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THE CELTIC CONNECTION « OCTOBER 1995
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
NEW VIDEOS FROM ISLAND MUSIC
• Northern Belle — A steam train trip Aberdeen to Inverness • Scotland's Larder — c/w recipe book • West Highland Line — Glasgow to Skye Super Scenery
• Gordon Highlanders — Farewell Concert & 200 years
• Castles of Scotland — Six videos each — Two Castles
• Myth & the Man — Life & Works of Robert Burns
W* also carry cd & cassettes
Yes — The 1995 World Pipe Championships and Tannas latest plus more
Contact Island Music (604) 929-2706
for your nearest outlet and information
ge's Music
featuring Capricorn Strings Instruments
banjos, guitars, mandolins, harp, bagpipes, fiddles and sheet music
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(604) 562-7152 Fax (604) 562-6919
Toll Free Number 1-800-665-9448
WESTERN FEATHER
Phone: (604) 461 -7440
PROCESSORS OF FEATHER & DOWN MANUFACTURERS OF COMFORTERS AMD PILLOWS
DOWN CO. LTD.
JAY FOODY
PRESIDENT
Jay Foody is from Dublin
3086 Spring Street Port Moody, B.C. V3H 127
WARD MUSIC
A LARGE SELECTION OF •
CELTIC MUSIC
For: Bagpipes • Fiddle • Harp Mandolin • Tin Whistle Accordian and Folk Songbooks of Celtic countries
Toll Free Order Lines' (B.C.)1-800-663-1351! (National) 1-800-661-3761 Vancouver, 412 W. Hastings St' Phone (604) 682-5288 N. Vancouver, 1615 Lonsdale Phone (604) 986-0911 Langley, 6339 - 200th St. Phone (604) 530-8704 Victoria, 911 Fort St. _..-.rJ.Pne_.[604) 385-3413
A VANISHING BREED
Dear Editor:
I was amazed if not astounded by the article in your paper [September issue] by Mary Carolan, stating that the director of "the Original Culchie Festival in County Gal way," couldn't find a culchie from the North.
Having spent my childhood in South Derry, I can remember many culchies roaming the land in those days. In fact, my cousin Hughie was and still is a culchie. A few of my school mates were descendants from a long line of culchies; they could do the walk and talk the talk.
I can still remember Hughie wearing his culchie suit, a style he copied from the Donegal culchies who swarmed across the border at the first smell of a job. Donegal men were considered to be the epitome of culchieism" and much admired for their panache.
Although Hughie designed his own suit and had it tailored by a culchie tailor in Ballymena, there were certain basic designs that were strictly adhered to (to be identified as a true culchie).
There had to be box pleats in the back of the jacket and front pleats on the front pockets. The trousers would have 26-inch bottoms hanging over pointy toed shoes. A tweed cap perched on the right side of the head would top the lot.
This kind of attire would accentuate the gait of the culchie known as the culchie walk — a kind of swagger or strut that enabled one to identify them from a distance. The culchie strut
'mm®.
was created by the following motions—the head bobbed from side to side, while the arms swung in opposite directions, while bouncing up and down in a forward motion. (Please don't practice this at home in front of a mirror!)
Culchies would usually dress up and strut their stuff on Saturdays and Sundays (Sunday was a great day for culchie watching). The rest of the week, they would wear Wellington boots and the nearest clothes that came to hand. These clothes were only removed at night, when the trousers were left to stand in the corner.
Culchies could also be identified by the healthy smell of hard work and the natural aromas of the farmyard usually carried around on their wellies.
This was enough to attract culchie women, strong, hairy types, with reputations for great churning, skinning rabbits and felling fowl, they might be found in the nearest camogie game swinging the ash.
I will always remember when as a young boy, I was allowed to stay up and attend the local
ceilidh frequented by many of the local culchies, when a culchie woman dancing the Haymakers Jig dropped what I thought to be her knickers on the floor. This turned out to be a pair of mens combinations, cut off at the legs, with a large safety pin at the waist. The thing I admired most was how in one motion, she skied them across the hall (almost blinding some ould fella who was trying to light his pipe) and never missed a step. This was culchiesism at its best.
I realize there are negative views on certain culchies nowadays. I have heard them described as cunning, shrewd and downright conniving but have recently discovered that these adjectives are usually reserved for Cork men. It also appears that the greatest density of culchies reside in County Meath, especially West Meath.
On the whole, the culchies I've met in Canada are hardworking people. They are usually found at Gaelic matches and Comhaltas and are good traditional musicians. Paddy Rock could be right that culchieism is dead in the North, since the last time I visited, there were few young culchies to be seen.
Maybe my cousin Hughie is the last of the northern culchies, as he still has the walk and the talk, even though he is 70. Do you think Liam Neeson might be interested in a movie, seeing we already have a title? The last of the Northern Culchies."
Yours truly, Pronsius O'Luachra Vancouver, B.C.
BUSKER RIGHTS
DUBLIN — Buskers in Grafton Street are forming an association to "defend their species from possible annihilation." They object to the frequency with which they are moved on or arrested by gardai.
Disapproval of the garda action led to 10,000 people signing a petition that the buskers should be allowed to continue unhindered. The petition was launched by the city's Lord Mayor, Sean Dublin Bay Loftus.
A full page advertisement was also placed in The Sunday Tribune supporting the buskers. It was signed by a number of leading musicians and other personalities from the world of the arts.
— The Irish Emigrant •
PLAYING FOR BOSNIA
DUBLIN — Irish artists were strongly represented recently at a major concert for Bosnia, in Modena, Italy.
The star, Luciano Pavarotti, appeared in his home town, and was joined by Bono of U2, The Chieftains and The Cranberries.
— The Irish Emigrant
Seamus Heaney Wins Nobel Prize
DUBLIN — The announcement that Irish poet Seamus Heanev has been awarded this year s Nobel Prize for Literature brought accolades from many quarters and started a hunt for the poet, who was on a walking tour of Greece.
Among the first to offer con-
tratulations was President Mary obinson, who reflected on the unanimous joy which the nation felt at the news. Plaudits came in from fellow poets, politicians, artists, actors and academics.
RTE's Brussels' correspondent was given the task of tracking down Heaney and with the assistance of a helicopter, succeeded. The result was an extensive interview, during which Heaney described the award, "as a matter for celebration not for me, but for Ireland." When reminded that he was following in the footsteps of Yeats, Shaw and Beckett, Heaney spoke of the "awesome dimension" of the award.
When Heaney and his wife returned to Dublin airport, they were met by a delegation of well-wishers headed by Taoiseach John Bruton. They were escorted to Aras an Uachtarain, where a
reception was hosted by President Robinson, a long-time friend and admirer of the man and his poetry.
In response to the President's hope that the prize would be a joy to him, he replied, "I have been given this award at a moment when our country is on the verge of creating something great. I see this prize as a recognition of this great change in our history."
Heaney, who is from the North of Ireland, was raised on a small farm near Castledawson, in south County Derry. He received his secondary education at St. Columb's College in Derry, where he followed in the footsteps of Brian Friel and was a contemporary of SDLP leader John Hume, the poet Seamus Deane and musician Phil Coulter.
Heaney graduated from Queen's University in Belfast and taught for some time in West Belfast. Since then, he has lectured at Queen's, headed the English Department at Carysfort College, became a Professor at Harvard and is also Professor of Poetry at Oxford.