Wayfaring Strangers: The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia

595 Pages·2014·20.7 MB·English

by  Fiona Ritchie

Wayfaring Strangers
Wayfaring Strangers
The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia
Fiona Ritchie and Doug Orr
With the assistance of Darcy Orr
Foreword by Dolly Parton
The University of North Carolina Press
Chapel Hill
This book was published with the assistance of the Blythe Family Fund of the University of North Carolina
Press.
Additional assistance was provided by generous gifts from:
Joel and Marla Adams
John and Annie Ager
Agua Fund
Thomas S. Kenan III
Jack and Cissie Stevens
We also wish to thank the following, who donated through power2give.org—with matching funds provided
by the North Carolina Arts Council—in support of the production and inclusion of the CD:
Anonymous
Bell Family Foundation
William and Martha Terrell Burruss III
Bob and Sally Cone
Tom Cox
Pam Curry
Rebecca Evans
Neal and Katherine Forney
Estelle B. Freedman
Carole Harris
Elizabeth Harris
Joanna and Norman Harris
Penny Hodgson
Mary Holmes in honor of Robert G. Ray
Howard Holsenbeck
Bea Hoverstock
John and Joy Kasson
Betty Kenan
John and Missy Kuykendall
Madeline Levine
Joan Lorden
Tom and Joanna Ruth Marsland
D. G. and Harriet Martin
William P. Massey
William and Anne McLendon
Mary Beth Norton
Aidan and Joyce O’Hara
Jane McAlister Pope
Lew and Dannye Powell
James Dennis Rash
Carole Reid
John and Talia Sherer
Kevin Spall for Thomson Shore
Ann F. Stanford
Karl and Hollis Stauber
Richard and Jere Stevens
Suzanne Taichert
Rollie Tillman
Allen and Kate Douglas Torrey
Andrew Willard
Ed and Marylyn Williams
Jim and Martha Woodward
All interview excerpts © Fiona Ritchie Productions/The Thistle & Shamrock®, as heard on NPR®, with the
exception of Mike Seeger, “African American and European Roots of Old-Time Music” and “Impact of
Radio and the Recording Industry,” and Joe Thompson, “African American String Bands,” which were
recorded in conversation with Banning Eyre for BBC Radio 3’s World Routes, produced by Peter Meanwell.
“An Appalachian Road Trip” was first broadcast on October 17, 2009. The interviews with Doc Watson and
Rhiannon Giddens/Dom Flemons were by Doug Orr.
© 2014 The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved.
Designed by Kimberly Bryant and set in Galliard types by Rebecca Evans.
Manufactured in Canada
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production
Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. The University of North Carolina
Press has been a member of the Green Press Initiative since 2003.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ritchie, Fiona, 1960-author.
Wayfaring strangers : the musical voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia / Fiona Ritchie and Doug
Orr with the assistance of Darcy Orr ; foreword by Dolly Parton.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-46961822-7 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4696-1823-4 (ebook)
1. Folk music—Appalachian Region, Southern—History and criticism. 2. Folk music—Appalachian
Region, Southern—Scottish influences. 3. Folk music—Appalachian Region, Southern—Irish influences. I.
Orr, Doug, 1938–author. II. Parton, Dolly, writer of supplementary textual content. III. Title.
ML3551.7.A57R57 2014
781.62′13 075–dc23
2014012347
18 17 16 15 14 5 4 3 2 1
Jacket illustrations: Travelling Fiddler, photo by Gordon Shennan, courtesy of Highland Photo Archive,
Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, High Life Highland, Scotland; photo of Appalachian Mountains
courtesy of Al Petteway; photo of Halaman Bay, island of Barra, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, by Jem
Wilcox/LGPL/Alamy.
For Douglas and Charlotte Orr, Robert and Anne Ritchie, and Maurice and
Sarah Williams, who kindled the spark, and Colin MacGregor Abernathy, Eliza
Campbell Abernathy, Quincy Scavron Orr, Eilidh Ritchie Hodgson, and Finley
Charles Ritchie Hodgson, who will carry the flame.
Contents
FOREWORD BY DOLLY PARTON
LETTERS FROM HOME
PROLOGUE: THE CARRYING STREAM
Beginnings
SIDEBARS
Ballad Types
Celts, Picts, Gaels, Britons, and Vikings
The Mother Tongue
The Scottish Fiddle
Dance Music
The Bagpipes
Guardians of Tradition: The Travellers
Robert Burns and Woody Guthrie
Bob Dylan and Ballads
VOICES OF TRADITION
Early Music—Dr John Purser
Discovering Ballads—Jean Redpath
Ballad Melodies: “King Orfeo”—Dr John Purser
Ballad Emotions—Jean Redpath
Collecting: Going to the Source—Sara Grey
Traveller Treasure—Brian McNeill
Collectors’ Confusion—Jack Beck
Ballad Versions—Jean Redpath
Treading Carefully into Tradition—Sara Grey
Woody Guthrie—Pete Seeger
Dylan Influences—Jean Redpath
Voyage
SIDEBARS
The Province of Ulster
The Ceili, or Ceilidh
The Harp
Uisge Beatha: The Water of Life
The American Wake: A Story
The Collectors
The Emigration of Thomas Mellon
Charles Dickens, Esq., Crosses the Atlantic
Other Landfalls
Cape Breton and Cape Fear
Later Emigrants and Refugees
The People with No Name
VOICES OF TRADITION
Ancient Seafarers and Channel Crossers—Dr John Purser
Ulster and Scotland: An Ancient Link—Len Graham
Scottish-Irish Connections—Nuala Kennedy
Burns and Ulster—Len Graham
Ulster’s Unique Sound—Sara Grey
The Bridal Boat—Brian McNeill
The Company of Songs—Nuala Kennedy
The Winding River Roe—Cara Dillon
Homesick Pioneers—Alan Reid
Singing a New Song
SIDEBARS
Prickly and Stubborn: Appalachian Clichés
Frontier Food
Francis James Child
Storytelling
Jean Ritchie: The Mother of Folk
Forest Folk and Scoto-Indians
Appalachian Dance
Fiddle Style Outliers: Cape Breton and the Ozarks
Doc Watson from Deep Gap
The Carter Family
The Seeger Family
Dolly Parton: A Life of Many Colors
Old-Time and Bluegrass: The Differences
VOICES OF TRADITION
Remoteness and Beauty—Dr John Purser
Locating Appalachian Source Singers—John Cohen
Dulcimer: “Just Play, Play, Play”—Jean Ritchie
Discovering Tradition Bearers—David Holt
The Scots-Irish—Sheila Kay Adams
Music Travels Full Circle—Brian McNeill
“Gypsy Laddie”/“Black Jack Davey”—Jack Beck
Learning Ballads and Love Songs—Sheila Kay Adams
The High Lonesome Sound—John Cohen
Ballads and Work—Jean Ritchie
Advice for Collectors—David Holt
Where the Songs Came From—David Holt
Collectors: Bascom Lamar Lunsford—Pete Seeger
Collecting Songs and Memories—Jean Ritchie
Collectors: John and Alan Lomax—Pete Seeger
Sustaining the Tradition—David Holt
An Old Connection—Julee Glaub and Mark Weems
Spirit of the Song—Julee Glaub
How the Music Changed in America—David Holt
The African Influence—John Cohen
African and European Roots of Old-Time Music—Mike Seeger
An African American Tapestry—Rhiannon Giddens and Dom Flemons
African American String Bands—Joe Thompson
Music Is a Bridge—Doc Watson
Collecting Fiddle Tunes—Alan Jabbour
How Tunes Have Changed—Alan Jabbour
Americana Scots—Archie Fisher
The New Lost City Ramblers—John Cohen
Doc Watson: Feeling Every Note at 78-rpm—David Holt
Impact of Radio and the Recording Industry—Mike Seeger
Carter Family Influences—Jack Beck
Sustaining Song Traditions—Sheila Kay Adams
The Next Generation—Len Graham
Protests and Poems: Writing New Songs—Jean Ritchie
Living Is Collecting—Jean Ritchie
EPILOGUE: A GREAT TAPESTRY
“Voices of Tradition” Profiles
Glossary of Less-Familiar Musical Terms
A Contextual Timeline
Resource Centers
Note on Illustrations
Discography
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index
CD Notes
Wayfaring Strangers Track List