R - Comhaltas Archive

Che Embers of Cois CineKath leen and Kevin Han lon7l""'l::aofew yea rs ago two sisters werewa lking along a va lley in theWest of Ireland. At the top of ahillside townland (Kinletter) they couldsee the old fa rmhouse cottage in whichthey grew up. Although they now livein an affluent environment they bothagreed that they would not have missedfor anything those wonderful days onthe hillside farm. They were carefreedays never to be forgotten.Mick, whose life spanned eighty-threeyears of the twentieth century, lived onthe Kinletter (head of the sloping land)fa rm for fifty yea rs. The visitor ornewcomer was always welcomed w ithan offer of a glass of the cratur, the tae,or both. Two or three rounds ofrefres hments would be given over thenext few hours. Those we re the days oflegendary home hospitality.The flagged kitchen floor of thefa rmh ouse meant there was apermanent 'dance floor' avai lab le.Dance steps were practised at teno'clock in the morning to a variety ofrecords. Someone would have to keeprushing to w ind up the gramophone tokeep the required music speed onwhi ch the dancing depended.'Of an evening' the family sat cois natine (rou nd the fire) - round the kitchenran ge which had rep laced the openfire . People sat in a semi-circle whichkept expa nding as rakers (visi tors)arri ved. Television had not brought itsdistruptive distraction even in the earl ysixties. Outlying farms were justbeginning to have water pipes laid onrepl acing the well. Those who had theprivilege of drinking good well waterstill remember its quality remarking thattap water has never had the samequal ity taste.Fast ranging chat marked the initialperiod of round the fire . Those 'slow offthe mark' would not get a word in . If anewspaper had to be read out theperson read ing might suddenly say: ' Bigword I' ll pass ye.' This referred to a longor new word. It was a useful phrase toavoid getting 'entangled' w ith it.Singing and dancing would not beginuntil rakers had been given sufficient'welcoming refreshment'. Thi s was amark of hosp itality in times w henrakers walked some distance to visitneighbours - sometimes having totraverse difficult terrain. In boglandareas it was not unknown for people todi sappear w hen mist spread throughthe darkness ac ross moors andmountains. The squelching boglandclaimed victims. Sometimes the 'hosthouse' would hear peopl e ca lling out inthe misty darkn ess, and they would go. out w ith ca rragen lamps to guide them.Singing and DancingBack in the cottage newsgathering jokesand story telling moved into singing.Mick, w ho didn't sing himself, loved tohea r other people sing. Like a comperehe would call on somebody to 'give usa song'. Once singing started it wasround the circle encouraging others tosing. Some took a lot of coaxing andflattering before they would render atraditional air. The singing was generallyunaccompanied 'sean nos style, wl)ichis currently undergoing a reviva l.Some singers would render a few versesof a song, others the complete songwhich might be quite long. Applause(' Good on ye') would always be givenno matter what the quality of singing.The person singing and their chosensong was w hat mattered. Some peoplewould be prepared to 'si ng away' allnight!Song moved into dance. Chairs andtables were pushed to the walls tomake as big a 'dance floor' as possible.Mich would be the first on his feet. Heloved to dance. In his younger days inthe ear ly part of th e century he wouldgo to ce ilithe finishing at 3am. Thenback to the farm by 4am for 'fortyw inks' and ploughing at 6am!The O ld Time Waltz was the favouritedance round the kitchen floor but barndances featured as well - Shoe theDonkey, The Hyland, Stack of Barleyand more. Good dancers would dotheir 'turn ' - a jig, hornpipe or march.At seventy Mick could dance all the'young ones' off their feet!The carpetted floors of modern affluentliving and 'the box' (television) have, ingeneral, destroyed raking and dancingin houses. In recent years we havedanced in ca rpetted homes sometimesw ith boards placed over ·the carpet.High quality recordings enab le the bestof traditional Irish music to be used force ilf and set danci ng in peop le'shomes. A good sized room is the mainrequi remen t. It is important to have a'fair' mix of sets, w hich can take up totwenty minutes, and ce ilf dances sothat all are in vo lved . Lea rning 'as yougo' is very mu ch part of the traditionalIrish dance scene.Irish culture is unique - it is a fullyinclusive culture (culture being the wayof life of a particular people in aparticular place). It is not a culture of'watch ers'. Thi s is one reason why'newcomers' find it such an exileratingexperience. All involved is ve ry mu chin the traditional danCing steps of Mickround his fire in the Hills of Dhun nanGal1.22 ____________________________________________ __