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Deaths and Obituaries |
Readers of Musical Traditions might know them from their appearances at Sidmouth and South Zeal and from the CD they made for Veteran in 2001. The funeral is 11.00, Friday 6 August at St Edwards RC Church, Keymer, Sussex [near Lewes]. Bridie is expecting music in the pub afterwards.
Reg Hall - 22.7.10
I am so sad to report that one of the three kings... Wilfred Peters... who is Belize's icon of the traditional Brukdown Music (which forms part of the 'Creole' culture of Belize), passed away this week from a heart attack. For many years he had what was named the Boom and Chime Band, which played jawbones (from cattle), the accordion, Turtle Shells, and other rudimentary instruments.
He performed at the Toledo Cacao Fest, and that was his very last live performance. Marta.
Ian Anderson - 15.6.10
Richard Davies, former Cromer fisherman and lifeboat coxswain, as well as singer and step dancer, died on Wednesday 5 May, at the age of 65, after losing his battle against a brain tumour.
A highly respected member of his local community, he hailed from a long line of fishermen and lifeboatmen in the town, becoming coxswain of the lifeboat in 1976, a position he held until his retirement in 1999. This distinguished service included the winning of a bronze medal in 1993 and being chosen to carry the RNLI standard at the annual Festival of Remembrance in London.
Together with many other members of his family he kept up the local tradition of step dancing in the Davies' unique style, one that family memory recalls was passed on from a coastguard from Lancashire. An energetic and entertaining performer, Richard Davies could also be relied upon to provide the audience with his own unique versions of songs such as The Foggy Dew and The Worst Old Ship.
Despite his illness, he kept very positive and cheerful. His last performance was in Cromer on 6 March, showing none of the effects of being seriously ill, at a memorable night of music, song and step dancing.
Richard Davies leaves a wife, Julie, son John, daughter Fiona, and four grandchildren. The funeral is to take place in Cromer parish church on Wednesday 19 May, at 2.00pm.
Chris Holderness - 10.5.10
I see from the site you haven’t anything yet on the death of Ciarán MacMathúna - he died on Friday 11th December. I well remember listening to his programmes on my transistor radio in the '70s early '80s - it was one of the few places you could here real traditional Irish music as well as lots of other 'non-real' but very interesting, and often very stimulating material.
There’s an article about him from the Irish Independent: www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/kevin-myers/kevin-myers-the-rebirth-of-irish-music-is-ciaran-mac-mathunas-legacy-1975179.html
Paul Burgess - 5.1.10
Ruth Askew was born in 1929, the daughter of the village blacksmith at Chagford, on the edge of Dartmoor, Devon. She started to play the melodeon at five years old, after one of her father's customers left an instrument at the forge. From this sprang a lifetime's love of and association with the instrument.
Ruth’s individual style of playing developed because, despite hearing the music being played in the pubs, she didn’t get the opportunity to join in with it. In those days pubs were very much a male domain, especially on market day. She went on to develop her own method and style of playing, mainly for her own pleasure, and took part in the village carnivals and shows and later partnered George Rice, another local melodeon player, at functions in and around Chagford.
In 1951 Ruth married and they left Chagford to work in Northamptonshire. In the late fifties they moved to Hampshire, settling at Swanmore, near Bishop's Waltham. When the locals later found out she could play the melodeon they suggested she went to nearby Sam's Hotel at Shedfield where on Saturday nights local traditional musicians would play for their own enjoyment and entertainment of the company. Ruth became a regular 'Saturday Night' musician and struck up an unlikely musical partnership with George Privett. George, a regular at Sam's, also played melodeon and sang a little but was perhaps best known for his exuberant spoons playing. They played together regularly for over thirty years. Ruth and George were twice invited up to play at The Empress of Russia in the early 1980s.
Ruth had an extremely large repertory of old songs and dance tunes. She played with Bob Cann, Oscar Woods and many other traditional players in a variety of musical company including barn dance bands and for a while she regularly played in the Kings Korner Carnival Jazz Band in Pewsey, Wiltshire. She was a familiar figure on the sea-front at Sidmouth during festival week, at the 'Hands-On' weekends at Witney and a regular exhibitor with her old instruments at The Great Dorset Steam Fair. She also was a guest at the ECMW at Chagford in 2002.
Throughout her life she gathered a large collection of old melodeons and concertinas which she and her husband Alan took to country shows and steam rallies. In recent years you were most likely to find her sat at the front of the display playing one of the old melodeons that she had collected.
I first met up with Ruth and George at Sam's in the early 1970s and was privileged to call them friends. Ruth and George can be heard playing on VotP Vol 9. In 2003 I wrote a biography of Ruth and showcased some of her collection, more details here: www.forest-tracks.co.uk/paulmarshs/pages/ruthaskew.html
Ruth will be greatly missed by her family, by her friends and by all those who've enjoyed her music over the years.
Paul Marsh - 27.09.09
An Honorary Founder of the Scottish Storytelling Forum, he was the Keyworker for the Heritage Lottery funded ‘Oral and Cultural Traditions of Scottish Travellers’ project from April 2002 until April 2005, promoting and expounding Traveller life, lore and singing. His many books, such as Exodus to Alford (1988), as well as his plays such as Scruffie Uggie (1998), dealt both with that way of life and his many trades, especially as a fish filleter in the Aberdeen fish hooses.
Ian Olson - 3.8.09
Aberdeen
Charles Alexander (Sandy) Paton was born on January 22, 1929. Due to his father's work in the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the family moved quite a bit. Sandy eventually found himself in Washington D.C. where he studied art, but the classroom wasn't for him and soon he was in Seattle where he continued to paint and also took up acting. While in Seattle during the late 1940's, Sandy was introduced to folk music and got hooked.
During the 1950s Sandy traveled the country playing guitar, and in 1957 he was in Berkeley, California when he met the woman who would become his wife, Caroline Swenson. The couple would travel to England where Sandy performed in clubs and coffeehouses. They also recorded as a couple as well as some solo recordings from Sandy. Their interest in folk music continued to grow, and they became friends with noted collectors Hamish Henderson and Seamus Ennis, as well as trtafitional singers like Jeanie Robertson and Lizzie Higgins. The Patons were on their own journey collecting and learning folk songs..
They returned to the United States and Sandy continued to perform and record. Caroline would sing with Sandy while she was raising the couple's two boys. Sandy also felt the responsibility of raising his family and settled down to a 'real' job in Chicago. He began working in a record department of a Chicago book store, where he introduced and began selling commercially released folk recordings. The life the couple were leading in the Chicago area was nice, but they wanted more for their family. After vacationing with friends in Burlington, Vermont, during the summer of 1961, the Patons decided to pack up and move to New England.; they lived in Veromnt for six years, and then moved to Sharon, Connecticut.
Sandy also took some time to go on a collecting trip to the Appalachians where he collected and recorded songs from Frank Profitt (the source of Tom Dooley) and Horton Barker. Sandy played these recordings for a folk music friend they met in Chicago, Lee Haggerty. Lee was impressed by the recordings and suggested that they form a record company to release their own LP's of traditional music. With financial backing from Lee and his sister, the Folk Legacy label was created.
Folk Legacy Records' first release came in 1961: Frank Proffitt, of Reese, North Carolina. The company, now located in Sharon, CT, is still issuing new recordings as well as keeping the original catalog alive on CD. Many of the releases were field recordings such as the ones Sandy collected from Frank Proffitt and Horton Barker. The cornerstone for Folk Legacy has been the preservation of traditional music, but they also provided a home for a number of folk revival singers who shared a passion for the tradition. The list of artists who have recorded for Folk Legacy include Rosalie Sorrels, Gordon Bok, Art Thieme, Joe Hickerson, Bill Staines, Jean Redpath, Michael Cooney and many others. Through it all, Sandy Paton handled most of the recording, much of the writing of extensive and knowledgeable liner notes and the photography that adorns the album covers. The Folk-Legacy catalog numbers 140 albums by a diversity of folk music performers that chronicle the history, joys, loves, concerns and sorrows of folk in the United States, Canada and the British Isles
Over the years, that Patons have continued to make music and performed with their sons David and Robin at festivals and events in New England. They made half-a-dozen albums, two of them award-winning children's albums, out on their own label. They were also named Connecticut's 'Official State Troubadours' in 1993.
In an age where 'number of units sold' seems to dictate what and how music is made available, it is refreshing to see a company that looks at quality and maintains a vision for the future. Lee Haggerty passed away in 2000, but Folk Legacy continued to be operated with a hands-on approach by Sandy and Caroline and their children. Their hard work, reputation for quality, and ability to share their music has created a unique recording label. .
Sandy Paton passed away on Sunday July 26 around 6:30pm. Caroline and sons, David and Robin, will be continuing the Folk Legacy Records tradition.
Dick Greenhaus - 3.8.09
It was at Jim's suggestion that some of the musicians from the regular sessions at Arbroath's Foundry Bar got together, entered and won the 1971 Ceilidh Band competition at the Kinross Festival - and so was born the hugely influential and very enjoyable Foundry Bar Band who played at festivals, ceilidhs and dances for almost another 30 years.
Funeral service will be held in Letham Parish Church, Letham, Angus on Monday 13th July at 12 noon, thereafter to Dunnichen Cemetery to which all family and friends are respectfully invited. Family flowers only but donations may be made at the church in aid of Alzheimer Scotland.
Some of Jim Reid's songs may be listened to or freely downloaded from the following link, where donations may also be made direct to Alzheimer Scotland: www.springthyme.co.uk/album15/15go.html
Peter Shepheard - 9.7.09
Rita Keane and her elder sister Sarah, who survives her, are seen as two of the most significant collectors and performers of songs in Irish and English from East Galway. They began their careers in the 1930s, playing and singing with the Keane's Ceilí Band, a family concern.
In the 1960s Sarah and Rita recorded a highly acclaimed LP collection entitled Once I Loved, in which they sang together - this is unusual in the Irish tradition. They released a second CD, At the Setting of the Sun, in 1985.
The sisters had a major impact on several generations of traditional singers and, in 2006, they received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Irish language TV Channel, TG4, in recognition of their outstanding contribution to traditional music and song.
Rita Keane was an aunt of the singers Dolores and Sean Keane.
John Moulden - 3.7.09
His wife Avril is not able to contact all his folk friends but asks me to put the word out. He was much respected as a singer and kept singing till the very end.
A service of thanksgiving will be held on Wed July 8th at 2pm at Horton church near Ilminster. No further info at this time.
David Sutcliffe - 1.7.09
Vincent Harrison, who has died aged 82, was a master Leitrim fiddle-player whose expertise and extensive musical connections linked him with a golden era in Irish fiddle music. He was an associate of James 'Lad' O Beirne (1911-1980) the renowned Sligo fiddle-player who lived in the Bronx, New York and who in turn was a contemporary of the fellow county fiddle-player Michael Coleman (1892-1945).
Vincent Harrison was born in 1927 into a farming family in Tullycooley, Dromahair, County Leitrim. His mother Mary played the fiddle and her son took to the task of carrying on her legacy with an application and devotion that remained with him throughout his life. Mary's brother was the well-known fiddle player Hughie Travers, whom Irish musicians will recognise by the tunes that bear his name. Vincent was not formally taught music by his mother but started on fiddle from an early age and 'picked it up as he went along'. Besides his mother, he linked up with the great fiddle-player Joe 'Lacky' Gallagher from Drumkeeran and supplemented that by listening to 78 rpm recordings from the USA of Coleman. He began entering and winning local feiseanna and playing regularly at dances and various events in Leitrim and further afield.
By the age of 27 he had decided to leave farming life and emmigrate to New York. There he had an older brother Joe, an avid music lover, who told him of a great Sligo fiddle-player named James 'Lad' O Beirne who was to become a close friend and abiding influence on the young Harrison. Indeed, subsequent recordings can still be heard of the two playing many tunes together on an innovative O'Beirne home-made recorder. Vincent absorbed an enormous amount of lore, history and most importantly music from O'Beirne, Tom Connolly, Andy McGann and Martin Wynne, who all had direct contact with Coleman. He went on the play with fiddler-players Andy McGann and Paddy Reynolds, piper Andy Conroy and many more well-known Irish musicians in a city rich in Irish musical tradition.
In 1988 he retired and returned to Ireland to live near his sister Moira and her family on the seafront in Clontarf, Dublin. He immediately immersed himself in the musical scene and played at many events and festivals at home and abroad. He also made radio braodcasts and some commercial recordings. His house was to prove a mecca for many calling musicians, in particular, younger gererations of musical families like the Mulligans, O Broins and O Connors, for the remnainder of his life. He was always generous and kind with his time and music, for young and old, and carried his unique musical legacy with pride and honesty. His style of playing and his link with the golden era of Irish fiddle music made Vincent Harrison one of the last true exponents of the celebrated Coleman style.
Vincent is survived by his two sisters Moira and Philomena and his many nephews and nieces. Ar dheis dé go raibh a anam uasal ceolmhar.
Neillidh Mulligan and Liam O'Connor - 30.6.09
Born in 1924, he saw service throughout the Second World War with the Chindits in India and Burma. Upon leaving the forces in 1946, he continued to live in his native Wells and was a regular participant in the nights of music in the many pubs of the area. Jack Jordan learned to step dance from his father William and is well remembered for his agile dancing. A common party trick was to leap up onto the bar of a pub in mid step dance, in particular onto the long bar of Wells Railway Hotel. He was also an accomplished bones player.
Both Jack and his wife Edna were keen dancers in various styles and travelled widely throughout the county to various events in village halls and other venues, often several times a week. Both talk about the local dances in Musical Traditions article MT196.
A true local character, Jack Jordan's athletic prowess as a step dancer is still widely remembered by a great many people in and around Wells-next-the-Sea. He is greatly missed by family, friends and all those who recall the nights of traditional music making in the pubs across this area of Norfolk.
Chris Holderness - 20.3.09
We have no further information than that, but the following, excerpted from a 1999 article by Sean Laffey on the FolkWorld website, may remind readers who encountered Séamus from the memorable UK tours he made with Jackie Daly in the Seventies of a lovely player and a lovely man - Ed.
Séamus was born in Killucan County Westmeath in 1946, his early musical education was an introduction to dance band violin from his neighbour Larry Ward. There was very little music in the home; Séamus has said "I often wonder if I was a changeling - nobody in our house smoked, drank or made music." A brief excursion with a ballad group in Dublin where he played guitar brought him closer to the traditional fold. In the early sixties he spent many a night in O'Donoghues with Ted Furey the fiddler who was a vital bridge between the ballad and traditional scene . Then in 1967 he made trip to Baltimore in West Cork, just for a weekend, he still hasn't escaped the pull of Cork. Not that all his time has been spent in Ireland's largest county, he lived for five years in Newfoundland, I asked him had he picked up any of their tunes?
"No not really, I couldn't work them out. You see" he laughs "they were playing all these Irish tunes to Breton dancers. The two didn't really fit, you had to work the tune to fit the dance pattern, sometime you'd be playing seven bars, other times nine to what was essentially eight bar Irish music, I couldn't fathom it at all!"
He also spent some time in London making a few shillings busking on the underground. I wondered had he ever been moved on or arrested. "I was very lucky, at the Green Park tube station I met one of the transport police he was from East Limerick and he loved the Blackbird, when he was on duty I could play for as long as I liked!"
Back in Cork in the late sixties Séamus began playing with Jackie Daly at CCÉ sessions in the Country Club Hotel. This opened his ears to the music of Slaibh Lucra. "When I heard Jackie playing it was like nothing I heard before. There were plenty of fellas that owned boxes but very few box players."
There followed a ten year partnership that was to be marked by the 1977 Gael Linn Jackie Daly and Séamus Creagh album and introduced him to the polka repertoire of Sliabh Lucra . At first he wasn't at all keen on the polkas, he would have been playing a standard selections of jigs and reels, but playing for dancers in The Phoenix in Cork City, sessions in Baile Mhúirne and Ovens changed all that. Unlike his Canadian sojourn, here he linked the dances to the tunes and the result is his present deft and sensitive touch with the repertoire.
A week later at the launch of the Séamus Creagh and Aidan Coffey CD on the Ossian label, at Beamish and Crawford Brewery in Cork, Nuala O'Connor in the key note speech remarked on the vibrancy of the Sliabh Lucra. You see the music has a strong local character, it is the mother lode of slides and polkas, and the reason these have survived and prospered is that it is still very connected to dance. And their latest CD will neither tie your feet to the floor nor tire you out, it is rooted in an understanding of the music that goes beyond the accomplishment of notes.
17.3.09
A robust singer and lively stepdancer, he was the last link with the 'good old days' of Blaxhall Ship. We went to his 90th birthday party, and although rather unsteady on his feet by then, he still couldn't resist 'giving a step', albeit holding onto the back of a chair for support! A short article about him is to be found on the East Anglian Traditional Music Trust website at www.eatmt.org.uk/new_page_4.htm and Keith Summers article Sing, Say or Pay on the Musical Traditions website provides further information.
The funeral is to be held at 2pm at Blaxhall Church on Tuesday 24th February.
Katie Howson - 20.2 .09
His funeral is on the 26th, Ray Fisher told me. If anyone wants to write a letter of condolence to Jane, the address is 99 Mallett's Close, Stony Stratford, Bucks MK11 1DG.
Sheila Miller - 20.2.09
The funeral is at 2pm this Wednesday at the Yardley Crematorium in Birmingham.
Excuse the brevity: I'm at work, and very busy.
Sheila Miller - 12.1.09
His Bampton dancing was from the old team days of the Tanners before the team split up in the late 1920s. He was fascinating to talk to about those days. After the Second World War the two teams came together for a short period, but then in the 1950s Sonny helped Arnold Woodley rebuild the old traditional team and he was the Clown for Arnold's team for many years. He remained close friends with him until Arnold's death. He kept up his dancing until well into his eighties.
The funeral will be on Monday 5th January at 12:30pm in Bampton Parish Church. The family are happy for kit to be worn by Morris men if they wish to do so. Son was the Clown for the Traditional Bampton Morris Dancers, and they will be in their whites.
Barry Care - 30.12 08
Francis ShergoldWhen he first started dancing, in 1935, there was only one active morris team, that led by William 'Jingy' Wells. During his active career he saw the brief reactivation and subsequent demise (after Whitsun 1941) of the second team, led by the Tanner family; the breaking away by Arnold Woodley in 1950 to form a second side composed mostly of young boys, which continued until the end of that decade; the regrouping of that set (now with grown men) in 1970, so that, once again, two sides were competing for dance spots on Whit Monday; and, finally (to bring the situation up to the present), the breakaway group from the Woodleys in 1974, to form another set, which led to the situation of three distinct teams out and about on the dancing Monday.
I rehearse all this to highlight a kind of ironic paradox. When he first joined there were half a dozen active dancers. By 1959 there was so little interest in the custom that he was forced to take out a set with only four men, using outsiders from the folk revival as musician and fool. On Spring Bank Holiday Monday this year there were more than fifty dancers spread between the three teams.
And it was Francis who kept it going, firstly by being there when needed as a teenager, then assuming the responsibility of leadership upon the death of 'Jingy' Wells, and even appearing in whites long after formally passing on the leadership to Tony Daniels. In fact, famously, he told the story of how Wells, on his deathbed, had said to him, "Don't let the morris go." Through lean times and prosperous he never did; now the morris has been forced to let him go.
The accompanying images date from 26 May 2008, and feature what was surely his final appearance with his dancers. Several images show him, walking-frame in hand, joining in the final dance-off movement of Bonny Green Garters. Over the course of seven decades he must have performed that many hundreds, perhaps thousands of times. Registered medically blind for a good number of years (though retaining some degree of vision), he was able nevertheless to recognise people he knew either by their voice, or (in my case) by my bulk! And he remained cheery throughout.
Two months ago he suffered a stroke, and was taken into the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. His health deteriorated steadily, and he finally succumbed on the 27th. Some of we outsiders will have the honour of attending the annual morris dancers' party in Bampton tomorrow evening. I would expect the mood to be a little less boisterous than usual, but nevertheless celebratory, honouring a man with a life-spanning career as dancer. In an obituary for Arnold Woodley, written thirteen years ago, I said that the morris would never seem the same again. Those sentiments are certainly echoed here. It will carry on now but, without the presence of Francis, that sense of history, extending back to into the dim and distant past before many of we afficionados were born, will be missing, and the whole thing seem ever more rooted in the 21st century.
Our sympathies are extended to his brother Roy and sister Ruth, and their children. Rest in peace.
Keith Chandler - 28.11.08
The funeral will be at St Mary's Church, Bampton, on Monday 8th December, at 2:00. His family have requested that people do not take flowers or wreaths but if you want to give something, a donation to the Bush Club (Bampton) would be appreciated. Also would any Morris men please refrain from wearing whites. Thank you.
Tony Daniels - 30.11.08
You may also wish to re-read Keith Chandler's excellent article on Francis, which has been on this site since 1998. And you may also be interested in the Ellen Ettlinger webpage, which contains some early (1940s/50s) Bampton photos: http://england.prm.ox.ac.uk/englishness-Dance-images-from-Ettlinger.html - Ed.
James's only solo recording was The Road To Glenlough - James Byrne, with Dermot McLoughlin, Dermot Byrne, Peter Carr & Sean Byrne - Claddagh 4CC52 / CC52 / CC52CD. From the notes of which:
James Byrne is one of the greatest fiddlers living in Ireland today. He learned his music from his father and his neighbours in Glencolmcille, southwest Donegal. His record includes much rare music from a tradition little known outside his home county. Highlands and barndances, now common only in Donegal, take their place beside the more popular jigs and reels. A legendary figure in fiddle circles, his only other appearance on record is on The Brass Fiddle.
Someone has set up a memorial website for him at: www.qmcorp.net/joe_madden/
Paul Burgess - 24.11.08
Ken was a collector active in West Kent and the Ashdown Forest, as well as other places. He compiled The Life of a Man in 1970 for EFDS Publications from the singing of local people, raising the profile of George Spicer, Pop Maynard and many more.
Always one to share, many are in his debt for making available to them, both live and recorded, the music he loved. It is such a pity that he will not see the release of material from his collection, which is in the process of being digitised for that purpose.
A very nice man, who will be missed.
David Nuttall & Vic Smith - 14.11.08
The Board of the Irish Traditional Music Archive deeply regrets the death on 25 August 2008, after a long illness, of David Hammond, a founding Board member of the Archive (1987-89). He made a valued contribution to the formation of the Archive and its ethos, and represented particularly the perspective of the English-language song tradition of Ulster. His easy-going and humorous good company will be missed. The Board extends its sympathy to his wife Eileen, his children Catherine, Fiona, Conor and Mary Anne, and his other relatives, colleagues and friends.
David Hammond, born in Belfast, was a distinguished radio and television producer with BBC Northern Ireland, an independent film-maker from 1986 with his company Flying Fox, a writer, and a director of the Field Day theatre company. He was a pioneer of an informal style of broadcasting with a new interest in the everyday life of working people and the arts. In 2003 he was the recipient of an honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy from Dublin City University.
From the 1950s Davy was also a recognised collector and singer of traditional songs, especially the street songs of his native city. He had a long broadcasting career as a singer to his own guitar accompaniment on radio and television, and made several long-playing records, including I am the Wee Falorie Man (New York, 1959, 1997, 1998, 2007), David Hammond Sings Belfast Street Songs (New York, 1967), David Hammond Sings Songs of Ireland (New York, c. 1968), and The Singer's House (Dublin, 1978; Chicago 1980). Traditional song was also the focus of many of his radio and television productions. They included his award-winning films Dusty Bluebells (1973) on children's street games and songs, and Ulster in Focus: Sarah Makem (1977) on the Armagh traditional singer. In 1974 he produced for the Arts Council of Northern Ireland an anthology of children's street songs from Belfast, Green Peas and Barley O.
ITMA - 27.8.08
Hugh Shields was the most incisive commentator on Irish song of the last century. He combined a love of songs and singers with great intuitive understanding of the workings of tradition and its contributors. His capacity for analysis was unsurpassed and his work is beautifully and concisely descriptive; every sentence deserves repeated reading.
His books together with the recordings of traditional singers he was instrumental in issuing will be his memorial. No student of song should neglect his Narrative Singing in Ireland.
John Moulden - 16.7.08
Word is coming in of the death of Marty O'Malley in Miltown Malbay. Marty Malley (the 'O' was generally omitted in familiar speech) was born and lived all his life in rural west Clare. A small farmer, Marty was a traditional singer and a maker of ballads, but was best known for his elegant style of dancing and his generous outgoing nature. He loved good music and had a keen appreciation of its beauty. He was one of a generation that excelled in its welcome to strangers and many of us who first went to west Clare as poverty-stricken youngsters at a time when there were no eating-houses in the area have reason to remember nights when we were given a bed and fed the best of food without any question of payment. Marty, who would never have had much of the world's wealth, equalled any of his neighbours in his generosity.
He had known all of the great west Clare musicians of the twentieth century and danced to most of them, but he had a deep interest in music from outside his own environs and could discuss music from all over Ireland. And he exulted in discussion - it's from talking to such people that younger folks learn, and such discussion can form the habits and attitudes of a lifetime. In conversation he had an eloquence and fluidity of speech that was common among his generation - this can be witnessed in a well -known piece of film footage that is often replayed on TV; the Dublin HQ of Comhaltas had decided to ban 'battering' in competitions of set-dancing, and Marty, who was comfortable and confident in his enjoyment of the tradition, came to its defence on Irish television. It's an impassioned and heated defence, but beautiful in its integrity.
When younger Marty travelled all over Ireland to fleadhanna, and he had thousands of friends. The establishment of The Willie Clancy Summer School widened further his circle of friends by bringing tens of thousands of new people into his own milieu, and his passing will be regretted in almost every part of the world.
Finbar Boyle - 5.7.08
I have the news of the death of concertina player Kitty Hayes from Shanaway West on the morning of Saturday May 17th. She had phoned me just the day before; we were to play tonight at a CD launch and she was looking forward to going, play a few tunes and sing a few songs and she wondered if I was up for 'a practice'. She knew we didn't need it but she liked the company and a few tunes to 'shorten the day' as she would say. Unfortunately I had to pick up something in Ennis so we decided to chance it unprepared. We talked for a while and she was in the greatest of form, as she was a few days before, the last time we played. I had given her a few new tunes that she loved and she was raring to go and play them in public.
Her story is by now well-known: Kitty grew up listening to her father and their next door neighbour, Willie Clancy's father Gilbert play together in the kitchen. As a teenager she worked her father's concertina when he wasn't looking, teaching herself the basics. At that time she was out to the house dances a lot, listening to and playing music. At some point though her concertina broke and around the same time she married flute player Josie Hayes. Raising the family and working the farm there was no money or time for a concertina and it was only in the 1990s she got back to it, after a break of nearly 45 years. I met her on the first night she played out, she was sitting in with fiddlers Junior Crehan and Michael Downes, and she sounded like she had been playing forever.
Soon after, we started playing together - eight or nine years ago. We got on like a house on fire and ended up playing together almost weekly, quietly at home over a cup of tea. She had a good run of it the past few years, getting invited to play, a great television documentary in the Se mo Laoch series made by Breandan Begley and Nuala O Connor that told her story and told it well, and had us all play with her.
Winter was quiet, we played mostly in the kitchen, she particularly loved it when I brought my son along, he plays the concertina and she was always trying to get a few tunes off him, especially The Hunt, which her father used to play. During a few visits my son shot a dozen or so of videos that can be seen on YouTube.
Earlier this week Noel Hill played in town; I was to take her along but at the last minute she decided she'd save herself for the CD launch tonight. She got up this morning, had her cup of tea and then quietly slipped away.
Peter Laban - 17.5.08
Many of you will remember Bernard’s wonderful description of his childhood and how he became a Mummer at the Here we come: traditional and contemporary folk performances in Britain conference here in Aberystwyth in 2006. He was already seriously ill at that time but was eager to contribute his particular experiences of traditional practice.
It was a real pleasure to see him performing King William with such gusto last Boxing Day. And it was his suggestion that King William should take on all-comers in the final performance, resulting in a series of energetic, improvised combats that left a pile of colourful, paper-decked figures in the street. I think perhaps he knew that this would be his last…
Bernard will be greatly missed – by his family, by his friends, by his community. But he will linger in the performances of the Mummers. Older members say that it takes many years for them to stop imagining their departed colleague still there in a role. And every time Tenpenny Nit strikes himself on the head - to show his ‘little wit’ - Bernard will be present: this action was his invention when for many years he played that character. And when at 11 o’clock in the square we hear these words, it’s Bernard’s voice we’ll remember:
Mike Pearson - 22.5.08
Professor of Performance Studies
Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, Aberystwyth University
John Messenger - 24.4.08
Joe Ryan, of Inagh, Co Clare, passed away on Monday, March 10, at the age of 80. I am sure that many a head was bowed, or a glass raised, in greater Dublin and London as well, where the genial fiddler was very active and had many friends through a long lifetime in the music scene. Joe was one of the giants of the Clare - indeed the universal Irish music scene - whose innate gift for the music spoke volumes for the humble but highly respected musician who won many prizes, including the All-Ireland senior fiddle in 1969.
At age 11, he took up the fiddle in Inagh, a crossroads village between Ennis and Ennistymon where one could shorten the road towards the West Clare village of Miltown Malbay. He took up carpentry as a trade, working first in Ennis, then Dublin, London and back again in Dublin where as a foreman he trained many a trainee joiner.
The fiddle and Irish music and Clare were always important parts of his life wherever he traveled, as he shared tunes with Bobby Casey in London, John Kelly in Dublin at O’Donoghues on Merrion Row and the Four Seasons and Slatterys on Capel Street and with Junior Crehan in Miltown Malbay. He was a regular tutor at the Willie Clancy Summer School and was even listed for Miltown this July.
Ryan was part of that seminal scene of musicians who literally recreated the Banner County in Dublin at the Mrs. Crotty’s Club on Church Street in the early 1960s. Out of that milieu came one of the most exciting ceili bands in Irish music, the Castle Ceili Band that featured Ryan, Kelly, Liam Rowesome, Sean Keane, John Dwyer on fiddles, Mick O’Connor and Michael Tubridy on flutes, James Keane on accordion, Bridie Laverty on piano and Bennie Carey on drums. They won the senior All-Ireland in 1965, and Ryan could still be seen proudly wearing his blue blazer from those halcyon days at special occasions many years later.
His music was recorded and documented in a variety of settings like the Castle Ceili Band; Crossroads, a Green Linnet cassette that he made with harmonica player Eddie Clarke from Cavan; Ceol An Chlar: Traditional Fiddle Music from West Clare, a CCE recording featuring Ryan, Bobby Casey, Junior Crehan, John Kelly and Patrick Kelly from Cree, and his own solo album, An Buachaill Dreoite.
Paul Keating - 26.3.08
Excerpted from his obit in The Irish Voice
Storyteller and ballad singer: Born April 11, 1928, Died November 8, 2007 age 79. Many will already have heard the sad news that Scotland's great ballad
singer and storyteller Duncan Williamson has died after a stroke. Duncan was in hospital in Kirkcaldy for a few days after suffering the stroke which affected his right side and lost him the power of speech, and he passed away early in the morning of Thursday 8th November.
His funeral will take place in Strathmiglo Church, Kirk Wynd, Strathmiglo, Fife on Tuesday 13 November at 2:00pm.
Duncan's contribution to the storytelling revival has been immense and he had an important repertoire of traditional Scots ballads and folksongs. Numerous books of traditional tales compiled by Duncan and his second wife Linda have been published worldwide. He has travelled widely since the 1970s taking his storytelling and ballad singing throughout Europe and to the USA.
A obituary has appeared in The Herald: www.theherald.co.uk/features/obituaries/
Fourteen books of folktales by Duncan Williamson are listed by Amazon: www.amazon.co.uk/
Duncan has lived in Ladybank in Fife for the last few years and has been a guest at the annual Fife Traditional Singing Weekend in nearby Collessie every year since 2004 with songs on several CDs: www.springthyme.co.uk/fifesing
Scottish Storytelling Centre: www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk/
Peter Shepheard - 11.11.07
The Board of the Irish Traditional Music Archive deeply regrets the death on Thursday 30 August 2007, after a long illness, of Dr Tom Munnelly, its founding Chairman from 1987 to 1993 and a world authority on Irish traditional song. He contributed greatly over many years to the establishment of the Archive, to the building up of its collections and to the development of its ethos. His continuing active interest and his personal generosity with his expertise and encouragement will be greatly missed by his colleagues, as will his wit and humour.
The Board extends its sympathy to his wife Annette, his children Colm, Tara and Éadaoin, and his other relatives and friends.
Tom Munnelly, born in Dublin but resident in Miltown Malbay, Co Clare, since 1978, made the largest field-collection of Irish traditional song ever compiled by any individual. He was a singer and an enthusiast for traditional singing from his earliest years, and was influenced by the collecting work and writings of Breandán Breathnach and Hugh Shields. After recording privately in the 1960s, and collecting especially from Traveller singers, he became a professional folklore collector and archivist with the Department of Irish Folklore, University College Dublin (now the UCD Delargy Centre for Irish Folklore and the National Folklore Collection), from 1974 to date, with a concentration on English-language song. He recorded, indexed and transcribed over 20,000 songs (and a mass of other folklore) during decades when older traditional culture has been fast disappearing, and his work could not now be replicated.
His extensive list of audio and print publications includes The Mount Callan Garland: Songs from the Repertoire of Tom Lenihan and Songs of the Irish Travellers 1967-1985. He lectured and taught widely, was an leading activist in many folkmusic organisations and festivals, including the Folk Music Society of Ireland, the Willie Clancy Summer School and the Clare Festival of Traditional Singing, and he served on national bodies such as the Arts Council. Recently he was presented with the festschrift Dear Far-Voiced Veteran: Essays in Honour of Tom Munnelly, and was made an honorary Doctor of Literature by the National University of Ireland Galway.
Irish Traditional Music Archive - 30.8.07
Tom Munnelly (25/5/1944 - 30/8/2007)
If there's a life hereafter, he dwells in bliss; if not, he made the best of this.
We were all very sad to hear of the death on Thursday 30th August 2007, after a long illness, of Tom Munnelly, world-renowned authority on Irish traditional song. The hundreds that assembled for his funeral in Miltown Malbay, Co Clare, on Saturday, 1st September, in support of his family, included singers and musicians famous and infamous (to quote one of those singers), academics, broadcasters and journalists, near neighbours, and friends from far and wide. To paraphrase a verse from The Galway Races one could say, of the attendance:
There were a lot of people there from all denominationsLast June I was writing a review of Dear Far-Voiced Veteran - Essays in Honour of Tom Munnelly for Teabhtha, the journal of the Co Longford Historical Society, and needed to be sure Tom had done some collecting in the county. Dr Nicholas Carolan of ITMA said he'd check it with Tom, and when he called back to confirm it was true, he said he had just spoken with Tom on the phone. Nicholas said that when he asked him if it was a convenient time to be calling, Tom replied: “No problem. I have the parish priest here with me and we're just going over the arrangements for my funeral.”
The Catholic, the Protestant, the Jew, and Presbyterian
There were tears and then some laughter that did mix in combination,
Affecting priest and singer, the scribe, and odd grammarian.
Cho. With me whack fol the doh fol the diddly idle ay.
Tom was noted for being plainspoken, and that remark of his was typical of him. The Memorial Service he had planned with the priest, Sean Murphy, reflected his thoughtful view on living and dying, and farewell material that was a mixture of sadness and humour.
It opened with Frank Proffitt's song, Going Across the Mountain:
Going across the mountain, oh, fare you well;As the wicker coffin was leaving the church, the speakers blared out the Pilgrim's Chorus from Wagner's Tannhauser. People smiled, of course, and when I asked a family member if it was Tom's idea of a joke, she said it wasn't. “When we tried to dissuade him, he persisted. He said there was some Wagnerian compositions he liked and the Pilgrim's Chorus was one of them.”
Going across the mountain, you can hear my banjo tell.
Got my rations on my back, my powder it is dry;
I'm a-goin' across the mountain, Chrissie, don't you cry.
Fr Sean Murphy did the introductions and welcomed everybody. He was dressed in a suit and tie, reflecting the fact that this was not a strictly religious service. Sean observed that Tom was not a religious man, but he was happy to offer him 'a lone of the hall', as Éadaoin, one of Tom's children put it. She observed later in her talk that she wanted to thank Sean who shared Tom's view of the church as the people's house ('tigh an phobail' in the Irish language).
Éamon Ó Bróithe played a lament on the uilleann pipes at the graveside; Maighréad Nic Dhomhnaill and her sister Tríona sang The Greenwood Laddie and Nicholas Carolan gave the oration. It was a wonderful send-off for Tom, and his widow, Annette, and children, Colm, Tara and Éadaoin, relatives, colleagues and friends, will have been comforted by the great outpouring of love and affection for a generous and gifted man.
Aidan O'Hara - 4.9.07
If you would like to attend the funeral, please phone Don Rowse on 01993 850297 to assist with the catering.
13.6.07
Sophie LeggThe funeral is on Thursday 14th at 1:30pm, at St Petroc's Church, Bodmin. Family flowers only, but any donations in lieu to Athelstan House Care Home, Bodmin.
Lyn Murfin - 8.6.07
(Back at the begining of 1989, Vic interviewed Sophie about her life and family, which made a nice little article for MT, including a couple of sound clips. As it was so long ago there are doubtless many of you who've not seen it - click here to do so now. Ed.)
'Peerie' Willie JohnsonBorn in Yell, before moving to Lerwick, 'Peerie' Willie was our very own home-grown guitar genius, equally at home trading tunes, chords and licks in his 'local' with anyone who cared (or dared) to join in, or modestly, even reluctantly, sharing the stage with some great musical names, occasionally in front of massive TV or radio audiences.
An illustration of his modesty can be left to Willie himself. When world-renowned guitarist Martin Taylor invited Willie to the front of the stage to offer his own personal debt of gratitude during a concert in Lerwick, Willie was seen to whisper something in Martin's ear by way of a reply. "That was a great moment, what did he say to you", I asked Martin after the concert. Martin laughed and shook his head. He told me "Never mind a yon nonsense boy, is du going to da Lounge for a tune when dis is all ower?" That was Willie for you in a nutshell.
(Excerpted from Davie Gardner's obituary in The Shetland News at: www.shetland-news.co.uk/opinion/Peerie%20Willie%20-%20a%20musical%20giant.htm )
Davie Gardner - 25.5.07
Mark Wilson - 9.5.07
Reg Hall - 25.4.07
Frank was due to be awarded the EFDSS Gold Badge at the Beyond Marrow Bones event on Sunday 13th May, to coincide with the launch of the new edition of his book Marrow Bones. This event has now been CANCELLED.
Peta Webb - 26.4.07
We are conscious that so very many people loved Barry but are aware that the chapel only holds 120 people. We would ask you to to consider whether you wish to attend the ceremony or could go directly to Thundercliffe. We'd like you to dress in the way Barry would expect you to, something that would be fitting for a very colourful man! Rather than flowers, we'd be grateful if you would make a donation in Barry's name to the English Folk Dance and Song Society. For those of you who are musicians, please bring along your instruments to Thundercliffe.
Addresses for both the crematorium and Thundercliffe are as follows: Grenoside Crematorium, Sheffield S35 8RZ; Thundercliffe Grange, Grange Lane, Rotherham. Grange Lane is the B6086 which passes under the M1 near J35
Johnny Adams - 22.4.07
To all who knew him, Sheffield musician, collector and film maker Barry Callaghan was pivotal in the Sheffield music scene, endlessly enthusiastic and deeply knowledgable.
Prior to his trip to Majorca, he and Johnny Adams were engaged in finalising the details of his book and CD of English tunes compiled with the help of many of the musicians and bands on the scene. He was very pleased with the selection of tunes and also with the selection of tracks on the companion CD that is to be released at the same time. His pleasure was increased by the fact that it was a collaborative effort by us all.
The EFDSS book and CD, Hardcore English will make a fitting memorial to a man whose infectious enthusiasm for traditional music in general, and English traditional music in particular, was a tonic for everyone who was exposed to it.
A lovely man and a great ambassador for traditional music, dance and song. Do get in touch if I can be of any further help.
Malcolm Woods - 17.4.07
malcolm.woods@btinternet.com
Among other things, Tony was a previous editor of English Dance and Song, a collector of song and stories (mainly from Sussex and Surrey), and the author of numerous books relating to the customs and traditions of Sussex.
Tony's funeral is this Friday, 23 March at 10.00, St John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, Springfield Road. Horsham RH12 2PJ. The church is between the Green Dragon and The Malt Shovel, about half a mile from the railway station.
There is an expectation from the family that there will some music and singing after the service in the Parish Hall.
Sean Goddard - 15.3.07
Rod Stradling - 24.2.07
Funeral service will take place at St Wilfred's church, South Stainley, Monday Dec 11th at 2 p.m. followed by internment in the churchyard. No flowers please. Donations in memory of Nigel will be received at the service for The English Folk Dance and Song Society. Enquiries to W Bowers, Harrogate 01423 770258.
Steve Gardham - 8.12.06
Moving into Jenny's mother's house and farm, they quickly established themselves as respected stalwarts of the local community - particularly its cultural aspects. MT readers will recall, from the booklet notes to The Hardy Sons of Dan double CDs, Keith Summers' statement: 'I have to stress now - without Michael and Jenny's input and assistance for my project, none of these recordings would ever have been made'.
It was typical of the man that, when I was discussing the Hardy Sons project with Mike - and the need for haste in getting it finished while Keith was still with us - he made no mention of the fact that he was, like Keith, also struggling with cancer. Sadly, that struggle is now over.
I understand that hundreds came to his funeral, and only wish that Danny and I had known about it - we would certainly have wished to pay our last respects. The task of compiling and releasing the companion volume to The Hardy Sons of Dan, and certainly its booklet, will be all the harder now that two of the main protagonists are no longer with us.
Rod Stradling - 23.11.06
A lovely man who I’ll miss greatly. My own heartfelt sympathy goes to the family as does, I’m sure, kind thoughts from many of your readers and friends of the Horn Dancers.
Just heard last night funeral arrangements as follows: Tues 28th Nov at Abbots Bromley Church 1.15. 2.30 at Stafford Crematorium for those who wish to join the family, then after at "The Crown" in Abbots Bromley. The family are keen that as many people as possible get to hear about it.
Doc Rowe - 25.11.06
Ray Templeton - 10.10.06
Ray Templeton - 10.10.06
The funeral will take place tomorrow in Mullaghbawn. Removal from the house at 11.45am to arrive at the church at 12.00 noon. Burial immediately after in the adjoining cemetery.
Jerry O'Reilly - 3.10.06
The funeral is being held tomorrow in Belfast.
Peter Ingram - 5.9.06
Brought up in Kells, Co Meath, Mícheál’s familial roots lay in the Irish-language speaking area of Rannafast in County Donegal. Though he learnt many a song from his late father Aodh (who collected plenty of Donegal songs for the Irish Folklore Commission), it was the family’s summer visits to the Donegal village which vastly augmented the repertoire of Mícheál and his sisters Tríona and Maighread, not least through time passed in the company of their aunt, Neillí Ní Dhomhnaill, renowned as one of the county’s greatest singers.
At Rannafast a lasting friendship was forged with a young Derry singer and guitarist, Dáithí Sproule, who was attending Irish language classes in the village. Finding a musical affinity based upon a shared love of traditional Irish songs and the finger-picking guitar style pioneered by English folk guitarists such as Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, Mícheál, Dáithí and Tríona formed the band Skara Brae while studying at University College Dublin in the late 1960s. Joined by Maighread, who was still at school, they released a remarkable eponymous album for the Gael Linn label in 1971 whose hypnotic marriage of mellow harmonies, backed by guitars and Tríona’s clavinet still retains its original haunting impact.
The band, which had subsequently and unsuccessfully attempted to turn electric, folded in the following year. Mícheál went on to record an innovative folk-rock album, Celtic Folkweave, with the singer Mick Hanly in 1974. However, true renown resulted from his membership of one of Ireland’s most influential and wildest groups (both musically and socially, if all the rumours are true), the Bothy Band, from 1975 to 1979. Formed with sister Tríona, fiddler Paddy Glackin (first replaced by Tommy Peoples and then by Kevin Burke), flute player Matt Molloy, uilleann piper Paddy Keenan and multi-instrumentalist Dónal Lunny, The Bothy Band’s impact upon the Irish music scene was almost instantaneous and the band later achieved great success in Europe.
After the band’s split Mícheál recorded Promenade with Kevin Burke before emigrating to the USA. He settled in Portland, releasing another collaboration with Kevin bearing that city’s name as its title in 1982. Tríona also crossed the Atlantic and, with Mícheál, formed another influential, though short-lived band, Relativity, with Phil and the late Johnny Cunningham. However, Mícheál’s developing musical interests, which espoused not only his native traditions, but jazz-fusion, world and ambient music, came to fruition in the more enduring Nightnoise (also involving Tríona) whose career spanned thirteen years and seven albums (several released while Mícheál was effectively producer-in-residence for the Windham Hill label).
Mícheál moved back to Ireland and settled in Dublin in the late 1990s. Though there was a stunning reunion of Skara Brae during Donegal’s Frankie Kennedy Winter School, much of his time was spent on the golf course. However, in 2001, he and fiddler Paddy Glackin issued the sumptuous Reprise album which features Mícheál’s starkly powerful rendition of one of the big songs from the Irish tradition, Bríd Bhán, as well as demonstrating that Mícheál remained one of the music world’s finest guitar accompanists.
Researching an article on The Bothy Band a couple of years back I spoke to Mícheál and asked him about his future musical plans. Something big was in the offing, he informed me, but sadly we will now never know exactly what it was.
Geoff Wallis - 16.8.06
I understand that Cullerlie Festival, due to be held in late July, has been cancelled.
Derek Schofield - 13.7.06
Anne Reid of Cullerlie Farm Park, Echt, Aberdeenshire, died on 25 June 2006. She was a fine traditional singer and widow of the late 'Tam' Reid, 'the Bothy Ballad King' (d. 2003).
Her legacy is great. Some highlights are:
Ian Russell - 18.7.06
Ken Ricketts - 10.7.06
TASCQ [Traders in the Area Supporting the Cultural Quarter], the Temple Bar traders group and organizers of the annual Temple Bar Trad Festival, today [Mon 10 July 2006] expressed regret on the passing of Irish musician, Mícheál Ó Domhnaill.
Mícheál performed with Skara Brae at the Temple Bar Trad Festival’s opening concert in January of this year in what was generally seen as an artistic highlight in Dublin’s calendar of events. A cornerstone of seminal modernising bands such as Skara Brae and The Bothy Band, Mícheál made a huge contribution to traditional, folk and contemporary music. He formed and influenced new ways of arranging traditional songs and was constantly respectful of those from whom he collected this music. His generosity and attention to detail are legendary amongst his colleagues and peers.
TASCQ would like to express our sincere condolences to Mícheál’s sisters Maighread and Tríona, his brother Conall and his extended family.
Lisa Fitzsimons - 10.7.06
Communications Manager, TASCQ
Given the small size of the Cemetery facilities, the Kennedy family has requested that funeral attendance is restricted to family members and a few close friends, so unless you're specifically invited you won't be expected to turn up. There will be some sort of event in due course to commemorate his life's work.
Gwilym Davies -13.6.06
8.6.06
Maggie Murphy was born in 1924 in Tempo, Co Fermanagh, Northern Ireland and lived in and around that area all her life. In 1952 Peter Kennedy was taken to see Maggie (then) Chambers by Irish folk-song collector Sean O'Boyle in Bellyreragh where she was in service. It was there that the classic recording of Maggie and her niece Sarah singing Linkin' o'er the Lea (The Auld Beggarman) was made. This influential recording was subsequently released on the Caedmon LP series Folk Songs in Britain and Ireland in 1961.
Maggie came from a musical family and many of her songs came from her mother. Her father was also a good singer but she'd say that he wouldn't teach her whole songs like her mother did. Maggie left service to get married and was married for thirty years until her husband died in 1981.
I first met Maggie at an Inishowen Singers weekend in Donegal. She was on fine form in front of a very appreciative audience and it was Norma Waterson (who had known Maggie for many years) who suggested that I should record her.
Taking advice from Keith Summers, who had recorded Maggie in 1979 (see MTCD329-0 The Hardy Sons of Dan) and Sean Corcoran who had recorded her in the early 1990s, I made many visits to Maggie's bungalow in Tempo always to be greeted with, "Come on in, you're welcome!" My recordings were published in 1996 on VT134CD Linkin' O' the Lea.
These afternoons at Maggie's, in front of her Aga with the tea pot constantly simmering and Maggie smoking cigarette after cigarette were always magical. The songs would tumble out one after another interspersed by fits of laughter, for Maggie was not only one of the finest traditional singers I ever met, she was also one of the wittiest!
In later life she found new audiences for her songs and not only in her own locality; she was also invited to several singing weekends across Northern Ireland and she appeared on The Pure Drop on RTÉ television.
Maggie Murphy will be greatly missed by anyone who met her. Hopefully her recordings will inspire the next generation of singers, and what is certain is that she will always have a very special place in Ulster's traditional singers hall of fame.
John Howson - 22.6.06
He formed a band of his own, called Ceoltóirí Altan (named after the lough which sits beneath Errigal Mountain) and the name would be passed on to his daughter Mairéad's own hugely successful band. Apart from music, Francie was a notable footballer and actor (in his seventies he regularly appeared as the local postman in a TG4 soap opera), but the focal points of his life were always his family and music. He and his wife Kitty were always extremely proud of the achievements of their children (in addition to Mairéad, Gearóid is a notable guitarist and Anna a superb singer who was once a member of Macalla) and overjoyed by Ciarán's achievement in being named TG4's Young Musician of the Year in 2003 - the whole family made a notable on-stage appearance at the awards ceremony concert. He was also a mine of information about local musical traditions and ever helpful in passing on his knowledge and experiences gleaned from playing with the likes of John Doherty and Danny O'Donnell.
For many visitors to Gweedore, however, it was the Monday night session at Hugh Gallagher's pub in Bunbeg which will forever be associated with Francie. His chair was always set on the righthand edge of the tables reserved for musicians, as viewed from the bar, and Gearóid would be sat down opposite him. As the session leader, he usually set the agenda for the first few tunes, but was then always willing to allow others to take the lead on others. However, if he didn't appreciate someone's rendition or selection, then once the 'interloper's' choice had ended, there'd be a nod to the right and across to Gearóid and a sudden dash into a set of highly elaborate and very rapid tunes - highlands and strathspeys, impossibly complex reels. Such was never done from malice, but more to emphasize that this was a Donegal pub where Donegal tunes took precedence and Francie was always happy to talk to the newcomer afterwards.
Kitty and her children buried Francie at Magheragallon Cemetery yesterday.
Geoff Wallis - 31.3.06
The Folk scene has lost the best trumpeter and brass arranger it has ever had. The music world has lost a great friend, musician, negotiator (his MU day job) and all round good bloke. Our deepest sympathy to his family.
Officials at the Musicians Union will publicise details of funeral and/or memorial if that is what Howard's family wishes.
Steve Heap - 18.3.06
It is with great sadness that I report the death this morning of Nibs Matthews, former Director of the EFDSS and Squire of the Morris Ring 1960-2. Nibs had suffered from Parkinson’s for some years and died in hospital after a fall at home at the weekend. He was 85.
The funeral arrangements are as follows:
Friday 24 March, 1pm at West London Crematorium, Kensal Green, Harrow Rd, W10 4RA. The crematorium is to the west of the ‘circle’ in the middle of the cemetery. Afterwards in the WIV pub (formerly known as the William IV) on the Harrow Road within walking distance for ‘a drink on Nibs’.
Nearest station: Kensal Green Station - on the Bakerloo Line and the Euston/Watford Line. Car Parking within the Crematorium Grounds. No flowers by request. It is suggested that morris kit should not be worn.
Donations to ‘The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library’ (c/o Malcolm Taylor, EFDSS, 2 Regents Park Rd London NW1 7AY)
Derek Schofield - 11.3.06
Another old style Cape Breton fiddler, the under-recorded John Neil MacLean, passed away in January.
Mark Wilson - 23.2.06
Pittsburgh PA
Charles was a gentle giant, a prolific scholar and beloved colleague whose presence in the English Department and in the University gave new and unique meaning to the term 'professor'. Certainly with his prolific productivity, including nineteen scholarly books (with others still in the offing) and hundreds of articles on music, folklore, and popular culture, Charles could have gone to any institution in the land, but his feet were deep in the Tennessee soil. He was Missouri born and bred - and Blue Raider to the core, having joined MTSU in 1970, where he remained until his retirement just this past year.
Though nationally and internationally known for his accomplishments, Charles never ventured far from heart and home, from family and friends. Unpretentious, dedicated, mentor to countless students and friend to all who knew him, Charles has left an indelible imprint. He will be missed by those who did not know him personally, and even so much more by those who did.
John McDaniel - 9.2.06
Dean, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro TN.
In late 2005 Tony became extremely ill and was in hospital for a long spell, but before Christmas he had appeared to be making a good recovery, and had been out and about just the day before he died. His death came as all the more of a shock because of this.
The funeral is to be held in Tannington on Tuesday 31st January, and it is to be expected that many more will turn up than will be able to fit in the church.
Katie Howson - 28.1.06
East Anglian Traditional Music Trust
Obituary to be published in The Independent written by Ken Hunt. I don't know about funeral arrangements.
Hans Fried - 19.1.06
The funeral is to be at Sunderland Crematorium, on Tuesday (17th), at 2:30, afterwards at The Buffs, Birtley.
11.1.06
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