John Rice Irwin on dulcimers and Jean Ritchie - mentions "scanting" dulcimer in Middle Tennessee

John Rice Irwin proprietor of the Museum of Appalachia. [He was my American history teacher at Norris High School.] Mentions "scantling" dulcimers in Middle Tennessee, rarity and geographical distribution of dulcimers in Va., N.C. and eastern Ky. Jean Ritchie's role in popularizing the instrument.



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Collecting Irish songs in Co. Galway

In 1952 and 1953 Ritchie landed a Fulbright scholarship to collect variants of her family's songs in Great Britain and Ireland. xxx

Jean Ritchie music in irish kitchens galway
A musical gathering in the kitchen of Daibhi and Maura O'Cronin during a visit by Jean Ritchie. This is an excerpt from SEE HEAR the folk music video magazine. For information vsit JEANRITCHIE.COM [YouTube georgepickow]



Link to article in Galway Advertiser on May 16th 1996 on an exhibition of Jean Ritchie's and George Pickow's collection of material from their Fulbright research in Ireland during the 1950s in the Ritchie-Pickow Archive at the National University of Ireland, Galway.

This, excerpted from the NUI Galway webswite:

In 1996 the Ritchie Pickow Phototgraphic Archive was acquired by the James Hardiman Library, National University of Ireland, Galway, along with tapes of sound recordings. The photographs were taken and the recordings made by the husband and wife team George Pickow and Jean Ritchie on visits to Ireland in 1952 and 1953. Two exhibitions of the Ritchie Pickow Photographic Archive have been held at NUIG in 1992 and 1996. It was under the auspices of Dáibhín Ó Cróinín, lecturer in the History Department of the university and a grandson of one of the vocalists recorded by Jean Ritchie, that the collection was acquired for the Library Archives.

There's a little more ...

JSTOR has a review of a CD and book of Elizabeth Cronin's songs with background on the singer and the beginning of Jean Ritchie's recollections of collecting songs from her (before it goes onto the next page and behind JSTOR's paywall).

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RETRIEVED LATER AND POSTED HERE BECAUSE IT FITS THE SUBJECT MATTER - it reflects the way I heard "scantling" used when I lived in East Tennessee

David Swann. "Really? I Love Words." Jefferson County Post [Dandridge, Tenn.] April 25, 2011. http://www.jeffersoncountypost.com/jcpbackissues/apr25-2011/page7.htm


... Finally, I really like the words scantling, but find the definition completely inadequate. Apparently, most people think a scantling is a small piece of lumber. To me, a scantling is clearly a toddler dressed only in a diaper. “The scantling ran through Wal-Mart like he owned the place.” Put some clothes on that kid, and change that diaper while you’re at it.