December 2000
 
 Hello, Friend-of-Scottish-Music-Who-Is-On-The-Internet:
 
This email is being sent as two messages to overcome the
extraordinary delay encountered with a single, very lengthy
message to a large number of recipients. My server has been 
resisting all day. I apologize. 
This is part 1

 Welcome to the email edition of Granite Skyes, the monthly
 newsletter of the Strathspey & Reel Society of New Hampshire.
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 SRSNH, please get in touch. Members of the SRSNH will
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 Thanks! And hope you enjoy seeing the Strathspey & Reel Society
 news!
 
 Elias Abelson
 SRSNH Email Editor
 Eafid@aol.com


GRANITE SKYES
Newsletter of the Strathspey & Reel Society of New Hampshire
Having Fun with Scottish Music
Volume 13, Number 4 -- December 2000

DECEMBER GATHERING
December 17  Sunday Afternoon, 1-5 pm.
Sylvia Miskoe,  Leader
Annichiaricho Theatre, S. Main St & Thompson St, Concord,
N.H.

Approximate schedule:
1:00 - 3:00 December's tunes
3:00 - 3:30 Refreshments & Jamming
3:30 - 5:00 Requests & Solos

NOTES FROM THE MUSIC DIRECTOR
--by Sylvia Miskoe
The first tune this month is one made famous through a
recording.  Its composer, F. Stanley, is little known. 
However, when Jimmy Shand recorded The Bluebell Polka in
1955 it became a radio hit, cementing Shand's position as a
Scottish music recording artist.  It is first found in
Kerr's Collection of Merry Melodies, 1875, without a
composer.  Around the turn of the 20th century, it was
published in Kerr's "New and Popular Music" with Stanley's
name as composer.  The international folk dancers adopted it
as the tune for dancing the Irish couple dance Siemse
Berte.  At some point it got words.  It has a standard polka
format, three parts.  Play it and feel good.

There are not many three part tunes which means when you
find one, there's often no place to use it and no other tune
to use as a companion.  The Duchess of Buccleugh,
(pronounced Buck-loo) by Niel Gow, is one such tune.  I
found it years ago and only recently found a niche for it. 
To me it is delicate and full of joyous flight. RSCDS
suggests, in its Book 26, that it be used for a 40 bar
dance, The Ladies of Dunse.  There are two other Gow tunes
with a similar 'feel' in the SRS Collection on page 1.11.
Maggie Brown's Favorite is a delight to play and to dance
to.  Her origins are slightly clouded, since depending on
what book you read, the tune is by O'Carolan or by Nathaniel
Gow.  O'Neill's Music of Ireland lists Planxty Brown in the
O'Carolan section.  The Complete Music of O'Carolan includes
it in the untitled section.  Annie Shand's Old Scottish
Music references it to N. Gow's Collection and the name is
"Miss Margaret Brown's Favorite (now  Lady Camden)".  Since
O'Carolan lived long before Nathaniel Gow, and traveled in
Scotland, it could have made its way into Gow's hands and he
published it with his name on it.  It is interesting to note
that this tune, no matter what book you find it in, remains
unchanged.  Good tunes travel and Margaret, now Maggie, has
become a standard New England dance tune.
Miss Stewart's Jig, _____of Bombay, is by William Marshall. 
Is a good companion for Maggie Brown.  Sometimes it is
simply titled Miss Stewart of Bombay.  

Welcome to Tyneside by David Findlay comes from The
Newcastle Book, a collection of contemporary dance tunes. 
David Findlay is a pianist with the Olympians Scottish Dance
Band, which for many years, provided music for St Andrews
Summer School.  


BOARD OF DIRECTORS UPDATE
-- by Carolynn Marsh, Secretary
Highlights from the November 29 Meeting): 
Gail Birch provided a recap of the GALA and a  thoughtful,
in depth analysis, with suggestions for next time. Although 
inclement weather limited attendance, Ed Los, Treasurer
reports that the bottom line is in the black with the final
figures to come. The BOD joined in well deserved
appreciation of Gail's mighty efforts and job well done.
Other topics covered included appointments to the 
scholarship committee, funding, recommendations for the
nominating committee, further brainstorming on sites for a
future retreat, newsletter guidelines, ongoing work on
by-law amendments and much more. 

Next Meeting:  January 10.  All meetings begin at 7:30 p.m.
at the NH School of Scottish Arts in Manchester, and are
open to all members.  Please contact the secretary if you
need directions.  Members wishing a complete copy of the
Minutes should contact the secretary at  whimsyhill@aol.com 

SRSNH SCHOLARSHIPS
SRSNH has funds available again this year to  provide
scholarships for its members to further their studies of
Scottish music.  Applicants must be current members of
SRSNH, be at least 10 years old, and have studied their
instrument for at least 2 years.  It is time to prepare your
applications to the Scholarship Committee. Completed
applications  must be received by the Scholarship Committee
by January 29.  Committee members are Don Young, Chairman,
Marjory Swope, and Lynn McElroy.  You can get guidelines and
applications from Don Young at 4 Bridge St., Berwick, ME 
03901-2212, or call 207-698-1571. 

BRAVO FOR THE GALA
Kudos to Gail Birch and everyone else who worked hard and
had fun creating the Gala Concert.  Here's a typical comment
from someone who came to see it:  "The show was terrific!
You all did a wonderful job. Thank you for providing so many
Scottish dance and music enthusiasts with such  an enjoyable
afternoon of live theatre. We loved it and so did our young
nephews." 

We will have more about the Gala in the January issue.  Gail
sends thanks to all who participated, and would like your
feedback.  Did you have fun?  Would you like to do this sort
of production again?  Let Gail know your thoughts.

JANUARY BRINGS MUSIC FROM BRITTANY
-by Sylvia Miskoe
Mark your calendars for the January 28th session when David
Surette will lead a workshop of Breton music.  Brittany is
located in the northwest of France and has many ties with
the music of the British Isles.  David has studied in
Brittany and has an extensive Breton repertoire. 
David will also have a house concert at Sylvia Miskoe's on
the evening on January 28.  Look for details in the January
issue. 

ON MEMORIZING POETRY
--by Barbara McOwen
I've been reading some interesting books lately. One is
"Wordstruck," by Robert MacNeil (formerly of the
MacNeil/Lehrer Report). He loves words, writing, images
painted by words, and has spent his entire life working with
words. There is a long, remarkable passage about the
techniques and effects of memorizing poetry, which may be of
interest to some of our members. Here is a small part of
this passage:

"Part of the poetry loading was memorization. Nothing makes
a poem yours and so prepares you to absorb it seriously as
committing it to memory. Then you can live with the lines
intimately, saying those you wish to dwell on to yourself
again and again. As you do so, all the subtler poetic
devices reveal themselves, the deeper music and the less
obvious layers of meaning. If you memorize a poem, even
coldly without enthusiasm, the chances are your regard for
it will grow. Something learned that well - learned by heart
is a good expression - taken to heart, becomes part of your
mind's ear, another part of the mechanism that lets you
weigh words.

"In the wisdom of the ancient Greeks, the mother of all the
muses, who governed creativity, was the goddess of memory,
Mnemosyne. Obviously they thought that if you can't remember
you can't create. 

"A painter's eye memorizes, as does a musician's ear. The
memory-banks they create are fundamental to their training.
Memorizing poems gives all of us, amateurs of language, our
own memory-banks. Sentimental, lyric, narrative,
adventurous, dramatic, bombastic, gothic, facetious, satiric
-- we heap the phrases up and our amazing brains keep them
ready to leap out, bidden or unbidden -- all accessible --
in milliseconds.

"We memorized a lot by a system taught in grade school that
made it easy -- a system I have used ever since when I need
to memorize something quickly. You read the first line and
say it without looking at the page. When you can do that,
you read the second line, then say it without looking. Then
you repeat the first two lines together, and so on, always
repeating all the lines you have learned until you can say
the whole piece…." 

MISSING MUSIC STAND
Is there anyone out there who may have picked up the bottom
of my music stand at the Saturday night dance at the Loon
Mountain Games?  I had started to set up my stand when I
arrived, but sat in the front row with a gentleman who
already had his stand set up.  At intermission, I folded up
the bottom and put it along the wall next to my stand case,
but not in it, apparently.  I did not notice when I packed
up that it was missing, but next day I checked everywhere,
to no avail.  I can only think that someone picked it up by
mistake.  It is one of the stands with a black plastic base
that unfolds to a tripod shape, and the solid wooden and
plastic top fits on it.  If anyone finds it, please contact
me at 6024 Telegraph Rd., Alexandria, VA 22310, or call
703-960-0095.
Thanks!  - Anne Leslie 

NEWS HARPERS CAN USE
-submitted by Don Young
The Edinburgh Harp festival will run from Friday, April 6
through Wednesday, April 11, 2001, in Edinburgh, Scotland. 
For more information, see their web site at
harpfest@scotweb.co.uk

Also, there will be two summer schools for harpers by the
Isle of Lewis Branch of the Clarsach Society (Coman
Chlarsach nan Eilean).  One will be taught by Alison
Kinnaird, and one by Wendy Stewart. For more information
contact: www.lochroag.co.uk


GOLDEN RULES FOR ENSEMBLE PLAYING
-submitted by an alert reader, with a smile

1. Everyone should play the same piece.
2. Carefully tune your instrument before playing, so you can
play out of tune all night without guilt.
3. Happy are those who have not perfect pitch, for the
kingdom of music is theirs.
4. Take your time turning pages. Silence is golden.
5. If everyone gets lost except you, follow them.
6. If you are completely lost, stop everyone and say, "I
think we should tune."
7. When everyone else has finished playing, you should not
play any notes you have left. If you have notes left over,
please play them on the way home.
8. The right note at the wrong time is a wrong note.
9. A wrong note played timidly is a wrong note. A wrong note
played with authority is an interpretation.
10. A true interpretation is realized when there remains not
one note of the original. 
 
Wishing you all the best of the season, and a New Year rich
in the joys of music. 

SRSNH EVENTS
Gatherings on Sunday afternoons, 1-5 pm, Annichiarico Music
Theater, Thompson & S. Main Sts, Concord, N.H. All ages, all
instruments, all levels welcome; free, with potluck
refreshments. December 17, January 28, February 25.

Scottish Country Dance Ball, April 14, Salem, MA.  Rehearsal
in the afternoon, pot luck supper, play for the evening
dance party.  Sign up with Sylvia Miskoe, 102 Little Pond
Rd., Concord, NH  03301, 603-225-6546, smiskoe@aol.com 

CALENDAR :
Scottish Christmas National Tour 2000  A Scottish Christmas
concert series featuring Bonnie Rideout, Maggie Sansone,
Tony Cuffe, Jerry O'Sullivan, Paddy League, Robert McOwen,
and Jen Schoonover 
December 8, Decorah, IA
December 10, Naples, FL
December 11, Clearwater, FL
December 15, Torrance, CA
December 16, Ogden, UT
December 17, Albuquerque, NM
December 19  20, Washington, DC
December 21, Easton, MD
For a complete listing of dates, times, and locations, check
the schedule at www.maggiesmusic.com

"A Celtic Christmas" National Tour featuring Tom�áseen Foley,
Irish storyteller; Deby Benton Grosjean, fiddler; William
Coulter, guitar; Todd Denman, uilleann pipes; Irish singers
and Irish dancers
December 8: Rockport, ME
December 9: Wallingford, CT
December 10 &11: Columbia, Missouri
December 13: Grants Pass, Oregon
December 16: Redding, California
December 18: Medford, Oregon
For more information please contact Tish McFadden
Steinfeld:call (541) 482-5036 or email rumtum@mind.net 

Clan Du, December 15, Borders Books & Music, Fort Eddy Rd.,
Concord, NH, 8pm; free

Scottish Country Dance Ball celebrating the 50th year of the
Boston Branch, with music by Highland Whisky; December 31,
2000, 8 pm, Hamilton Hall, Salem, MA, $20 per person,
advance reservations required; send check made out to RSCDS
Boston Branch to Flo Hearn, 18 Maurice Rd., Wellesley, MA
02482-4633, list all names.

Taste of Scotland trip to Iceland and Scotland, June 7-June
18, 2001; for more information contact Peggy Morrison,
President of the Cape Breton Gaelic Club, Boston Branch,
781-386-5461 (day), 978-858-3792 (eve), email
peggymorrison@mediaone.net

ESS Dance Party a congenial mix of English and Scottish
Dance leaders Brad Foster and Lance Ramshaw, music by The
White Cockade, February 3, 2001, $8; Park Ave.
Congregational Church, corner or Park Ave. & Paul Revere
Rd., Arlington Heights, MA 

English-Scottish Session at Pinewoods, July 2-6, 2001; for
more information call Howard Brezner, Registrar,
518-456-1731, or www.geocities,com/SoHo/Courtyard/8534/ 

MORE WEBSITES OF CELTIC INTEREST
www.lochroag.co.uk -Isle of Lewis Branch of the Clarsach
Society
harpfest@scotweb.co.uk - Edinburgh Harp Festival

SESSIONS, JAMS & DANCES
2nd Sundays - English dancing, 6:30-9:30pm., Old Concord
Hospital, Pleasant Street, Concord, NH. $6, or $5 for ECDSNH
members. Call Judith Ackerson (603)934-2543, or
jnoska@cyberportal.net.

3rd Sundays - English dancing, 7-9:30 pm., at the Portsmouth
Ballroom. Portsmouth, NH, $6 or $5 for ECDSNH members. Call
Dave Bateman (603) 886-5071 or dbateman@net1plus.com.
3rd Sundays - Gaelic Club, 3-7 pm., Canadian American Club,
Watertown, MA. Peggy Morrison, (978) 858-3792.
Mondays - Slow jam, 7-9pm+, Fiddler's Loft, 19 Marshall Rd.,
Kingston, NH. $5/night Albert Brien (603) 642-5434,
Fidlerloft@aol.com.
Tuesdays - Scottish Country Dance, 6-8pm., Fitchburg
Library, Main St., Fitchburg, MA. Gail Birch (978) 597-8016.
Tuesdays - Irish/Celtic Sessions at The Barley House
Restaurant and Tavern, 132 North Main Street, Concord, NH
7:00 to 10:00 PM.  (603) 229-0083
1st Tuesdays - Slow Jams, 6-7:30pm, Park Avenue
Congregational Church, Arlington Hts., MA. Info:
(617)-522-5887.
3rd Tuesdays - sessions with hired teachers, variety of
traditions, 6:30-8pm, First Cambridge Baptist Church,
Cambridge, MA donation, 617-522-5887
2nd & 4th Tuesdays- "Play Togethers" with Michael Kenney,
1st Cambridge Baptist Church, 5 Magazine St., Cambridge MA
617-492-7323
Wednesdays - Merrimack Valley Scottish Country Dancers, SCD
classes:  children's class 6 pm, adults 7:30 pm, Odd Fellows
Home, Pleasant St., Concord, NH Contact Brenda Janssen,
(603) 226-2739.
1st Wednesdays - Jam session, 7pm., K of C Hall, Elm St.,
Milford, .3 from oval. Sandy Lafleur (603) 673-8497. 
3rd Wednesdays - Swedish fiddle night, 7pm., at the home of
Nancy Kalinski.  Call or e-mail for directions,
swedishfiddler@hotmail.com
Wed or Thurs - Scottish Country Dance, 7-9pm., Chandler
Library, Nashua, NH. Loren Wright (603) 891-2331.
1st Thursdays:  Contradance, Dover City Hall, 8:00 - Lamprey
River Band, guest callers and musicians invited. $5; Peter
Yarensky 603-664-2513.
2nd and 4th Thur - Beginner jam, 7-9pm, Fiddler's Loft (see
Monday's info), free
2nd Fridays: Contradance, Kittery, ME Grange Hall (now
called the Left Banke), 8:00 - various bands. $6
3rd Fridays - Contra Dances, 8-11pm, Town Hall, Kensington,
NH; $6; Claire 603-772-3558
3rd Fridays - Square and Contra Dances Roaring Jelly,
Lexington, Mass. Susan Elberger, Caller, and Debby Knight,
Music Director. To dance or join band, call (781)-944-3544,
www.toc.lcs.mit.edu/~slonim/rjelly.html. 
4th Fridays - Contra Dance, 8-11pm, Town Hall, Milford, NH.
Open band. Sylvia Miskoe, (603) 225-6546.
Saturday afternoon - play fiddle with John Campbell at his
home in Maynard, Mass. For specifics, John (978) 897-7031.
Saturday afternoons - Community Traditional Music Sessions, 
3-6, Fox Library, Arlington, MA., Dec 2 and 16.; $1 per
person for hall rental. Laura at (781) 646-7522, or call
781-643-3603
2nd Saturdays - Contra dance, 8-11, Francestown, NH, Town
Hall.  Frank Woodward, (603) 487-2480, yankee@grolen.com 
4th Saturdays - Contradance, Dover City Hall, 8:30 - various
bands. $7, 603-659-7038

A REMINDER: Deadline for January articles is January 5.  No
calendar dates before January 15 will be included.

Granite Skyes is published monthly (10 issues) between
September and June by the Strathspey & Reel Society of New
Hampshire. Subscription $6/yr ($10 overseas). Individual
domestic memberships cost $14/yr; please inquire about other
rates. Edited by Ellen Bassett. All items welcome, depending
on space available; e-mail by the 1st Friday of the month
for inclusion in the mid-month mailing to
ebassett@cheerful.com in text only format. Electronic Editor
is Elly Abelson. Email subscription is free. The SRSNH Web
Page is maintained by Terry Traub,
http://world.std.com/~ttraub/srsnh.

SRSNH OFFICERS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS & COMMITTEES
Music Director: Sylvia Miskoe
President: Sandy Lafleur
Vice President: Bob Reed
Secretary: Carolyn Marsh
Treasurer: Edward Los
Members-At-Large: 
Ellen Bassett
Nancy Kalinski
Scholarship Committee:  Don Young, Chairman, Marjory Swope,
Lynn McElroy
Nominating Committee: to be named in January.

SRSNH GATHERINGS 2000-1
�·Sunday December 17
�·Sunday January 29
�·Sunday February 28
 
 Sundays, 1-5pm
Free admission. All ages, all instruments, all levels
welcome; free, with potluck refreshments.
Annichiarico Music Theater, 1 Thompson St, at S. Main St.
Take I-93 to Exit 13 or 14.  Take S. Main St. to Thompson
St., 2 blocks S. of Pleasant St. (Rts. 202/9), 1 block N of
Capitol Center for the Arts.  Park on S. Main, S. State, or
in the lot across Thompson St. from the theater.  Do not
park in the Resident's Lot.

STRATHSPEY & REEL SOCIETY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
102 Little Pond Rd.
Concord, NH 03301
603-225-6546
smiskoe@aol.com
www.srs.nh