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THE CELTIC CONNECTION • MARCH 1993
The Humble Potato Changes Course of History
MUSIC
By JOE KELLY
It is Good Friday morning, on a low misty plateau on the eastern slope or the Peruvian Andes; a row of small seed potatos are sunk into the earth. The group of peasants drop to their knees as the solitary priest lifts his silver cross off his chest and gives his blessing on this most solemn occassion.
Half a world away, we are in County Mayo, Ireland; at the edge of a field, a priest leads a small crowd of genuflecting parishioners in prayer. The seed potatos are freshly planted. The tradition in both countries, apparently unconnected, continues today as it has for centuries.
Who was responsible for the introduction of the potato in Ireland, and when did it arrive? Historians are unable to give definitive answers.
Some credit Sir Walter Raleigh with the honour, and an old song seems to substantiate this:
The brave Walter Raleigh Queen Bess' own knight Brought herefrom Virginia The root of delight By him it was planted At Youghal so gay: An' sure Muster praties Are famed to this day.
Raleigh did have property in Youghal, but never visited Virginia.
There is speculation that floundering ships from the Spanish Armada were plundered by the peasantry who found potatos in the cook s stores.
However, the potato almost certainly arrived in the late sixteenth century, and within 50 years had become the staple food for the majority of the Irish people.
The Irish Brehon Law of "Gavelkind," required that land be divided equally among the sons upon the demise of the father. This custom resulted in the land being divided, then subdivided, and encouraged the spread of the high-yielding potato.
The average Irishman consumed between 10-12 pounds per day. Supplemented by a pint of milk, the potato provided 3,800 calories and nearly all nutritional requirements.
Simple cultivation methods — crops planted in March could be eaten in July — made for a laid-back lifestyle.
A one-acre patch could support a large family. This, in turn encouraged early marriage and permitted an ever-growing population. During one period, 1777-1841, the population increased by four million (a census in 1841 counted the Irish at 8,175,124).
At its zenith, the potato was the sole sustenance for 4.5 million people, with 1.2 million acres under tillage.
The "Potato Blight" struck in 1845. Stalks withered and crops rotted overnight. Corn markets were thrown into disarray and some banks went broke. Famine raged for four years. One million people would die of starvation and one and a half million would immigrate before it was over.
After the famine, the Gaelic language was considerably reduced as the mass immigration and starvation occurred mainly in the west, where the language was mostly spoken. Political consequences reverberated for many years. The "Irish Diaspora" scattered millions into the New World. Ireland was changed forever.
Occasionally, the course of a nation is determined by a simple action, out of which momentous events occur. Such was the case in Ireland, as someone, somewhere, now forever time-obscured, first struck a spade into the fertile sod, planted the humble potato and changed the course of Irish history.
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Cape Breton Fiddler Now on Video
By KEN MACLEOD
CAPE BRETON — Seabright Murphy Video Productions Studio of Antigonish has just released a one-hour video of Cape Breton fiddle music featuring Buddy MacMaster. The release is Buddy MacMaster: The Master of the Cape Breton Fiddle and it should go a long way in getting the Judique native some much-deserved recognition.
Producer and director Peter Murphy has done a fine job in conveying an appreciation for MacMaster's place in Cape Breton's traditional music community through various interviews and footage from the Glencoe Hall to the Isle of Skye. For Murphy, a big fan of Mac-Master's music, the project was a labour of love.
He says, "I started on this a couple of years ago, and, as I worked on the idea and it got closer to completion, I put more time into it. With the trip to Scotland, I went full steam ahead.
"I wanted to do this because of Buddy's reputation. I always
considered him to be a great musician; if he was going to let me do something for him, I wanted to do the best I could."
Murphy admits he got a lucky break when MacMaster was asked to go to Scotland for a week-long workshop on the Cape Breton style of music. "On the trip everything clicked in," he says. "When I started the production, I knew that Buddy was known outside the province as a world-class musician, so I decided at the beginning that I wanted an international perspective."
Murphy, who was born in Ireland and studied Gaelic as a child, said he has always been a fan of Cape Breton traditional music and was pleased to have the opportunity to work with MacMaster. He intends to continue documenting traditional Cape Breton culture.
•
The video tape retails for $30, and can be ordered directly from Seabright Murphy Productions Studio, P.O. Box 1801, Antigonish, Nova Scotia B2G 2M5.
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