celtic fiddle

Instrument
March 18, 2021

This style of fiddle playing is a cornerstone of Celtic music and is characterized by its lively, rhythmic, and often improvisational nature.

The Celtic fiddle, while essentially the same instrument as the classical violin, is played in a distinct style associated with Celtic music traditions, particularly those of Ireland, Scotland, Brittany (in France), and the Maritime provinces of Canada.

Celtic Fiddle Performers

Probably a bow and lyre or fidil the ancestor to the modern Fiddle is dated to the 11th century found on the fiddlers stone at church island

In 1674 Richard Head wrote in reference to Ireland ‘On Sundays: In every field a fiddle, and the girls footing untill they foam up’. suggesting the modern fiddle was already present in Ireland. Reference to the Irish fiddle can also be found in John Dunton’s Teague Land: or A Merry Ramble to the Wild Irish (1698) he says “on Sundays and Holydays, all the people resorted with the piper and fiddler to the village green" An instrument was excavated during the 18th century in Dublin that was dated from the 11th century, it was made of dogwood with an animal carved on its tip, it was believed to have been the oldest bow in the world, however it’s unclear what instrument the bow belonged too. There may also be a reference to the Irish fiddle in the book of Leinster (ca. 1160)

tartantown

Shop

Tartantown Ltd. was originally started as a convenient location for Highland dancers to buy their dance shoes “made in Scotland”. As a teacher of Highland dancing, Heather Jolley wanted her students to have the same shoes as the Scottish dancers and she started to import them in 1976. Up to that point all Canadian dancers wore dance “slippers” made in Canada! From these humble beginnings in Heather’s basement the store grew to its first walk-in location at 500 Clarke Road, Coquitlam, BC. By this time, more items were in the inventory including tartan from DC Dalgliesh, dance shoes from other suppliers and a full-time dressmaker was employed.

scottish pipe band association of south america

Pipeband

By the late 1990s, the number of pipe bands in South America had reached six (three in Buenos Aires, two in Montevideo, and one in Sao Paulo). In spite of the distance between pipe band hosting cities, the contact between pipe bands became frequent, and the ideas of pipe band events were also strongly supporting the need for a pipe band association.