Kay Wilson wrote:
>
> I'm interested to learn that there were Sinclairs on Prince Edward Island --
> by any chance were any of them fiddlers or other musicians? (How about
> Sinclairs in general -- does this family have a musical tradition?)
>
> I didn't know until recently that PEI is a treasure trove of celtic music
> (along with Cape Breton). Here are excerpts from Ken Perlman's tune book
> "The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island: Celtic and Acadian Tunes in
> Living Tradition" (Mel Bay, 1996):
>
> -- PEI is home to about 130,000 people -- almost all of whom are of
> Scottish, Irish or Acadian French origin...Kings County is most Scottish in
> terms of ethnicity and culture...
> -- PEI is also home to one of the oldest, strongest, and most vibrant
> traditional fiddling cultures in North America...this small island (roughly
> 150 miles long by 40 miles at its widest) still hosts at least two to three
> hundred fiddle players of a quality sufficient to warrant being commercially
> recorded. Moreover, there are easily another two or three thousand Islanders
> who can play the instrument well enough to accompany a dance. This is fully
> two percent of the population! Despite this wealth of talent, the fiddling
> scene on PEI is virtually unknown to outsiders.
> -- Island fiddling is a lively blend of Scottish, Irish and Acadian-French
> elements. Local tradition has it that the first boat-loads of Scottish
> immigrants landing at Tracadie Bay on the northeast shore of Queens Co. in
> the late eighteenth century had fiddlers among them, and some families can
> trace their musical pedigrees back to that time.
> -- The Island fiddle repertoire these days is a hodge-podge of tunes from a
> variety of national and regional traditions. Its core is Scottish and--to a
> lesser extent -- Irish...
> -- The playing of a "good fiddler" is said to convey a rhythm so infectious
> that anyone within listening range will want to get up and dance. Island
> fiddlers tend to have a full, strong yet sweet tone.
>
> Well, there's more, but I think you get the idea that this music is very
> special. I had the opportunity this summer to participate in a band lab
> working on PEI tunes. We learned 3 jigs and 3 reels, and they are truly
> wonderful tunes.
>
> If you read music, Perlman's tune book is a must-have. If you'd like to hear
> this music, Perlman recorded a number of the PEI fiddlers for Rounder
> Records. There are two CDs in "The Prince Edward Island Style of Fiddling"
> set:
> -- Fiddlers of Eastern Prince Edward Island (Rounder CD 7015, 1997)
> -- Fiddlers of Western Prince Edward Island (Rounder CD # unknown)
> Rounder has a website: www.rounder.com I think.
>
> BTW, my only interest in this music is in sharing it -- I have no commercial
> interest in it. I'd love to find out that our Sinclair family was part of
> this musical tradition.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: T Sinclair <TSinclair@webtv.net>
> To: <sinclair@mids.org>
> Sent: Monday, July 26, 1999 7:18 PM
> Subject: Re: Sinclairs of Michigan
>
> > Hi
> >
> > Where is Prince Edward Island located?
> >
> > [ This is the Sinclair family discussion list, sinclair@mids.org
> > [ To get off or on the list, see http://www.mids.org/sinclair/list.html
> >
>
> [ This is the Sinclair family discussion list, sinclair@mids.org
> [ To get off or on the list, see http://www.mids.org/sinclair/list.html
test
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