Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
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Who are the featured musicians and why are they on the show?
How I wish that was me, but it is not. That is Robert Harvey, former All-Ireland whistling champion with an air called Madam Bonaparte. Good morning and fair play to you. Good morning. Thank you very much for having me. Not only All-Ireland, former All-Ireland whistling champion, author of a beautiful, really impressive book, Fadil, The Whistling Tradition in Ireland, 1800 to 2021. If you were to see somebody going around the place whistling while they work now, you'd say they were a bit of an attention seeker, perhaps, Robert. But people used routinely whistle while they work and they had special airs for different jobs.
Absolutely, yeah, it was such an important and integral part of normal life, I suppose. You can pull back a little bit from the mic there. Yeah, it was such an important part of everyday life. People used to whistle while they were working around the farm. There were specific plough tunes, there were whistling tunes for milking and tunes that shepherds would whistle out in the fields. It was just an important part of everyday life.
And a belief that if you whistled while you milked, it made the milk sweeter.
What is the historical role of whistling in Irish work and culture?
Absolutely, yeah. Or the cows might yield more milk as well. So maybe listeners listening in this morning might like to give that a go.
I tell you, if that worked, the creameries would already have figured that one out. I can absolutely guarantee you that. And there is an air, an air absolutely perfect for, and I don't mean to sound hokey, but there's an awful lot of people who are actually milking while they're listening to this programme. There is an air, which would have been perfect, but you refused to whistle it.
Yeah, there's a little bit of a superstition around that era, all right.
Going back to the schools collection, there's a story that a priest... This is the Duke of Schools collection, started in 1937, which we keep on coming back to on this programme.
Go on. Yeah, so allegedly there was a priest walking the roads, he was going the roads and trying to, or on his way to administer last rites to a parishioner and... He heard a fairy whistling this melody and got distracted and didn't make it in time to administer last rites. So there's a superstition or a belief that it's kind of bad luck to whistle the tune.
Well, I'll tell you what the consequences of you whistling Madame Bonaparte was. We have a text already, 51551. That amazing whistle had my two horses on high alert and the one that was up the field came in fast.
Terrific!
Fair play to you. OK, the reason that Robert is here and he has brought some colleagues with him as well is that we are piggybacking on the back of Coltus Culletory Aaron's 75th anniversary. And we have an amazing bit of music for you and some more chat a little bit later on in the programme.
What superstitions and stories surround traditional whistling tunes?
But for the moment, Robert, thank you very much.
It's just absolutely amazing what that man can do with his lips. Robert Harvey, All-Ireland Whistling Champion, is still with us, as are now Aoife Vaughan, Cothell and Dara O'Dear-Buil. Because we are talking about the 75th anniversary of Coltis Kiltore-Aaron. But that particular one, Robert, before we go any further, was what?
Mason's Apron.
So associated with another job?
Yes, building.
Everybody had their own tune, didn't they? That's it, exactly. I have already decided, myself and Robert have been having a little chat while we look at the size of this book, there is going to be a Countrywide in the very near future that will be all about whistling and we'll do every job and every field in every county and the songs that are associated with them because it's absolutely breathtaking, the size of this book, the amount of lost culture that you've managed to capture here. Thank you very much. Take me back, though. Let's leave your whistling and the plug for your book aside and talk about the 75th anniversary of Coltus. 1951 we're talking about. What kind of condition was the culture, the music, the dance in at that stage that it needed cultists?
There was very much a fear that traditional music was on the verge of extinction, that it was about to die out.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Who are the featured musicians and why are they on the show?
0:52–2:01
2
What is the historical role of whistling in Irish work and culture?
2:01–3:39
3
What superstitions and stories surround traditional whistling tunes?
3:39–6:09
4
How did Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann begin and why was it founded in 1951?
6:09–7:56
5
How has Comhaltas grown globally and what events does it run today?
7:56–11:15
6
How did the O Duibhir Baoil brothers get involved with Comhaltas and what community does it create?
11:15–14:35