Since Christmas is in 10 days, here are some excerpts of a choir singing at the 1957 Christmas in Alexandria. The songs are O Holy Night and Silent Night. This post also concludes the Archival Tune of the Month series. All 12 posts are still available on here...
For November’s archival tune, we return to the fiddle. This month features Angus Chisolm playing in Mabou in June 1952. Born in Margaree Forks, Cape Breton in 1908, Chisolm was one of the first fiddlers from the island to record albums. He played in the Cape Breton...
This month we’ll feature some bagpipe tunes. These were recorded at a Lochiel social held at St. Alexandria’s Church sometime in the 1960s. The recording starts with an introduction, followed by a pipe band playing The Road to the Isles (the track ends quite...
This month’s tune was recorded on September 2, 1957, at the home of Dorothy Dale. It features Duncan W. McDonald on the fiddle and Dorothy Dale on the piano. Duncan "Picket" McDonald was born in Glen Sanfield on January 8, 1906. He played the bagpipes in the 1st...
This month the Archival Tunes are taken from an Annual Scotch Concert (the year and location are unspecified). The Concert featured performers such as the Alexandria School pupils singing, Donald MacLellan on the fiddle, Catherine-Olive Defreitas on the piano,...
Since the Glengarry Highland Games are in only a few weeks (already!), this month the Archival Tune will be a short audio documentary on the Games. It features explanations of the highland dancing and piping competitions as well as the sporting events. It is not known...
This month we return to the fiddle as the Tune of the Month features Rev. John MacPhail. A native of St. Andrew’s, his first fiddle teacher was his father, Roderick. His passion for music led him to form several groups, namely a band composed of his family members...
This month, the Archival Tune features Johnny Forrest on the accordion. These tunes were recorded at a concert in Cornwall, but the year is not known. Johnny Forrest was a regular performer on Don Messer’s jubilee in the 1960s. Born in Carluke, Scotland (north of...
This month the Archival Tune is a few samples of Gaelic songs sung by Duncan Angus McRae of St. Raphael’s. Someone states at the beginning of the tape that these were recorded in 1915 for John McMartin, who was one of the owners of the Hollinger Gold Mines. No more...
We’ll finish the “Little” Jack MacDonald series of posts with Winston Scotty Fitzgerald’s recollections of MacDonald in Cape Breton Magazine, volume 46. Fitzgerald was visiting Buddy MacMaster in Cape Breton, and after a late night he was awoken by a visit from...