On March 13th, 1940, Glengarry’s Johnny Ranald MacDonald died from viral pneumonia at the age of 63. They say artists are born and not made; from all accounts, “Johnny Ranald” was one such man. A stationary engineer by trade, he is best remembered as an extraordinary violinist. Johnny Ranald was born at 35/6th of Lancaster […]
In 1980 Paul Louis Lacombe, Stanley Robinson and I, Jean Marie Lacombe, all from Glen Robertson, Ontario met together regularly to play violin music. At this time we would drive down to Bob’s Hotel in Dalhousie Station, Quebec to hear Viola MacCuaig, well known pianist accompanying Little Jack MacDonald, renowned violinist of Cape Breton, […]
Malcolm Munro Dewar was born in Dunvegan, Glengarry County, Ontario in 1935. He attended Dunvegan Public School, Maxville High School and Eastern Ontario Institute of Technology. In his early years, his playing was influenced by Donald Fletcher, Martin Ferguson, Beverly MacQueen and Donald Ian MacLeod, all well known Dunvegan fiddlers. In later years, however, his […]
Sidney Plamondon (Plamador) was born in St. Regis, Huntingdon, Quebec, on October 26, 1910. When he was four years old, his mother bought him a violin for Christmas. Sid would play his violin every chance he got. When his mother was tired of hearing him, he would go and play his violin under his bed. […]
The original Scottish settlers in Glengarry had long relied on the violin or fiddle to provide their music for ceilidhs, concerts, weddings and any other Celtic events. Many brought their fiddles and music with them, but over time Scottish violin music showed signs of disappearing from Glengarry County. On November 13, 1977, Allan MacPhail invited […]
Ian has deep roots in his native Glengarry, where, along with his wife Karen and their three children, Scott, Ashley and Brad, he owns and operates a sixth generation dairy farm. He is the son of Alexander and Helen (Nixon) MacLeod. Ian has generously shared his musical talents for close to forty years, playing fiddle […]
