Traditional notes by Dick Glasgow
BRING back the Hammered Dulcimer I say, all is forgiven, and folk turn to me and ask "…bring back the what?"
St Patrick's day was no exception, as long as I played my fiddle or mandolin, folk were happy, (well, you know what I mean!) but as soon as I took out my Hammered Dulcimer & started battering away on it with my little wooden hammers, folk started coming up to me and asking "what is that thing".
When I tell folk what it is, they look amazed, and have obviously never even heard of one before because they usually can't even pronounce the word Dulcimer.
So this week, in an effort to make you all a little wiser, I'll tell you a bit about this beastie that Charlie Gillen refers to as my Bacon Slicer!
Although this instrument is relatively unknown now, some say it has been on these shores, in one form or another, since the 12th Century, so how come it isn't more widely known, and played more often, especially in Co. Antrim, where it has always been more popular than any where else in Ireland?
Well, for a start, the word Dulcimer is actually Greek and means 'sweet sound', but of course all the Greeks who read the Times will know that already!
We know stringed instruments have been struck for at least the past 20 thousand years as old cave paintings in southern France depict a mouthbow being played.
A mouthbow, by the way, was an instrument which looked like a hunting bow but was played in a similar fashion to the Jaw Harp today.
However the dulcimer, in its Hammered form, has been around for almost a thousand years, and to prove it, there is a little ivory carving on the front of a book, dated 1139, which shows someone obviously playing a hammered dulcimer.
The carving actually represents King David seated beneath a canopy with his tour musicians, and the original is carved in ivory as one of six scenes from the story of David.
Today, it is technically speaking a trapezoid Zither like instrument with numerous strings (mine both have about 50 strings) stretched across at least two bridges. Its most recent purple patch would appear to have been between the two great wars, when instruments like fiddles etc were very expensive so folk would saw up an old door and make their own, quite cheaply. Perhaps this is why it fell out of favour, if folk regarded it as the poor relation to more expensive instruments.
In any case it looks like the hammered dulcimer, as we know it today, came to Scotland first, for there is a mention of it in 1543 in a poem there, where they call it a 'dulsacordis'! It then came over to County Antrim with the Scots 4 or 5 generations ago by boat, long before Easy Jet!
The first player to be mentioned in dispatches here was a Harry Coudy, who was a well known player in the 20's. Then there was a John Johnson who only died in 1974.
"He made four dulcimers, while Alec Magee of Larne made about a dozen instruments, many of them for young people, who apparently gave up when they found it too difficult; he was a joiner, took the measurements for his instruments from that of John Rea, and used autoharp pins from a music shop."
Other more recent players included James & Andrew Davidson of Buckna, Miss Katie Johnson of Owencloughy, William McMullan of Ballyclare, Thomas Taylor of Mullaghmore, Robert Gilbert of Kilwaughter plus others from around Ballyclare including Nat Magee, Mrs. Craig, Mrs. Doris Apsey, Jackie Apsey, Mrs. Woodside and Alec Rea of Ballymena.
However the most famous Co. Antrim Hammered Dulcimer player of them all was John Rea of Glenarm. He started out on the Dulcimer at the age of eight, and says his brothers all got fiddles but he was too small, so he got the dulcimer! John worked on the tug-boat in Belfast Lough and living on board a lot of the time I suppose gave him plenty of time to practice.
Today people play the dulcimer with little wooden hammers but John Rea used hammers made of thick steel wire, wound with wool, which were his own idea. Now John, in his day, was very famous, he performed on the TV, played with 'The Chieftains' and recorded two LPs. Kids, if you don't know what an LP is, ask yer Da'!
Now in Scotland the players used to play a lot of old song airs, and of songs which were popular between the wars, but John Rea tended to play the old traditional tunes he learned from his dad's fiddle playing. So Reels, Jigs, Marches and Strathspeys were more his cup of tea and a fine healthy mix of Scottish and Irish tunes he played too.
John Rea, before he died, used to regularly play duets with his brother Willie, and thankfully William is still going strong, as is Nat Magee, so the glens still ring to the sound of these two men playing their Hammered Dulcimers.
Another well-known Hammer Dulcimer player was Derek Bell of the Chieftains, although he called his a Timpan, but it was simply a Hammered Dulcimer.
Today, the best player in Ireland is still a County Antrim man, one Barry Carroll who has also recorded a CD with Hammer Dulcimer & Uilleann Pipes and more recently was a guest musician on Sharon Shannon's last CD.
Interestingly, there was very little interest in Hammered Dulcimers in the south.
However two players from both areas did try to meet up once, but the meeting never happened because both men were waiting at different stations!
In 2002, a Hammer Dulcimer festival took place in Cork and ran for three years, organised by an American player, Christie Burns. Before the first Fest, a call went out for all Irish Hammered Dulcimer players to attend, or at least make themselves known – four turned up! However, many Hammered Dulcimer players from all over the world did turn up & beginners classes rekindled an interest in this endangered species.
Christie has gone home to America now, but I am determined to do my best to help save this rare Co. Antrim beastie, the Hammered Dulcimer, and in 2003 I organised a concert in Glenarm Castle which was attended by four Hammered Dulcimers players, including myself.
In 2004, at my Black Nun Fest in Ballycastle I brought over an American player Rick Davis to help keep the flame burning and Nat Magee, of Larne has also played at my Black Nun folk club.
So now you know what it is and if you are curious to find out what it actually looks like and hear it being played, you might like to know that I play mine every Tuesday night in Kelly's Bar, on Church St. Ballymoney and also in the Smugglers Inn, Bushmills, on Saturday nights. Nat Magee would also play with us every once in a while at the Smugglers.
So there you have it, its been around for about a thousand years, its been made and played throughout Co. Antrim for the past 4 or 5 generations, at least, and still folk ask me what it is! Well now I've told you all about it, you can stop asking me! Just enjoy the sound, as the Greeks said, the 'sweet sound', of the Hammered Dulcimer.
You might also like to know that I am in the process of organising a weekend festival for North Antrim, in June this year, to help promote an interest in this instrument, so watch this space for more details.
Before I go, I'd just like to thank the organisers of the alternative St. Patrick's concert for inviting 'Scad the Beggars' to play at their annual event in Ballymoney Town Hall, last Saturday night.
Now, what about another daft piper joke:
Question: What's the difference between a bagpipe and a trampoline?
Answer: You take off your shoes when you jump on a trampoline.
Enjoy yer music.
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Weather for Ballymoney
Tuesday 22 May 2012
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