0:06:06 > 0:06:09Donnell, we're in the beautiful grounds of Glenarm Castle.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13It's belonging to the MacDonnells, but when did they take it over?
0:06:13 > 0:06:15Well, that happened in 1399,
0:06:15 > 0:06:19when John Mor MacDonnell,
0:06:19 > 0:06:23who was the second son of the Lord of the Scottish Isles,
0:06:23 > 0:06:28came across to Ireland and married Margery Bissett,
0:06:28 > 0:06:32who was the northern heiress to the Glens of Antrim.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35This connection to Scotland, it predates the old MacDonnells,
0:06:35 > 0:06:36doesn't it?
0:06:36 > 0:06:40Well, the coast of North Antrim
0:06:40 > 0:06:45and the coast of Western Scotland are only 12 miles apart
0:06:45 > 0:06:49at their closest point, from Torr Head to the Mull of Kintyre,
0:06:49 > 0:06:51so for thousands of years,
0:06:51 > 0:06:55there have been people travelling from one coast to the other,
0:06:55 > 0:07:02but one of the most interesting ones is the kingdom of Dal Riada.
0:07:02 > 0:07:08And it's amazing that this kingdom existed almost 2,000 years ago
0:07:08 > 0:07:12and yet the name of it is still remembered,
0:07:12 > 0:07:13and I think that's quite a rarity.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17There must have been something about the Dal Riada
0:07:17 > 0:07:19which gave it that stability. What was it?
0:07:19 > 0:07:21Well, to begin with,
0:07:21 > 0:07:25the founder of Dal Riada was a very important man, Cairpre Riada,
0:07:25 > 0:07:30and Cairpre Riada was both the son of a King of Ireland
0:07:30 > 0:07:32and the cousin of a King of Ireland,
0:07:32 > 0:07:36so when he came from the south of Ireland to the north and established
0:07:36 > 0:07:41a small kingdom here, it was very powerful and very important.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45What about in terms of geography? Can we pin it down that way?
0:07:45 > 0:07:47Yes, well, to the north,
0:07:47 > 0:07:51the boundary was the River Bush, and to the south
0:07:51 > 0:07:55the boundary would have been between Glenarm here and Larne.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58Then, inland, the boundary was the hills,
0:07:58 > 0:08:01the mountains behind the Glens of Antrim.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04In 498, Fergus Mor mac Earc
0:08:04 > 0:08:08established Scottish Dal Riada from here,
0:08:08 > 0:08:10and we really have much the same situation there,
0:08:10 > 0:08:13because the west coast of Scotland is also
0:08:13 > 0:08:15bounded by a range of mountains,
0:08:15 > 0:08:18which separate it from the rest of Scotland.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20So in fact, the mountains in Scotland,
0:08:20 > 0:08:24and particularly the mountains here, were pivotal in defining Dal Riada.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26There's no doubt about it.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29They probably protected it, to a great extent,
0:08:29 > 0:08:30from the other surrounding
0:08:30 > 0:08:36tribes and reduced the pressure that there was from those tribes.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38Is there a connection between your name and the MacDonnells?
0:08:38 > 0:08:42No, I have to say there is no connection between my name...
0:08:42 > 0:08:44- I'm an Irishman. - So you're not a MacDonnell.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48- My mother was an O'Donnell.- Ah!- And that is where the name comes from.
0:08:48 > 0:08:53- I see. But it's your forename. - It's my forename.- Yes.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57But, interestingly enough, I'm married to the MacDonnells.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59They get everywhere, don't they?
0:08:59 > 0:09:01THEY LAUGH
0:17:06 > 0:17:12# Eire lionn dubh agus o... #
0:17:48 > 0:17:56# Agus och och Eire 'lig is o... #
0:17:56 > 0:18:01Meabh, the County Derry and Antrim Country Fiddlers Association,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04that's an awful mouthful of a name. Do you ever think of changing it?
0:18:04 > 0:18:07Everybody says that, but in actual fact, we were inaugurated
0:18:07 > 0:18:11in 1953 as the Antrim and Derry Country Fiddlers Association.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14- I beg your pardon! - Not that there's any problem.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17I don't mind which county comes first!
0:18:17 > 0:18:20But, no, that's the way we were, that's what we were born as.
0:18:20 > 0:18:21What is it precisely that you do?
0:18:21 > 0:18:25We have a community of musicians, not just fiddles,
0:18:25 > 0:18:28but we have a bunch of musicians that just love music,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31and I've been teaching there for the last, what, 23 years.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34So, really, the teaching team is now nine,
0:18:34 > 0:18:39and we have over 100 fiddlers come on a Saturday morning,
0:18:39 > 0:18:42and they come from all arts and parts and from all backgrounds,
0:18:42 > 0:18:44because that was the ethos
0:18:44 > 0:18:46of why the Antrim and Derry was set up in 1953.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57The style of this area, would you say it's a unique style?
0:18:57 > 0:19:00I think the north has a recognisable style.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03It is very direct, and it's very clipped,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06and that kind of shows as well
0:19:06 > 0:19:08the exchange we would have with Scotland.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10And Donegal would have the same.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13We have a liaison with Donegal fiddlers, and it's the same.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16- Can I ask...? I mean, you've been talking about the style.- Yeah.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18I think I would like to hear the difference in style,
0:19:18 > 0:19:21if you could illustrate it in a short passage, perhaps.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24In a short passage, if I take a jig,
0:19:24 > 0:19:27the Antrim style would be very pronounced, very...
0:19:37 > 0:19:38Yeah?
0:19:38 > 0:19:43Whereas I'd say the more ornamental style would be less "beaty", er...
0:19:53 > 0:19:55It would be much more "lilty".
0:19:55 > 0:19:58I think it's the sort of music it would be easier to dance to.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00It's a good dancing style. It's good for ceilidh music.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03We like our ceilidhs up here. Probably keeps us warm, as well!
0:20:15 > 0:20:18You mentioned earlier there the connection with Scotland.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21I'm not an expert at all on Scottish music.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23Would Scottish fiddle music be very similar to your own style?
0:20:23 > 0:20:25Very, very much, because
0:20:25 > 0:20:28there was an awful lot of work... emigration due to work,
0:20:28 > 0:20:31a lot of people going across and getting songs
0:20:31 > 0:20:35from there or carrying the music there and then bringing it back.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37Equally so, there would have been
0:20:37 > 0:20:39in our own history from the plantation
0:20:39 > 0:20:41quite a lot of Scottish influence in this area,
0:20:41 > 0:20:46so it's inherent in our music and we just play what we have.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48Meabh, I know in other parts of the world there is a kind
0:20:48 > 0:20:52of recognisable mountain style of fiddling. Appalachia, for example.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55Is there an Antrim mountain style of fiddling?
0:20:55 > 0:20:57The physical boundaries of the mountains and the Sperrins
0:20:57 > 0:21:04and all of those mountain ranges stopped, I suppose, as much flow.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07Prior to the media and CDs and everything,
0:21:07 > 0:21:11the internet available, they caused a physical barrier, probably,
0:21:11 > 0:21:15between regions, and so you got more regional styles.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18But it's great to have the community of fiddle playing,
0:21:18 > 0:21:23and the fact that we - corny though it sounds - we care for each other,
0:21:23 > 0:21:24we actually...
0:21:24 > 0:21:26You know, they can come back and come in
0:21:26 > 0:21:29and we still maintain a contact with everybody.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33- Well done to everybody. - Thank you very, very much, Cormac.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35FIDDLE MUSIC CONTINUES