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Slim and Minnie
at
62nd Annual
Armed Forces Day Celebration
Hawthorne, Nevada
as part of the
Nevada Gunfighters Theatrical Show

Know Your Irish Music on St. Patrick's Day

by Mary Kay Aufrance of Gairin Music

With St. Patrick's Day fast approaching, it's time to brush up on your knowledge of Irish music! Here's a lighthearted approach to Irish Musicology from the Carson City Irish American Music Duo of Gairin Music.

Jig

Everybody knows that a "jig" is a lively dance that originated in Ireland, and most folks associate the "jig" with cute mop headed girls bouncing up and down in their colorful costumes. As the girls seem to defy gravity with their legs bounding and arms straight at their sides, they dance in something called "triple time," which is sort of like a waltz gone wild! This is a style of dancing that originated among ordinary people, not the royal courts, since the royals were too busy being stately to have such fun leaping and bounding. And, when the dance is done, "the jig is up."

Reel

Without knowing it, many St. Patrick's Day revelers define this dance as they "stagger, lurch, or sway, as if from drunkenness" and hopefully allow their designated driver to do the driving instead of the reeling! This is one dance that was named for the way observers thought it actually looked. In Middle English, the meaning of the word was "to whirl about." How can you tell a jig from a reel? If you tap your foot to the music, you will notice that you are tapping in groups of 4 at at time. Reel has 4 letters in it. So that's how to remember a reel had groups of 4 foot taps and a jig has groups of 3. Confused yet? The Irish Gaelic word for that is "bunoscionn."

Hornpipe

All sailors on wooden ships became expert hornpipe dancers, because they were actually required to participate in dancing as their only form of exercise during long sea voyages. Many a sailor would rather dance the hornpipe rather than walk the plank, which was their only alternative according to seaman lore! So, the hornpipe originated as a men's dance, and each man did his best improvisation of a sailor trying to stay afoot while the ship was rolling and lurching in the waves. Also, the instrument used to play a hornpipe was exactly that: a pipe made out of an animal horn. The Irish weren't the only people to play the hornpipe, and the hornpipe instrument was popular among Welsh, Basque, Scottish, Russian and other folks, too.

Pub Songs

Everybody knows that a pub song is what you sing along to when you're in the bar and the Celtic band plays on St. Patrick's Day! However, to be truly knowledgeable of St. Patrick's Day musicology, one must know that a "pub" (not to be confused with "public housing") originated as a small local drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Especially in small villages, a pub was the focal point of the community, and one expert writing for Wikipedia asserts that there are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom alone! The pub owner is known as the "landlord" and the patrons who enjoy each other's company and spirits there are the "regulars." And, that's no blarney!

St. Patrick's Day in the United States

Although not a legal holiday anywhere in the United States, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated everywhere on March 17th. It's become a celebration of Irish and Irish American culture, including prominent displays, "wearing of the green," feasting and consumption of alcohol (especially green beer), religious observances, and parades. The holiday has been celebrated all over North America since before the American Revolution. Of course it honors St. Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland, whose contributions were great and included overcoming his own slavery at the hands of "Niall of the Nine Hostages," introducing Catholicism to Ireland, the use of the Shamrock to explain theology, and some say he even ran the snakes out of Ireland.

About the author: Mary Kay Aufrance is a singer songwriter whose music is licensed through BMI. She performs Irish music with her husband Tom as Gairin Celtic Music. The two have 4 CDs and a book of Irish Music to their credit, available on Amazon, iTunes and other websites. Tom and Mary Kay have been singing and playing Irish music for decades, after outcasting themselves from their usual Renaissance festival circuit when Mary Kay took up the accordion (which was not invented until hundreds of years after the Renaissance). Now, they perform in local establishments, at county fairs and for traditional Celtic and American Folk Music societies.

Thanks to all who came out to our big Down Home Christmas show!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Thanks to friend and fellow musician
Bryan Wildman
for taking this photo at our last Grandma Hattie's show...

That's Tara enjoying the music.
We had a great time with Bryan adding his guitar
to the tunes that evening!

Three Celtic funnies we're passing along
to you from our dear friend
Pat Puchert and more...

Funny #1

"At an Irish wedding, the priest shouted out, "Now All Men, go stand next to the one in life who has made your life worth living! -- The bartender was nearly crushed by the crowd!"

Funnier #2

The Best Scotch Whiskey Ad Ever

Funniest #3

Hardly History: Scots at Hadrian's Wall

Congratulations to CD Winners
at Reno Celtic Celebration!

We gave away a whole bunch of our CDs Ramblin Irishman full of Scots-Irish Music. We also had a fabulous fun time with all the lads and lassies who volunteered for our Music and Magic Show (shown above)! See you all next year at Reno Celtic!

With friend and Reno Celtic organizer Willie Puchert. You can signup for Willie's Reno Celtic Celebration Group on Facebook.

Celtic Festival
Reno Celtic Celebration was Great Fun
Hope to see you there again next year!

Find out about Reno Celtic Celebration...

Visit RenoCeltic.org for Details

It was great to see you all the Plumas-Sierra County Fair!
See you next year!

Irish Traditions & History

"Erin go Bragh"

Here's a wee bit o' interesting Irish history for ya! Erin go Bragh is an anglicisation of the Irish phrase Éirinn go Brách, in which Éirinn refers to Éire or Ireland. We're sure you knew that already! But, did you also know that that the English version was probably taken out of context, from the Irish Go bhfanad in Éirinn go brách ("May I stay in Ireland for ever") or Go bhfillead go hÉirinn go brách ("May go back to Ireland for ever"). So, there you have your healtfelt expression of the Ireland Forever State of Mind.

Find out more at Wikipedia

A Tune for You: Country Waltz
I just recorded this for our students at an upcoming workshop. Hope you like it too! This waltz is very common in the Appalachian tradition, but it has no author or credits! You can find it in the The Fiddler's Fakebook where there's nary a credit! Strange, eh? By the way if you're looking for another great place to find the music and history of tunes and songs in the Scottish Irish and Appalachian tradition, check out TheSession.org

Book Review: How the Irish Saved Civilization

Featured by Patrick Moriarity at his Carson City Library program on Irish history. We provide music for Patrick's Library programs.

Even though some of the reviewers on Amazon didn't like this book all that much, mainly because they said it was too America centric, our Irish-American poet and Carson City's Mayor of St. Patrick's Day Patrick Moriarity loves it and so do we! So, you'll have to decide for yourself, but we recommend this book!

We agree with Chris Niccolls on Amazon who said, "Cahill's book was a top seller when it came out around 15 years ago. It's a great story that explains how Ireland's political, geographical, and religious tradition of isolation allowed it to preserve the great academic works of Roman culture. This knowledge, locked away in remote Abbey's and Monasteries, helped to kick start civilization when Ireland rejoined the world at the turn of the millennium. Something that benefited all European civilizations. This is a great story that is beautifully told."

We'll be doing another Carson City Library program on Ireland with Patrick in April 2011. We'll send out details soon! Or check the Carson City Library (775) 887-2244.

Decide for yourself! Find the book on Amazon: How the Irish Saved Civilization (Hinges of History)

Happy Holidays from Tom and Mary Kay Music!

We hope you enjoy our newest song & video
"I Can See Christmas"

3 Free Music Scores and Midi Downloads Enjoy playing music written by Mary Kay. For the sheet music, you can download the .pdf file. If you'd like to hear the tune, you can download the .mid file, too.    Mary Kay's Polka Free Sheet Music Blue Little Girl Free Sheet Music Free MIDI

Waltz for the Johnsons I wrote this for the Johnson family of Carson City - Seven wonderful people we love and who enjoy music with us at Borders. Free Sheet Music | Free MIDI

Charissa drew us while Robin danced a jig at the Carson Rendezvous! We cherish this artwork, our friends and all the fun memories!

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