| Anne & Andi's Gaelic College Adventure Day 3 |
| 8/10/02 Sunday Left Stacy’s for the Isle of Cape Breton. Andi is very concerned about what we will find at the Gaelic College. She has to find out for herself what it’s like. Andi wanted to drive onto Cape Breton. I guess it was a way of conquering her fears about it. And what a welcoming ride over the Canso Causeway it was! We had the Barras’ CD on and as we hit the Causeway, “My Heart’s In the Highlands” came on. I LOVE that song. It has sustained me until I could come back to the Highlands of Cape Breton. I have written poetry about my love for this island. I have dreamt about it, heard bagpipes in my sleep, lectured people about it. I LOVE Cape Breton! And the first sight of Bras D’Or Lake was exhilarating to me. And as we pulled into the Gaelic College, we were greeted by the sound of fiddle and bagpipe. I knew I was in the right place! I thought we wouldn’t make it in time for dinner at the College but Andi drove at breakneck speed and we had made it! The surprising thing about the people at the Gaelic College was they said my name correctly (most people don’t even attempt it) AND they spelled Andi’s last name correctly (only Andi and God can do that consistently). Andi started to feel a little better. But she was still having a problem with the friendly people. I couldn’t believe how shy she was although she had warned me. That night at the Ceilidh I met Betty from Ottawa and Meagan from Vancouver, Gladys and Rennie from Spaniard’s Bay, NFLD, Heather and Holly from Saginaw, Michigan and Smudge, the play director’s dog tied behind the Hall of the Clans. They are having a play there this week called "The Margaret." Smudge looks like an Australian Shepherd. So cute, very friendly and loves to play fetch. After dinner there was a ceilidh in the lobby of our dorm. There were about 8 fiddlers, a couple piano players and a willing audience. I was awed at the talent displayed. Sleep that night came quickly and morning too rapidly. |
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| Andi and I had Bodhran class first so we took our newly purchased bodhrans and went off to find out how to make a joyful noise with them. Michelle Stewart, a Cape Bretoner who had recently emigrated to Scotland, was our instructor. She was incredible with us and very patient. There were 16 of us. Michelle got us practicing the reel rhythms first. Dove right in after we learned how to hold the tipper and how to beat the goat skin properly. At the end of the class, she threw on “Racket in the Attic” by the Barra MacNeils and had us bodhranning along with Lucy MacNeil! What a thrill to be able to play with a record on the first class! I had the best success watching Michelle and copying what she was doing rather than looking on the sheet. But that didn’t surprise me since I learn tunes on the fiddle by ear best, also. Andi, on the other hand felt her talents lay elsewhere and enrolled in another weaving class. This class ended up being my all-time favorite. |
| Ian MacDougall’s class was next for me and Weaving for Andi. I was nervous about the fiddle classes since I had never really had any formal lessons on the fiddle, just played from books and CDs. Needn’t have worried. This 22-year-old fiddler put me immediately at ease and patiently went over stuff for us. He also had a most unusual way of holding the fiddle! When I registered for the Gaelic College I had tried to figure out where I fit, instruction-wise, and had determined I was an Advanced Beginner – knew how to read music and knew a few tunes by heart. Dean from New Hampshire was also in the class with me and in the same boat. There was a lady there that first class that was beyond us and she transferred out to the next class up. Ian had to lower his expectations a bit since we were so slow reading music but he pushed us to memorize the notes so we could play faster rather than read slower. He also didn’t quite play the music as it was written and showed us where sometimes it sounds better played differently. LOL! I learned a lot from Ian that first day and he put me at ease. |
| Next class was with Alisdair Gillies from Scotland. Alisdair is an award-winning bagpiper who currently teaches at Carnegie-Mellon University here in Pennsylvania. And here I didn’t even know that C-M had a Piping program! You can graduate with a Music degree in it there! Well, you learn something everyday. Bagpipe class is definitely a lot harder than I expected. My fingers do NOT want to go where they need to. There are only nine notes to play but so many grace notes! There is another guy in class with me – Jim W. He has been playing for a year and he is good! If he is still considered a Beginner, then I must be at the Prenatal Level. Oh my goodness! Alisdair did well sharing the time between the two of us. Jim encouraged me, saying he’d been there not too long ago. He was very gracious, not minding the fact I was sooooo a beginner. This is the class I will have to work hardest at doing. I have a new admiration for bagpipers! It is way harder than it looks. |
| Lunch was a needed break from the intensity of the morning sessions. The kitchen staff did their best to make sure everyone got what they needed and they certainly cooked some great food. After lunch, the Gaelic College has a Ceilidh outside for the public to see and hear. The instructors are the entertainers this week. Today we saw fiddler Stan Chapman who is subbing for Wendy MacIssac today, Angus McLeod who sang in Gaelic, Alisdair Gillies on the Pipes, Michelle Stewart on the bodhran, and there was a stepdancer and a piano player whom I can’t remember. |
| After lunch brought frustration and disappointment for me. I went to Carl MacKenzie’s Fiddle class to find that I was way out of my league. Dean was there from Ian’s class this morning but there were an additional 6 people who knew a whole heck of a lot more than I did. Most of them were people who had played in the ceilidh the night before and were soooooo good. What were they doing in an Advanced Beginner’s course? There was no way they came anything close to beginner. At least in my opinion. I spent the session close to tears because I just couldn’t do it as fast and as well as they did . They were nice and all, but it seems none of them learned best by ear and they were really good at sightreading music. One of the women expressed an admiration for me because I could pick out tunes from CDs. But that didn’t help me any here. I was in the minority. So I made the decision to put myself back into the beginner’s section for these two afternoon classes. It was a situation where I didn’t really fit anywhere. I was too advanced for beginner and not advanced enough for advanced beginner. sigh. Next year I’ll be a real advanced beginner I hope. |
| 8/11/02 Monday – first day of classes Breakfast offered porridge as one of the menu items. It looked like oatmeal to me but tasted much better. In fact I had two helpings! The rest of the week porridge was my breakfast of choice. And Andi’s as well. Meals at the Gaelic College were wonderful. |
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| I didn’t bother going upstairs to the next Advanced Beginners class with the group but stayed behind to be with the Beginners. They really were beginners, too. It was Andi and Elaine. Andi had picked up a fiddle before and she knew the scale on the A string, but Elaine knew nothing. At least I looked like I knew what I was doing in THIS class. I was a complete idiot in the other. Carl got us started on a tune called Morag of Dunvegan, a slow waltz. Just our speed. We would grow to hate Morag though! The end of that class was the end of the day and an hour and a half to practice, roam, decompress, whatever, before dinner. We took a peek at the menu and discovered fish was dinner, so the two of us decided to take a trip to Glace Bay to find MaryJoe’s – the best fish and chips place around. I hadn’t been there in two years but as soon as I said something about being from Philadelphia, MaryJoe asked me where Karen was. She remembered! The fish and chips were still the best, MaryJoe was still friendly and I was happy to see some new industry in the former coal mining town. Things are looking up. |
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| O Canada in Gaelic |
| An aptly named painting in the lobby The Welcome |
| Michelle |
| Ian |
| Alisdair |
| Carl |
| MaryJoe |
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| Computer Withdrawal! |