Irish and Scottish D R A F T

In the first video clip, American folk singer Jean Ritchie visits a village in
Ireland to share a folk hymn from her native Kentucky with Irish musicians who sing and play in the traditional Irish style (in Gaelic, "sean nós" pronounced shawn-NOS"). Listen for the man in the cardigan sweater singing in Gaelic, followed by Ritchie singing the Old Regular Baptist hymn, "Look away ... you can see the promised land" in a traditional Appalachian style. Notice how much it sounds like Irish sean nós.



A woman singing in the sean nós style at a folk festival in Co. Kerry. Notice the older folks joining in.


A clip from Irish television service TG4 of a young girl, Nell Ní Chróinín, singing the old way (in Gaelic, "sean nós"). Notice how proud the older man (her grandfather?) is. And notice the subtitle, as he says, "The tradition is safe for now."


More polished is this performance by Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh fronting the Irish roots band Altan, on a "Balcony TV" show shot on, yeah, a balcony in Dublin. I'd call it popular music, but it's rooted in the tradition. How Ní Mhaonaigh's performance like the folk singers'? How is it different?


Altan at a 2003 folk festival in Cambridge, England.


A Scots string band featuring Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham at a New Year's Eve party in Scotland, followed by piper Gavin Stoddart ringing in the new milennium at Edinburgh, Scotland.


Aly Bain play "Bonaparte's Retreat" at about the same tempo. Its melody is similar to the pipe tune, but it's a purely American fiddle tune.