I arose shortly after 8h30 to a day with filtered sun at best—it was not casting any shadows—and a fairly warm +19 (66). After getting gas in Port Hood, I drove the Colindale Road to Mabou for the annual Thanksgiving dinner at the Mabou Community Hall. I was befuddled when no one queued up before 11h, the traditional starting time, and eventually noticed a poster by the door with the new hours of 12h-14h, which doesn’t work with my schedule (I later learned that the new hours result from the changed time of Mass at the local churches, with one priest now doing the duty of four). I therefore drove to Vi’s in Whycocomagh, enjoying the now quite good colour along most parts of Highway 252 from Mabou to Stewartdale, and had their fine Thanksgiving Dinner special.
on the edge of southwestern Cape Mabou, as seen from the guardrails on the Colindale Road under cloudy skies
After dinner, I drove on to St Anns, where I enjoyed good colours along the Trans-Canada Highway under a sun that was somewhat less filtered than earlier. I had a few minutes to spare, so I continued on to the day park. There is a smallish tree there that is always bright red, but this year it was more magenta than red. I took some photos of the estuary at North Gut beside the day park; the yellows of the grasses in the estuary easily outshone the colours on the trees across the Gut. Back at the Gaelic College, I gave the CD’s containing the photos I took at this summer’s Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association concert to Betty Matheson, who invited me to partake of the fiddlers’ lunch in MacKenzie Hall; I had a couple of salads and a wrap, though I wasn’t very hungry, having just eaten an hour and a half earlier. As I stood in line waiting to enter the Hall of the Clans, I felt a good breeze and noticed blue sky beginning to appear and the sun strengthening considerably, though often in and out of the clouds.
The Cape Breton Fiddlers featured the members of the Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association in concert, both in group numbers—the sound of the massed fiddles never fails to thrill me—and in smaller cèilidh sets featuring various performers. The emcee was Wendy Bergfeldt, host of CBC’s Mainstreet Cape Breton radio show. The concert began with two group numbers by the Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association with Dara Smith-MacDonald directing and Janet Cameron accompanying on keyboard; the first was a march/strathspeys/reels set and the second a set of jigs. After a summer of performances and practices, the fiddlers were in top form and sounded fantastic. After they left the stage, Stephanie MacDonald step danced to music provided by Dara on fiddle and Adam Young on keyboard. Dara and Adam stayed on to give us a dandy air/strathspeys/reels set—the air was especially lush and had wonderful tone. Fred McCracken sang My Love Is Like a Red, Red, Rose, accompanied by Janet on keyboard and with Mckayla MacNeil on fiddle playing between the verses. Mckayla, accompanied by Kolten Macdonell on keyboard, then gave us a great set of tunes: my notes read “Wow!” as I was too mesmerized by the amazing playing to even record what the set consisted of. With Kolten on fiddle and Lawrence Cameron on keyboard, Stephanie returned for another step dance. Lawrence then gave us a fine keyboard solo. The first half concluded with a second group number, again directed by Dara but with Adam on the keyboard this time; the first set was a set of jigs beginning with Donald Angus Beaton’s Over the Cabot Trail and the second was a march/strathspeys/reels set beginning with Marcel Doucet’s Space Available march and including the West Mabou reel. Again, the playing was extraördinarily crisp.
After the break, Keyreel Raskolenko, again accompanied by Kolten Macdonell, gave us five great sets, some of which I heard last night. The first was a wide-ranging set that put me in mind again of Dwayne Côté. The second was a Cape Breton set I heard last night. The third, greeted by a standing ovation at its end, was a superb set with mostly Cape Breton tunes. Another dandy Cape Breton set was followed by a set beginning with a clog or hornpipe and turned into a real barn burner of a set, with amazing playing by both musicians which earned them a second standing ovation. The Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association members then gathered for two final group numbers, the first a set of jigs ending with Pipe Major A. MacDonald’s The Baddeck Gathering and the second a march/strathspeys/reels set with lots of step dance tunes for Lauren Boudreau, Kolten, Janelle Boudreau, and one other lady; Mckayla, Brandi McCarthy, and Stephanie dancing together; and Betty Matheson. What a great concert!
Happy as a clam, I drove back to Whycocomagh, stopping at the Herring Choker in Nyanza to pick up a roast beef and cheese sandwich and a green salad (while there, I also acquired Otis Thomas’s The Fiddletree, a lovely illustrated volume telling the story of a tree that he made into musical instruments and including a CD of tunes composed and played in honour of that tree—I’d had this book on my list for a long time, but hadn’t come across it anywhere else). I checked in to the motel and had a half sandwich and some of the green salad—I was hungrier than I thought. Refreshed, I drove off to Mabou for the Parish Concert at the Community Hall.
Mabou is blessed with talent and can easily host its own show as the equal of any Celtic Colours concert; their Parish Concerts give one an opportunity to see up-and-coming talent as well as established performers. I was therefore not particularly upset to have missed the Whycocomagh Celtic Colours concert, even though it featured six stellar performers of Cape Breton music in its second half, Andrea Beaton, Wendy MacIsaac, Troy MacGillivray, Mairi Rankin, Shelly Campbell, and Allan Dewar, whom, of course, I’d have dearly liked to hear. Emceed by David Rankin, with Keigan MacLennan and Derrick Cameron on sound, the Parish Concert began with a set of Gaelic songs nicely rendered by Coisir an Eilein, with Margie (Mrs Stanley) Beaton filling in for the absent Fr Macmillan and with Sandra Gillis on keyboard. The three Campbell girls, whose names are, I believe, Seonaid, Eilidh, and Mairin, next gave us a fine traditional set on fiddle, keyboard, and guitar. Rankin MacInnis on highland bagpipes, accompanied by Lawrence Cameron on keyboard, played a stirring air, march, strathspeys, and reels set. Elizabeth MacInnis on fiddle accompanied by her sister Sarah on keyboard gave us a nice traditional set of tunes. Sarah then sang two Gaelic songs in her stunning voice. Kenneth MacKenzie on fiddle, with Lawrence on keyboard, first played a great fiddle set and then for Iain MacQuarrie to step dance. Lawrence remained on stage to play a keyboard solo. Cullen MacInnis on fiddle, accompanied by Rankin on keyboard, played another fine traditional set. Sarah next sang a puirt a beul to which Melody Cameron step danced. Bonnie Jean MacDonald on fiddle, accompanied by Lawrence on keyboard, then gave us a great set of tunes; she is not now often seen playing outside the Parish Concerts and Joey and Karen Beaton’s summer cèilidhs, but has a great knack for playing slow airs with the utmost grace and beauty that draws me to hear her whenever I can. At this point in the concert, I regretfully left, as it was time to head for the Glencoe dance.
I arrived at Glencoe at 21h02; by 21h10, only three people were in the hall, other than the workers and the musicians, Kenneth MacKenzie on fiddle and Hilda Chiasson on real piano. But it started filling up quickly—the hall was a third full by 21h20! The first square set had two groups in its first figure, one of them apparently learning the figures, as they retired for the second and third figures, danced by seven couples. The second square set had two groups with eleven couples in its first figure and grew to fifteen for its second and third figures. Joe MacMaster on fiddle relieved Kenneth for the third square set, danced by seven couples in its first figure, eight in its second, and twelve in its third; a jig in the second figure was one I hadn’t heard before. With Kenneth back on fiddle, the fourth square set had way too many people to count in the first two figures, with four groups on the floor; twenty-eight couples danced its third figure. A waltz brought out three couples to dance. The fifth square set was another large one, with twenty-seven couples in its third figure during which Kenneth played highland bagpipes. The step dance sequence brought out Stephen MacLennan, Lewis MacLennan, Sarah MacInnis, Amanda MacDonald, Mairin Campbell (I think), and Joe MacMaster to share their fine steps. The last square set was very slow to form, danced finally by four couples in its first figure; the second figure was considerably larger (I didn’t get an exact count); the third figure was danced by twenty-two couples, many young, and a very fitting end to Glencoe’s last dance of this year.
It was raining lightly as I left the hall; the Whycocomagh Port Hood Road was a mess along the Indian River guardrails—that didn’t take long! Once back at the motel in Whycocomagh, I was soon in bed and fast asleep. What a glorious day of music!