Episode 1 Ar Scáth na Sléibhte

Donnell, we're in the beautiful grounds of Glenarm Castle.

It's belonging to the MacDonnells, but when did they take it over?

Well, that happened in 1399,

when John Mor MacDonnell,

who was the second son of the Lord of the Scottish Isles,

came across to Ireland and married Margery Bissett,

who was the northern heiress to the Glens of Antrim.

This connection to Scotland, it predates the old MacDonnells,

doesn't it?

Well, the coast of North Antrim

and the coast of Western Scotland are only 12 miles apart

at their closest point, from Torr Head to the Mull of Kintyre,

so for thousands of years,

there have been people travelling from one coast to the other,

but one of the most interesting ones is the kingdom of Dal Riada.

And it's amazing that this kingdom existed almost 2,000 years ago

and yet the name of it is still remembered,

and I think that's quite a rarity.

There must have been something about the Dal Riada

which gave it that stability. What was it?

Well, to begin with,

the founder of Dal Riada was a very important man, Cairpre Riada,

and Cairpre Riada was both the son of a King of Ireland

and the cousin of a King of Ireland,

so when he came from the south of Ireland to the north and established

a small kingdom here, it was very powerful and very important.

What about in terms of geography? Can we pin it down that way?

Yes, well, to the north,

the boundary was the River Bush, and to the south

the boundary would have been between Glenarm here and Larne.

Then, inland, the boundary was the hills,

the mountains behind the Glens of Antrim.

In 498, Fergus Mor mac Earc

established Scottish Dal Riada from here,

and we really have much the same situation there,

because the west coast of Scotland is also

bounded by a range of mountains,

which separate it from the rest of Scotland.

So in fact, the mountains in Scotland,

and particularly the mountains here, were pivotal in defining Dal Riada.

There's no doubt about it.

They probably protected it, to a great extent,

from the other surrounding

tribes and reduced the pressure that there was from those tribes.

Is there a connection between your name and the MacDonnells?

No, I have to say there is no connection between my name...

-I'm an Irishman.

-So you're not a MacDonnell.

-My mother was an O'Donnell.

-Ah!

-And that is where the name comes from.

-I see. But it's your forename.

-It's my forename.

-Yes.

But, interestingly enough, I'm married to the MacDonnells.

They get everywhere, don't they?

THEY LAUGH

# Eire lionn dubh agus o... #

# Agus och och Eire 'lig is o... #

Meabh, the County Derry and Antrim Country Fiddlers Association,

that's an awful mouthful of a name. Do you ever think of changing it?

Everybody says that, but in actual fact, we were inaugurated

in 1953 as the Antrim and Derry Country Fiddlers Association.

-I beg your pardon!

-Not that there's any problem.

I don't mind which county comes first!

But, no, that's the way we were, that's what we were born as.

What is it precisely that you do?

We have a community of musicians, not just fiddles,

but we have a bunch of musicians that just love music,

and I've been teaching there for the last, what, 23 years.

So, really, the teaching team is now nine,

and we have over 100 fiddlers come on a Saturday morning,

and they come from all arts and parts and from all backgrounds,

because that was the ethos

of why the Antrim and Derry was set up in 1953.

The style of this area, would you say it's a unique style?

I think the north has a recognisable style.

It is very direct, and it's very clipped,

and that kind of shows as well

the exchange we would have with Scotland.

And Donegal would have the same.

We have a liaison with Donegal fiddlers, and it's the same.

-Can I ask...? I mean, you've been talking about the style.

-Yeah.

I think I would like to hear the difference in style,

if you could illustrate it in a short passage, perhaps.

In a short passage, if I take a jig,

the Antrim style would be very pronounced, very...

Yeah?

Whereas I'd say the more ornamental style would be less "beaty", er...

It would be much more "lilty".

I think it's the sort of music it would be easier to dance to.

It's a good dancing style. It's good for ceilidh music.

We like our ceilidhs up here. Probably keeps us warm, as well!

You mentioned earlier there the connection with Scotland.

I'm not an expert at all on Scottish music.

Would Scottish fiddle music be very similar to your own style?

Very, very much, because

there was an awful lot of work... emigration due to work,

a lot of people going across and getting songs

from there or carrying the music there and then bringing it back.

Equally so, there would have been

in our own history from the plantation

quite a lot of Scottish influence in this area,

so it's inherent in our music and we just play what we have.

Meabh, I know in other parts of the world there is a kind

of recognisable mountain style of fiddling. Appalachia, for example.

Is there an Antrim mountain style of fiddling?

The physical boundaries of the mountains and the Sperrins

and all of those mountain ranges stopped, I suppose, as much flow.

Prior to the media and CDs and everything,

the internet available, they caused a physical barrier, probably,

between regions, and so you got more regional styles.

But it's great to have the community of fiddle playing,

and the fact that we - corny though it sounds - we care for each other,

we actually...

You know, they can come back and come in

and we still maintain a contact with everybody.

-Well done to everybody.

-Thank you very, very much, Cormac.

FIDDLE MUSIC CONTINUES