her own name, and over fifty
companist on over 175 albums since 1990, released one with other artists. As a researcher, she is known especially
PHOTO BY LOIS SIEGEL
solo piano album, instructional CDs and books for fiddle for her work on Aboriginal fiddle traditions. In 1986, she produced a a four-al-
accompaniment, and three albums with the fiddle/piano trio The Cleavers (with bum set (now two discs), Old Native and Metis Fiddling in Manitoba. Anne is also the
Canadian Grand Masters finalists Rodney Krip and Tyler Kushneryk).Trent now founding Artistic Director of Worlds of Music Toronto and is on the Faculty of the
resides in Valestrand, Norway with his wife and family, but returns to Canada World Music Centre of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.  
twice yearly for various musical events.
ROD OLSTAD is a professional fiddler, teacher and
ÉRIC FAVREAU comes from a family of traditional mu- independent scholar from Edmonton.  He collab-
sicians and has spent a great deal of time playing with orated with the University of Alberta’s Centre for
other fiddlers, learning their repertoire and studying Ethnomusicology and the Alberta Historical Resources
their varied styles. He has explored and exploited vari- Foundation between 1994-98 to document fiddlers in
ous sources including archives and personally-made field Northern Alberta.  This archive later provided the source
recordings and has accumulated a rich and fascinating material for “The Northern Alberta Fiddle Project,” an
repertoire. As an individual, and in various groups, Éric extensive online display as part of the Virtual Museum of Canadian Traditional
has played and taught throughout Canada, the United State and Europe. He has Music.  In 2005, Rod collaborated with the Alberta Society of Fiddlers to pro-
recorded two solo albums, one with fiddler and friend Mario Landry, three with duce the CD 64 Fiddle Tunes Commonly Played in Alberta and in 2010, the CD and
his current group Entourloupe, and has appeared on at least twenty others. tune book Alberta Original Fiddle Tunes,Vol. 1.
154 155

American fiddler and folklorist LISA ORNSTEIN has Selective Glossary

the rare gift of being both a highly respected scholar
and teacher as well as a virtuoso player. She was an ac- bodhrán: Irish frame drum; one side is covered with goat skin while the other
complished old-time fiddler when she came to Quebec is open so the hand can be inserted to control pitch and timbre
in 1978. She spent the next 12 years immersing herself
in the study, performance and teaching of traditional Child ballads: collection of ballads of English and Scottish origin collected by
French Canadian and Acadian fiddling, both in Quebec American scholar, Francis James Child (1825-1896), in the late nineteenth
and internationally. She is a former member of Quebec’s most influential trad- century
itional ensemble, La Bottine Souriante, a graduate of Laval University’s Folklore concertina: a free-reed instrument, with bellows and buttons on each end;
program, and, with, longtime friends André Marchand and Normand Miron, a smaller than most accordions and octagonal in shape; developed independ-
member of the trio Le Bruit court dans la ville. ently in England (1829) and Germany (1834)
double bowing: a bowing pattern using one long bow stroke (or two slurred
EVELYN OSBORNE is a Ph.D.candidate in Ethnomusicology
short bows) followed by two separated short bows; also called shuffle
at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She has
bowing or back bowing;
been researching Newfoundland traditional instru-
mental music (fiddle and accordion) since 2000. A double stop: playing two fingered notes or, literally, stopping two strings, at
Newfoundlander herself, Evelyn is proud to help the same time; also called “double-stringing” by some Métis and Aboriginal
recognize great dance musicians and the diversity of fiddlers
traditional music in her home province. As a fiddler
PHOTO BY JANICE ESTHER TULK drone: the fiddler plays a repeated note in addition to the melody note; the
Osborne has given Newfoundland fiddle and dance workshops on four contin- drone note is often an adjacent open string; an integral feature of the
ents and enjoys playing “crooked” tunes in unlikely places. sound of several fiddle styles including the Scottish style, where it is said to
resemble the drone notes of the bagpipes
gammeldans: translates literally as “old dance”; Norway’s adaptations of the
music of nineteenth-century pan-European social dances, such as waltzes,
mazurkas, reinlenders, and polkas
gigue: the French word for step dancing; in Quebec, Acadia, and francophone
Manitoba it is most often performed to music in duple metre; often mis-
takenly translated as the English word “jig,” which has developed, since the
eighteenth century, the meaning of a dance in 6/8 time
harmonium: in North America usually refers to any reed organ with pres-
sure bellows; invented in 1840 in France and used in smaller churches and
homes
jig: British tune type and folk dance; now generally played and performed in
6/8 metre
156

lancers: one of the most popular of late-nineteenth century quadrilles; de-

veloped many local variations, including those in Canada
longways dance: a type of country dancing with couples facing each other in
two long lines
pizzicato: a technique for playing stringed instruments in which the string is
plucked with the finger instead of bowed
quadrille: ballroom dance for four couples that was introduced in France in
the mid-eighteenth century and became popular, spreading to England
and beyond in the nineteenth century; developed into square dancing in
many parts of Canada
reel: British tune type and folk dance played and performed in 2/4 or 4/4
metre
schottische: slow dance of German origin; developed around mid-19th cen-
tury
scordatura: Italian for “mistuning”; also called “cross-tuning”; the four strings
of the fiddle are tuned differently from the standard G-D-A-E tuning;
some common alternative tunings include A-E-A-E and A-D-A-E; results
in more resonance on some tunes, easier fingering and greater range
scotch snap: a rhythmic pattern consisting of an accented sixteenth note, fol-
lowed by a dotted eighth note; commonly used in the playing of Scottish
dance music, particularly strathspeys
slip jig: a genre unique to Irish traditional music and dance; 9/8 metre
slur: playing two or more notes using one bow stroke; results in a smooth
sound
strathspey: one of the most popular Scottish and Cape Breton dance tune
genres; name derives from strath (valley) and river Spey in Scotland; slow
dance in 4/4 metre; characterized by dotted rhythmic patterns
tautirut: a bowed zither played by the Inuit of northern Canada
tsymbaly: the Ukrainian version of a hammered dulcimer; multiple metal
strings are strung over a trapezoidal box and are hit with two beaters
turlutting: the singing of fiddle tunes using abstract vocables or nonsense
lyrics; also called “jigging” in Cape Breton, “lilting” in Ireland, and “tuning”