2016 July IMDA Newsletteririshmusicanddanceassociation.org/images/2016_July_IMDA_Newslette… · ♣ Wild Colonial Bhoys: The lads who started as an Irish ballad-singing acoustic

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Irish Music &

Dance Association 34rd Year, Issue No. 7

July

2016

Lúil

The mission of the Irish Music and Dance Association is to , ,support and promote Irish music dance and other

.cultural traditions to insure their continuation

Headliners for Headliners for Headliners for Headliners for 2016 Irish Fair MinnesotaIrish Fair MinnesotaIrish Fair MinnesotaIrish Fair Minnesota

The Irish Fair of Minnesota will take place Friday, August 12 through Sunday, August 14, 2016. The unique once a year celebration offers attendees an opportunity to celebrate authentic Irish heritage through a multitude of activities such as step dance, traditional group dance, Gaelic sports, Celtic marketplace, cultural displays, native Irish dogs, traditional tea room, Irish food and drink as well as several local and international bands. ♣ Gaelic Storm: After 10 albums, and nearly 3,000 live shows, Gaelic Storm — the chart-

topping, multi-national Celtic band — is dishing up a hearty serving of Full Irish.

♣ Eileen Ivers: With accolades of all forms ranging from Grammy awards to Emmy nominations, Eileen Ivers has established herself as the pre-eminent exponent of the Irish fiddle in the world today.

♣ The High Kings: A quartet of accomplished musical pedigrees, the band first exploded onto the Irish folk music scene in 2008.

♣ Derek Warfield and The Young Wolfe Tones: Derek Warfield & The Young Wolfe Tones are known throughout the world for their quality musical presentation of Irish patriotic songs and traditional music.

♣ Socks in the Frying Pan: This young trad trio from Country Clare blend Irish traditional melodies with an innovative rhythmic and melodic garnish. These socks are audibly palatable!

♣ Wild Colonial Bhoys: The lads who started as an Irish ballad-singing acoustic guitar duo have matured into a Celtic rock tour-de-force and now have over a decade, five albums and thousands of miles behind them.

♣ Tim Malloys: Equal parts pub and post-punk folk, the Tim Malloys fuse traditional Irish music with a raucous Minneapolis sound and sensibility.

Inside this issue:

The Music Hound 4

Summer Irish Festivals 5

Northwoods Songs 12

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Irish Music &

Dance Association Tune of the Month by Amy Shaw

I found this tune lurking in that promotional sampler CD that Irish Music Magazine sends out each year. Usually I don’t pay much attention

to the sampler, but this time I popped it into my car stereo and I had this particular track on repeat for days on end. It’s from uilleannpiper Leonard Barry’s 2014 release, New Road. Originally from Tralee, Co. Kerry, Leonard now lives in Dublin. Among his musical influences are Paddy Keenan, Liam O’Flynn, and Finbar Furey, from whom he learned this month’s tune. Not all planxties were composed by Turlough O’Carolan. This one was composed by ancient harper Thomas Connellan, who was born in Co. Sligo around 1640 and who was still living in

1717, when he was made a burgess in Edinburgh. Connellan, along with his brother William, composed hundreds of tunes, but sadly only a few have survived to the present day. According to Kathleen Loughnane, who released a CD of Connellan tunes in 2009, “The Gaelic harping tradition, baroque music and courtly music of the period are all in evidence in the Connellan tunes, and from the small repertoire of their music which has survived we glean a tantalising glimpse of Gaelic harping at a time of major social and cultural transition, fifty years before Turlough O’Carolan” (Companion to Irish Traditional Music). In Scotland this tune is called Killiecrankie or The Battle of Killiecrankie, which occurred during the first Jacobite uprising on 27 July 1689. Leonard Barry plays it with great energy and it sounds quite martial in character; it inspires me to march off and take charge of something in my life! If you’re flummoxed by the triplets in the first measure, as an alternative I’ve shown what’s in the setting in O’Neill’s. Usual disclaimers: The notation here

is not meant to be a substitute for

listening. It is simply an aid to

learning the tune.

The IMDA Board is:

President: Julia Rogers

Vice President: Jan Casey

Treasurer: Kathleen Rogers

Secretary: Jean Bergstrom

Board Members: John Concannon Kevin Carroll Kathie Luby Editor: John Burns IMDA Board Meetings are open to the membership. The Board meets regularly on the first Tuesday of each month at 6:00 pm at the Dubliner Pub in St. Paul. Members are encouraged to verify the time and location shortly before, as meeting times and locations can change.

Contact Information

E-mail: [email protected]

Newsletter Submissions We welcome our readers to submit articles of interest, news, and notices of events to be published in the newsletter. The deadline is the 20th of the preceding month.

Send to: [email protected]

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Irish Music &

Dance Association As you learn new vocabulary in a second language, pairs of opposites come in handy. After all, once you learn how to say something is "right" or "correct," you probably want to be able to point out when something is "wrong," as well. Learning these kinds of words in pairs is a good strategy for building useful vocabulary. When we think of pairs of words with opposite meanings, sometimes they are completely different words -- think "hope" versus "despair," or "white" versus "black" -- and sometimes one is just the negation of the other, as in the pair "certain" and "uncertain." One of the things that makes learning another language fun is that the two languages do not always map such pairs the same way. In Irish, for example, "certain" is cinnte, and "uncertain" is éiginte, a fairly straightforward negation situation. (The negating prefix éa- or éi- can cause a change in the immediately following consonant, as in this case, from c to g.) But unlike English usage, the words for "hope" and "despair" are also a negation pair: "hope" is typically translated by dóchas, and "despair" is translated by éadóchas, or "unhope." Of course, I'm not suggesting that all opposites are created by these negating prefixes. The opposites "white" and "black," on the other hand, are represented by bán and dubh, respectively. Still, these negating prefixes are plentiful, and challenging to keep straight. Most Irish students learn to use trom for "heavy" and éadrom for "light" (in weight) fairly early on. And many of them never notice that they are really using another negation pair. Éadrom is not so much "light" as it is "unheavy." Similarly, "shallow" can be translated by éadomhain ("undeep"). And use this éa- prefix before the word for "end" or "limit," críoch, and you end up with éagríoch: "infinity." In English, we use prefixes like im- and in- and dis- and un- to negate concepts. Naturally, there are many negating prefixes in Irish as well, and just as naturally, prefixes do not line up consistently across the two languages. So "independent" and "insensitive" are both translated into Irish with the prefix neamh-, producing

neamhspleách and neamh-mhothólach, respectively. But then we have do-ite for "inedible" and dofheicthe for "invisible," as well as éideimhin for an "indecisive" outcome. We even have a negating prefix in- in Irish, so that "indirect" is expressed with indíreach.

Going the other way, the negating Irish prefix dí- comes across in English in a variety of ways. We have dífhostaithe ("unemployed"), díchreideamh ("disbelief"), díbholaíoch ("deodorant"), and díbheo ("lifeless"). Sometimes we may have more than one option to negate a word. The Irish for "even," in the sense of "balanced" or "level," is cothrom. We can use either éagothrom or míchothrom to say "uneven, unbalanced" and it really doesn't make much difference which one we choose. On the other hand, sometimes the specific prefix makes a difference. The Irish word ceart expresses "right," both in the sense of being "correct" and in the sense of "a human right." We use dícheart to express "injustice". But we use mícheart to say "incorrect." Indeed, mícheart is almost always used as the opposite of "right" when we want to say "wrong." Reminiscent of the "heavy" and "unheavy" opposites mentioned earlier, in Irish your answers to questions are not so much "right" or "wrong" as they are "right" or "unright." If you have questions about the Irish language, or wonder if it would be fun to give it a try, stop by the Gaeltacht Minnesota booth near the entrance to the Irish Fair in August. Ask us about our fall "Introduction to Irish Gaelic" class, to be offered in the fall through St. Paul Community Education. And to keep an eye on our activities and offerings, watch our web site at www.gaelminn.org. Better yet, sign up for our free monthly newsletter, The GaelMinn Gazette. You'll not only get some tips (in English!) for learning Irish, you will be sure to see announcements of coming events and courses.

Maireann croí éadrom i bhfad A light heart lives long

—Will

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

Cu Ceoil (“The Music Hound”)

" Music to the Irish is a living delight, a mysterious key to a host of undiscovered emotions hoarded in the secrets of the soul." Mairtin Byrnes

Originally from Chicago, Charlie Heymann has been immersed in Irish music for over forty years. With his wife Ann on Gaelic harp, he has recorded three albums and performed throughout much of Australia, Europe and the U.S. Button accordion is Charlie’s main instrument, but he also plays cittern, concertina and guitar. Charlie has a large repertoire of ballads and comic songs in both English and Irish and a special interest in medieval Irish lays (laoi).

It is good timing to be asked to write about inspiring music, as Ann and I are about to embark on a road trip with long hours of music listening ahead of us in the car, so we’ll likely be hearing at least some of the following recommendations ourselves shortly. My Irish bloodlines are not strong, coming through my mother’s family that has been settled in the Appalachian mountain region since the 18th century (Virginia and Kentucky). My father’s grandparents came over from Wales and Germany in the 19th century. I inherited my mother’s love of singing, but the only Irish songs I remember her singing were from Clancy Brothers records she listened to. It was her friends George and Gerry Armstrong who introduced both of us to touring Irish and Scottish performers doing concerts in Chicago, many of whom were hosted by the Armstrong family. Through them I was fortunate to be able to eat meals and socialize with top Celtic artists and join in their musical parties. This is where and when I began first to hear and collect songs and tunes from names like Norman Kennedy, Maggie Barry and Aly Bain. Later, after joining Tom and Barbara Dahill, we were lucky to be mentored by the likes of Cuz Teahan (Co. Kerry), Kevin Henry (Co. Sligo), Nora Grealish McDonagh (Co. Galway) and Noel Rice (Co. Offaly), all of whom were

most generous with their time, songs and music.

Ann and I were fortunate to be able to spend a bit of time with Joe (Heaney) in the early 1980’s in Chicago at parties and chauffeuring him to (and being opening act for him at) gigs in Wisconsin. Possibly my favorite recording of his is The Road From Connemara, released on the Cló-Iar Chonnachta label thirteen years after his death, as it contains my favorite song in

his repertoire, the macaronic (half English, half Irish) Slán agus beannacht le buaireamh an tsaoil (One Morning in June).

My favorite recordings of Cuz Teahan are private tapes he made for us (Tom and Barbara Dahill and me) at various locations in Chicago in the 1970’s, but his greatest legacy are the tunes he composed and handed down, many of which are contained in a book “The Road To Glountane” with music notation transcribed by Ann’s own hand. It contains music composed and preserved by Cuz and is long out of print. However, it is available for viewing and download on the internet at: https://www.scribd.com/doc/136684203/The-Road-to-Glountane. A wonderful recording of Cuz tunes has recently been released by

Niamh Ní Charra that is entitled Cuz—A Tribute to Terry “Cuz” Teahan.

Kevin Henry has a wonderful recording for sale at The Celtic Junction containing his iconic flute playing and recitations and entitled One’s Own Place, released in 1998. His daughter Maggie (Healey), brother Johnny and sister Verona accompany him

on several tracks.

Boehm flutist Noel Rice has long had his fingers on the pulse of traditional Irish music in Chicago. He founded (and still teaches at) the Academy of Irish Music there, and performs with former students in the band Baal Tinne, which has released

several albums (About Time, The Clearing, The Haunting, The Dawn).

Nora Grealish McDonagh moved back to Ireland from Chicago to run a Galway bar in the 1980’s, but before she left she invited us into her kitchen for some wonderful singing session recordings that still inspire me. Nora and her two sisters Nan and Sarah have numerous trophies from winning the prestigious Corn Uí Riada competition at the Oireachtas (Nora winning

three times), but recordings have difficult to find. Check out the fine label Cló Iar Chonnacht.

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Irish Music &

Dance Association Irish Festival Preview Irish Festival Preview Irish Festival Preview Irish Festival Preview ---- !!!!Save These DatesSave These DatesSave These DatesSave These Dates

Dublin Irish Festival, Dublin, OH – Aug. 5, 6 & 7. Dublin rolls out the green carpet with a wonderful festival in a town park and transportation from area hotels to the festival grounds. Featured bands include: Gaelic Storm, Red Hot Chilli Pipers, Solas, We Banjo 3, Willis Clan, Slide, Scythian, Gailfean, Socks in the Frying Pan, Enter the Haggis, Goitse, Seven Nations and our own Wild Colonial Bhoys. Details at www.dublinirishfestival.org

Iowa Irish Festival, Waterloo, IA – Aug. 5 - 7. Trinity Irish Dancers, Derek Warfield & the Young Wolfe Tones, Dublin City Ramblers, the Elders, Red Hot Chilli Pipers, the High Kings, The Screaming Orphans, Scythian, Tallymore and our own Twin Cities favorites – The Sweet Colleens and Tom Dahill and Ginny Johnson are some of the groups that you can enjoy in a lovely, relaxed park setting just a few hours from the Twin Cities! Get the whole story at www.iowairishfest.com.

Milwaukee Irish Fest, Milwaukee, WI - Aug. 18 thru 21. The granddaddy of them all – featuring 100 acts on 16 stages. Special focus this year on the Celtic World including: Barrule, Calan, Celtic Fiddle Festival, Dallahan, Dardanelles, De Barra, Moya Brennan, Myzerk, Ten Strings and a Goat Skin, and Wrigley Sisters. The lists of artists is incredible – be sure to check out the website at www.irishfest.com to plan your weekend. More artist information will be announced over the next few months.

Kansas City Irish Fest, Kansas City, Mo – Sept. 2-4 (Labor Day Weekend). Kansas City Irish Fest is held at the Crown Center in downtown Kansas City. Hotel accommodations often include tickets to the festival and several hotels are connected by skyway to the festival site. The festival features seven stages. KC’s own The Elders are a mainstay of the festival. Watch for more information on artists at kcirishfest.com.

Rochester Irish Fest, Rochester, MN – Sept. 2 & 3 (Labor Day Weekend).The dates are set and planning is under way. Keep an eye on the website for future details – www.irishfestmn.org.

Michigan Irish Music Festival, Muskegon, MI – Sept. 15-18. Scythian, Blackthorn, Kennedy’s Kitchen, Moxie Strings and Seamus Kennedy for a start. Muskegon is just across

Lake Michigan from Door County. Leave your car and take the ferry for a great weekend of

music! Details and updates are posted at www.michiganirish.org

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

IMDA is a proud sponsor of Irish Fair Minnesota

Featured in the IMDA Music Workshop Tent

Saturday, August 13

11:00 am – Wigs, Jigs and Hard Shoes – Danielle Enblom

12:00 pm – Songs from the Easter Rising – Adam Coolong

1:00 pm – How Irish music became American: Roots Music - Dunquin

2:00 pm – Irish Songs about Work, or Lack of Same – Wenstrom-Murie Family

3:00 pm – Learning the Bodhrán - Todd Menton

4:00 pm – Songs of the 1916 Easter Rebellion - Legacy

5:00 pm – Fiddling with Gaelic Storm – Kianna Weber

6:00 pm – Songs I learned on the Road – Tom Dahill with Ginny Johnson

Sunday, August 14

11:00 am – Sentiment in Irish Love Songs: Tender to Maudlin – The Eddies

12:00 pm - Songs of the Easter Rising – Derek Warfield

1:00 pm – Irish Songs from Tin Pan Alley - Legacy

2:00 pm – The Magic of the Irish Harp – Andrea Stern

3:00 pm - Songs from the North - Dáithí Sproule

4:00 pm - The Button Accordion in Irish Music - Charlie Heymann

WHAT’S NEW IN THE CULTURAL AREA Honoring the Centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising will be a focus for the Cultural Area at Irish Fair 2016. Included will be a traveling display on the 1916 Rising from the Irish Consulate, as well as special programing in the speaker’s and workshop tents:

♣ The Ghosts of 1916 from the Celtic Collaborative, ♣ The Women of 1916 ♣ Workshops on the songs of the 1916 Rising.

Also featured are Tom Dunn’s photo portraits of members of the local Irish community.

Irish Fair will take place on August 12-14 at Harriet Island; admission is free.

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

Come and enjoy a Scottish-style cèilidh!

The first half of the evening will be your opportunity to get up and give us a song, a poem, play a tune, even tell a story -

or just sit back and enjoy the cèilidh atmosphere with a beverage from the CIM cash bar. For the second half, we will push back the chairs and enjoy Scottish cèilidh dancing

with music by the wonderful Neil Gunn & The Gunn Slingers. These social dances will be “called”, so you can learn as you go!

For more information, contact Laura at [email protected] (651-398-5055)

Website: mnscottishfair.org

Don't miss the Scottish Fair performances of Brass Lassie!

We will be debuting the new 10-piece ensemble, featuring a four-piece horn section, performing new and exciting arrangements of traditional music!

11:00 and 2:00 on the Main Stage.

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

IMDA Community Calendar July 2016 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 6pm Irish Music Session Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Belfast Cowboys Lake Harriet Bandshell, Mpls 7:30pm Bedlam Charlie’s Pub, Stillwater 8pm Celtic Session Merlins Rest, Mpls

2 9am Greenwood Tree Farmer’s Market, St. Paul 7:30pm Bedlam Charlie’s Pub, Stillwater

3 Noon: Traditional Music Session Kieran’s Pub, Mpls 3pm Scottish Music & Song Classes The Celtic Junction, St. Paul

4pm Learners Irish Session 6pm Advanced Irish Music Session Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls 8pm Pub Quiz Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

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5 7:30pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 9pm St. Dominic’s Trio Driftwood Char Bar, Mpls

6 7pm Irish Social Dance 9pm The Langer’s Ball Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7pm Forty Shades of Green with Rince na Chroi Iriish Dancers Shoreview Community Center, Shoreview 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls

7 6:30pm Irish Fair Padelford Boat Cruise Harriet Island, St. Paul 6:30pm Pub Quiz 8pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 7pm Irish Music Session J. Grundy’s Rueb ‘N’ Stein, Northfield

8 6pm Irish Music Session Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Broken Spoke Charlie’s Pub, Stillwater 8pm Celtic Session Merlins Rest, Mpls

9 ALL DAY MN Scottish Fair & Highland Games 980 Discovery Rd, Eagan 7:30pm Broken Spoke Charlie’s Pub, Stillwater 8pm Belfast Cowboys Whiskey Junction, Mpls

10 Noon: Traditional Session Kieran’s Pub, Mpls 3pm Scottish Music & Song Classes The Celtic Junction, St. Paul 4pm Learners Irish Session 6pm Advanced Irish Music Session Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls 8pm Pub Quiz Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

11 7:30pm Sea Shanty Sing Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

12 7:30pm Irish Set Dancing w/ the Twin Cities Ceili Band Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 9pm St. Dominic’s Trio Driftwood Char Bar, Mpls

13 7pm Irish Social Dance Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls

14 6:30pm Pub Quiz 8pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 7pm Celtic Music Showcase Underground Music Café, Falcon Heights 7pm Irish Music Session J. Grundy’s Rueb ‘N’ Stein, Northfield

15 6pm Irish Music Session 9pm Tiller Black Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Broken Spoke Charlie’s Pub, Stillwater 8pm Celtic Session Merlins Rest, Mpls

16 9am Greenwood Tree Farmers Market, Prior Lake 7pm 3rd Saturday Ceili The Celtic Junction, St. Paul 7:30pm Broken Spoke Charlie’s Pub, Stillwater 8pm Belfast Cowboys Minikahda Club, Mpls

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

17 Noon: Traditional Music Session Kieran’s Pub, Mpls 4pm Learners Irish Session 6pm Advanced Irish Music Session Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls 8pm Pub Quiz Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

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19 7:30pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 9pm St. Dominic’s Trio Driftwood Char Bar, Mpls

20 7pm Irish Social Dance 9pm The Langer’s Ball Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls

21 6:30pm Pub Quiz 8pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 7pm Irish Music Session J. Grundy’s Rueb ‘N’ Stein, Northfield 9pm Scottie Devlin & Shane Akers Dubliner Pub, St. Paul

22 6pm Irish Music Session Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Tom Dahill & Ginny Johnson Charlie’s Pub, Stillwater 8pm Celtic Session Merlins Rest, Mpls

23 7:30pm Tom Dahill & Ginny Johnson Charlie’s Pub, Stillwater

24/31 Noon: Traditional Session Kieran’s Pub, Mpls 4pm Learners Irish Session 6pm Advanced Irish Music Session Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls 8pm Pub Quiz Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 3pm Traditional Singers Club W A Frost, St. Paul July 31st Only

25 7pm 4th Monday Shanty/Pub Sing Merlins Rest, Mpls

26 7:30pm Irish Set Dancing w/ the Twin Cities Ceili Band Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 9pm St. Dominic’s Trio Driftwood Char Bar, Mpls

27 7pm Irish Social Dance Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Pub Quiz Merlins Rest, Mpls

28 6:30pm Pub Quiz 8pm Pub Quiz Keegan’s Pub, Mpls 7pm Irish Music Session J. Grundy’s Rueb ‘N’ Stein, Northfield

29 6pm Irish Music Session Dubliner Pub, St. Paul 7:30pm Northerly Gales Charlie’s Pub, Stillwater 8pm Celtic Session Merlins Rest, Mpls

30 7:30pm Northerly Gales Charlie’s Pub, Stillwater

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

An LeabhraganAn LeabhraganAn LeabhraganAn Leabhragan (The Bookcase)

The Little Red Chairs

Edna O’Brien

2016 Liitle Brown & Co.

This is master novelist Edna O'Brien's first novel in ten years, and it was well worth waiting for. It is beautifully told, mesmerizing the way a Grimm's fairy tale is; it casts a spell. It is a modern fable about how the detritus of other countries' war and horror washes up on the shores of Ireland and affects the tranquility and quiet of ordinary lives. The little town of Cloonoila is visited by lots of ordinary tourists, but one day a dark, mysterious stranger lands in town and sets up practice as a holistic healer and therapist. Charismatic Dr. Vladimir Dragan, of uncertain provenance but probably from Eastern Europe, manages to charm not only the local women but the parish priest and the intellectual society, such as it is, of Cloonoila. Fidelma, still a beauty at forty and unhappily married, falls under his spell and soon becomes “Dr. Vlad's” lover. The doctor's various acts of small kindness and insight into his clients' deepest troubles soon make him an accepted resident, at least in most circles; other locals aren't so sure. So the whole town is shocked when, on the way to a summer literary festival celebrating Yeats, Dr. Vlad is pulled off the bus in front of of Fidelma and a busload of Cloonoilans, arrested by the Interpol as a war criminal charged with 11,000 deaths in Sarajevo. And that is where the book really takes off, exploring the repercussions of racial massacre, guilt by association (for Fidelma, his illicit lover) and the helplessness of knowing that the town had harbored a monster for months. What seemed a casual affair has shocking repercussions for the woman left behind, as Fidelma suffers the aftershocks and censure (after all, she is the only visible reminder of the town's collective shame). She flees Ireland in an attempt to confront her former lover in prison, and redeem her life through helping war refugees. The book takes a new turn into what life after horror is, or could be.

The title refers to the war memorial erected in Sarajevo of one red chair for each of the 11,000 victims of the bloody atrocities there. The "little red chairs" are the 647 smaller chairs representing each of the children killed in the massacre. This is a dark, suspenseful, thoroughly absorbing read, showing that fairy tales of old are not the only place monsters lurk, and that our modern world is still full of them. Evil stalks small Irish towns, sometimes with a graceful manner and a resonant voice. The Little Red Chairs is not a typical summer read, but it grabs you the moment you pick it up and will chill you through and through to the last page with its mesmerizing storytelling.

Sherry Ladig, a former contributor to the Hungry Mind Bookstore's newsletter, Fodder, is a Saint Paul, MN trad musician. Sherry welcomes titles of Irish or Irish-American interest for her to review---or, write a review yourself! She may be reached at [email protected]. Happy July reading!

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

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Irish Music &

Dance Association Northwoods Songs: Irish Songs from Lumberjacks and Great Lakes Sailors

By Brian Miller

Northwoods Songs features a new song each month pulled from my research into old songs collected in the pine woods region that stretches from New Brunswick west through northern Minnesota. In the 1800s, a vibrant culture of singing and song-making developed in lumber camp bunkhouses and on Great Lakes ships. The repertoire and singing style were greatly influenced by Irish folk repertoire and Irish singing styles. Many singers in the region had Irish background themselves.

Each installment of Northwoods Songs is also published online at www.evergreentrad.com along with a video of me singing the song of the month. My hope is that others will learn some of these songs and make them their own as I have. -Brian Miller

HEENAN AND SAYERS

It was in merry England, the home of Johnnie Bull,

Where Britons fill their glasses, they fill them brimming full, And of the toast they drank it was to Briton's brave,

And it is long may our champion bring victories o’er the wave.

Then up jumps Uncle Sammy, and he looks across the main, Saying, “Is that your English bully I hear bellowing again?

Oh, has he not forgotten, the giant o’er the pond, Who used to juggle cannon balls when his day’s work was done?

“Remember, Uncle Johnnie, the giant stronger grows,

He is always on his muscle and ready for his foes; When but a boy at Yorktown I caused you for to sigh,

So when e’er you boast of fighting, Johnnie Bull, mind your eye.”

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

It was in merry England, all in the blooming spring, When this burly English champion he stripped off in the ring, He stripped to fight young Heenan, our gallant son of Troy,

And to try his English muscle on our bold Benicia boy.

There were two brilliant flags, my boys, a-floating o’er the ring, The British were a lion all ready for a spring,

The Yankee was an eagle, and an awful bird she was, For she carried a bunch of thunderbolts well fastened in her claws.

The coppers they were tossed, me boys, the fighting did begin,

It was two to one on Sayers the bets came rolling in; They fought like loyal heroes, until one received a blow,

And the red crimson torrent from our Yankee’s nose did flow.

“First blood, first blood, my Tommy boy,” the English cried with joy, The English cheer their hero while the bold Benicia boy, The tiger rose within him, like lightning flared his eye,

Spying, “Mark away, old England, but Tommie, mind your eye.”

The last grand round of all, my boys, this world has ne’er seen beat, When the son of Uncle Sammy raised the Champion from his feet,

His followers did smile while he held him in the air, And from his grasp he flung him, which caused the English men to stare.

Come, all you sporting Americans, wherever you have strayed,

Look on this glorious eagle and never be afraid; May our Union last forever and our Flag the world defy,

So whenever you boast of fighting, Johnnie Bull, mind your eye.

The 1860 bare knuckle bout between Irish-American boxer John Heenan (1834-1873) and the British champion Tom Sayers in the small town of Farnborough in southern England is regarded as the first world boxing championship.Heenan was born in West Troy, New York to parents who hailed from County Tipperary. He earned the nickname “Benicia Boy” and a reputation as a fighter while working among the rough and tumble Forty-Niners in Benicia, California in his twenties. The fight with Sayers ended in a chaotic draw after 42 rounds with police intervening and spectators rushing into the ring. As the song implies, Heenan’s challenge to the famed Englishman was viewed through the lens of American nationalistic pride. Heenan’s Irish background no doubt made the fight an especially compelling point of pride among Irish-Americans like Michael Cassius Dean. Dean printed “Heenan and Sayers” in his 1922 songster The Flying Cloud and subsequently sang it for collector Robert Winslow Gordon in 1924. Gordon’s wax cylinder recording can now be heard on the new Minnesota Folksong Collection site: www.minnesotafolksongcollection.org. The Lost Forty arranged Dean’s version of “Heenan and Sayers”and this month’s video shows us

performing it in the Stone Saloon building in St. Paul (www.stonesaloon.com)—a building that housed a lager beer saloon in 1860 that may well have been the site of some post bout analysis.You can find the video and a blog post version of this article at www.evergreentrad.com.

Visit a full archive of all Northwoods Songs columns and songs online at www.evergreentrad.com

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

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Irish Music &

Dance Association

The Center for Irish Music

Come check us out at

The Celtic JunctionThe Celtic JunctionThe Celtic JunctionThe Celtic Junction 836 Prior Avenue, St Paul MN

Please check the website for information on our full range of instruction in traditional Irish

music, language , culture and fun.

For class schedule and other information call or email

651-815-0083 @ .admin centerforirishmusic org

Or visit our website

. .www centerforirishmusic org

Dedicated to Handing Down the Tradition

Smidirini* (*Irish for ‘Bits and Pieces’)

By Copper Shannon

♣ Deepest Sympathy to long time Irish Fair volunteer Vince Fischer and his family. Vince’s wife

Kathy (Kathleen Donovan Fischer) passed away recently after a long journey with Parkinson’s

Disease. Kathy loved the Irish Fair and, together with Vince, served as host/MC in workshop

tent for many years. Calling the tent “the Poitín Pub”, they brought in a collection of decorative

items to give the tent a bit of a pub feel and warmly welcomed performers and visitors alike.

Kathy’s illness sometimes made it difficult for her to get around the festival grounds, but she

loved being part of the festival and loved having the music come to her. Kathy was also active

with the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Beannacht Dé ar a hanam. (God’s blessings on her soul.)

♣ Comhghairdeas le (Congratulations to) the many Irish dancers who have participated recently in

the several feiseanna (Irish dance competitions) locally, nationally and internationally. Be sure

to follow our wonderful local Irish dance schools on social media (especially Facebook) for all

the good news and lots of great photos!

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Ceili Corner By Bhloscaidh O’Keane

Irish Céilí Dance:

Third Saturday Night Céilí - The Celtic Junction, 836 Prior Ave., No. St. Paul.

Irish Dance Classes:

Céilí Dancing - Wednesday Nights

Dubliner Irish Pub - 2162 University Avenue in Saint Paul. Learn Irish dancing in a genuine Irish pub with a wooden floor that has known a whole lot of dancing feet. Steps and dances are taught by Paul McCluskey and Kirsten Koehler. Basic beginning steps are taught beginning at 7:00, with advanced lessons and dancing continuing until 9:30 PM. Year-round; no children, and must be of legal drinking age. Free.

Set Dancing - Tuesday Nights

Dubliner Irish Pub - 2162 University Avenue in Saint Paul. Set Dancing at 7:30 pm on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month, music by the Twin Cities Ceili Band. The cost is $5 for the band, beginners welcome, for more information call Geri at the Dubliner (651)646-5551.

Check www.lomamor.org for all up-to-date Irish folk dancing information.

Update on IMDA Membership The Irish Music and Dance Association would like to remind members of a change in policy regarding membership. Because of rising costs in printing and postage, the Irish Music and Dance Association asks that members who want to receive their newsletter by U S mail support the IMDA by contributing at least $35 a year. All members have the option of receiving their newsletter by e-mail for faster delivery and color photos! We welcome your financial support of the IMDA at any level and that support helps us continue our work to promote Irish music and dance in the Twin Cities and beyond. You may also become a newsletter-only member without making a financial contribution. Whichever membership option you choose, we appreciate your support and look forward to seeing you at a concert or dance event soon!

Name: Today’’’’s Date:

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Music Dance Theatre Gaelic Volunteer

E-mail Address: Phone Number:

Your monthly newsletter is delivered electronically via e-mail. Please advise us at [email protected] if your e-mail address changes .

Supporting members who contribute at least $35 annually may receive their newsletter by U S Mail. ___ Request US Mail

Revised 11/2013

Tear out the above form and send it with a check made out to “IMDA” to: The IMDA Membership Coordinator c/o Jan Casey 400 Macalester St. St. Paul, MN 55105

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Documents

2016 July IMDA Newsletteririshmusicanddanceassociation.org/images/2016_July_IMDA_Newslette… · ♣ Wild Colonial Bhoys: The lads who started as an Irish ballad-singing acoustic