I Buried My Wife and Danced on Her Grave

Here's a couple jigs the Thursday night Celtic Group Class is working on.  If you would like to join the group class, the only requirement is that you be actively taking private lessons either through the Studio, or with another teacher!  The group meets Thursday nights from 7-9pm here in Granby, MA.

The first is called "I Buried My Wife and Danced on her Grave".  Also known as I Buried My Love, I Buried My Wife, I Buried My Wife And Danced On Top Of Her, I Buried My Wife And Danced On Top Of Her Grave, I Buried My Wife And I Danced On Her.  It's a double jig in D Mixolydian with two parts of 8 bars.  The earliest source for this tune is 1927, which indicates that it's a relatively modern tune, probably written for the first Irish Feis in 1929 as established by the Gaelic League. 

The second tune is Connachtman's Rambles.  Also known as Bean Ag Baint Duileasc, The Connacht Man’s Rambles, The Connachtman’s Rambles, The Connachtmann’s Rambles, Connaght Man’s Rambles, The Connaught Man’s Ramble, The Connaught Man’s Rambles, The Connaughtman Rambles, Connaughtman’s, Connaughtman’s Ramble, The Connaughtman’s Ramble, The Connaughtman’s Rambles, The Duck From Drummock, Gathering Dilisk, Mickey The Moulder, Mooney’s.

 Here’s an anecdote from the dancing side of things: “Connaughtman’s Rambles” seems to be the most popular jig among sean-nós dancers in Connemara. If they’re going to dance a jig, then nine times out of ten this is what they’ll want. The jig is also one of the most commonly played pieces in the Irish repertoire, and has even spread to other genres. It is, for example, one of the commonly played jigs for English rapper sword dancing (along with “The Blackthorn Stick” and “The Ten-Penny Bit”). It comes up at most sessions most of the time.  Kevin Burke teaches it on his first DVD of a pair: Learn to Play Irish Fiddle: Polkas, Jigs & Slides (Homespun Videos, 2005), where he teaches it with “Saddle the Pony.”

Connaught was one of the five old provinces of Ireland (along with Ulster, Leinster, Meath, and Munster), named for the ancient tribe who lived there, the Connachta. It is, of course, one of the present four provinces. The title of this tune appears in a list of tunes brought by Philip Goodman, a professional and traditional piper in Farney, Louth, to the Feis Ceoil in Belfast in 1898 (Breathnach, 1997).  It is #1003 in O’Neill’s 1850  (1903), #218 in O’Neill’s 1001 (1907), and in both the Roche Collection (1891) and Ryan’s Mammoth Collection (1883).

I Buried My Wife and Danced on Her Grave

About the Feis

Feis (pronounced Fesh) is the Irish word for a festival. Feises are Irish Dance competitions which promote Irish culture and music. An Irish dance competition, feis (pronounced fesh), can be found somewhere in the United States every month of the year, although the spring and summer months are the busiest. Competitions are also held in Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Regional competitions (Oireachtas--pronouned uh-roc-tus) allow the best dancers to qualify for national competitions and thus for world competition. The All World Championships are held every year at Easter-time in Ireland.

Modern Feises

More formalized competitions began in the late 19th Century. This period begins in 1893 when the Gaelic League was founded (Conradh na Gaeilge). This group encouraged the revival of Irish culture, a culture that the English had suppressed for centuries. The first Feis was held in Ireland in 1897 and was a celebration of the Irish culture including language, song, dance and creative writing. The Feis did not arrive in America until 1964. Though many Feisanna (plural for Feis) include language, writing and soda bread competitions, the focus is on Irish dancing.

The Irish Dancing Commission was founded (An Coimisiun le Rinci' Gaelacha) in 1929 to establish rules regarding teaching, judging, and competitions. It continues in that role. Prior to 1929, many local variations in dances, music, costumes and the rules of feisianna existed. Part of the impact of the Commission was standardization of competitions.

During the 20th Century, Irish dance has evolved in terms of locations, costumes, and dance technique. For example, during the period of the dance masters, stages were much smaller including table tops, half doors, and sometimes the "stage" was simply a crossroad. (An old poem called dancing "tripping the sod.") Tests of dancing ability involved dancing on the top of a barrel or on a soaped table! As stages became larger, the dance changed in at least two ways. The movement of dancers across a stage increased greatly (a judge would now subtract points if a dancer did not "use the stage"), and dance steps that require substantial space became possible (e.g., "flying jumps"). The location of competitions also changed over time from barns or outdoors where flat bed trucks were (and still are) used as stages, to predominately indoors in hotels, schools, or fairgrounds. (Note that fairgrounds are particularly appropriate in a historical context of where ancient feisianna were located.)

I Buried My Wife and Danced on Her Grave

Here's a couple jigs the Thursday night Celtic Group Class is working on.  If you would like to join the group class, the only requirement is that you be actively taking private lessons either through the Studio, or with another teacher!  The group meets Thursday nights from 7-9pm here in Granby, MA.

The first is called "I Buried My Wife and Danced on her Grave".  Also known as I Buried My Love, I Buried My Wife, I Buried My Wife And Danced On Top Of Her, I Buried My Wife And Danced On Top Of Her Grave, I Buried My Wife And I Danced On Her.  It's a double jig in D Mixolydian with two parts of 8 bars.  The earliest source for this tune is 1927, which indicates that it's a relatively modern tune, probably written for the first Irish Feis in 1929 as established by the Gaelic League. 

The second tune is Connachtman's Rambles.  Also known as Bean Ag Baint Duileasc, The Connacht Man’s Rambles, The Connachtman’s Rambles, The Connachtmann’s Rambles, Connaght Man’s Rambles, The Connaught Man’s Ramble, The Connaught Man’s Rambles, The Connaughtman Rambles, Connaughtman’s, Connaughtman’s Ramble, The Connaughtman’s Ramble, The Connaughtman’s Rambles, The Duck From Drummock, Gathering Dilisk, Mickey The Moulder, Mooney’s.

 Here’s an anecdote from the dancing side of things: “Connaughtman’s Rambles” seems to be the most popular jig among sean-nós dancers in Connemara. If they’re going to dance a jig, then nine times out of ten this is what they’ll want. The jig is also one of the most commonly played pieces in the Irish repertoire, and has even spread to other genres. It is, for example, one of the commonly played jigs for English rapper sword dancing (along with “The Blackthorn Stick” and “The Ten-Penny Bit”). It comes up at most sessions most of the time.  Kevin Burke teaches it on his first DVD of a pair: Learn to Play Irish Fiddle: Polkas, Jigs & Slides (Homespun Videos, 2005), where he teaches it with “Saddle the Pony.”

Connaught was one of the five old provinces of Ireland (along with Ulster, Leinster, Meath, and Munster), named for the ancient tribe who lived there, the Connachta. It is, of course, one of the present four provinces. The title of this tune appears in a list of tunes brought by Philip Goodman, a professional and traditional piper in Farney, Louth, to the Feis Ceoil in Belfast in 1898 (Breathnach, 1997).  It is #1003 in O’Neill’s 1850  (1903), #218 in O’Neill’s 1001 (1907), and in both the Roche Collection (1891) and Ryan’s Mammoth Collection (1883).

I Buried My Wife and Danced on Her Grave

About the Feis

Feis (pronounced Fesh) is the Irish word for a festival. Feises are Irish Dance competitions which promote Irish culture and music. An Irish dance competition, feis (pronounced fesh), can be found somewhere in the United States every month of the year, although the spring and summer months are the busiest. Competitions are also held in Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Regional competitions (Oireachtas--pronouned uh-roc-tus) allow the best dancers to qualify for national competitions and thus for world competition. The All World Championships are held every year at Easter-time in Ireland.

Modern Feises

More formalized competitions began in the late 19th Century. This period begins in 1893 when the Gaelic League was founded (Conradh na Gaeilge). This group encouraged the revival of Irish culture, a culture that the English had suppressed for centuries. The first Feis was held in Ireland in 1897 and was a celebration of the Irish culture including language, song, dance and creative writing. The Feis did not arrive in America until 1964. Though many Feisanna (plural for Feis) include language, writing and soda bread competitions, the focus is on Irish dancing.

The Irish Dancing Commission was founded (An Coimisiun le Rinci' Gaelacha) in 1929 to establish rules regarding teaching, judging, and competitions. It continues in that role. Prior to 1929, many local variations in dances, music, costumes and the rules of feisianna existed. Part of the impact of the Commission was standardization of competitions.

During the 20th Century, Irish dance has evolved in terms of locations, costumes, and dance technique. For example, during the period of the dance masters, stages were much smaller including table tops, half doors, and sometimes the "stage" was simply a crossroad. (An old poem called dancing "tripping the sod.") Tests of dancing ability involved dancing on the top of a barrel or on a soaped table! As stages became larger, the dance changed in at least two ways. The movement of dancers across a stage increased greatly (a judge would now subtract points if a dancer did not "use the stage"), and dance steps that require substantial space became possible (e.g., "flying jumps"). The location of competitions also changed over time from barns or outdoors where flat bed trucks were (and still are) used as stages, to predominately indoors in hotels, schools, or fairgrounds. (Note that fairgrounds are particularly appropriate in a historical context of where ancient feisianna were located.)

Irish Dancers At The Crossroads No More

What images do you conjure in your mind when you think of 'Irish Dancing' ? Do you think of dancers at the crossroads in times gone by or the over dependence on false tan and hair pieces that grace the stage today?

Whatever your individual image of 'Irish Dancing', it remains a global phenomenon , from its humble formal beginnings in the latter part of the 19th Century to the jaw dropping shows that continue today around the World.

Indeed, Irish Dancing wasn't always as auspicious as it is today. The Irish people fought against the repression of the penal laws in the 17th Century ensuring that Irish education, Culture and dancing survived for future generations. It is to their credit that the sense of national pride was nurtured during these very difficult times often practicing in secret and following the tragedy of the Irish famine in mid 1840’s, a stoic sense of national pride needed to be fostered. Despite this draconian past, Ireland's culture, traditions coupled with the strong sense of nationalism ensured that language and dance survived.

The 'Dance Master' was a predominant feature from the mid to late 18th century where usually a colorful individual would earn his living by teaching the children of the local gentry deportment as well as traditional Irish steps and was usually accompanied by a musician. The Dance Master also taught peasant children during the era of the hedge schools in Ireland when there was prohibition on the practice of Irish Culture and tradition and dance. The Dance Masters varied in their levels of accomplishment with some teaching only the basic rudiments of the craft in the form of the rising step, while the level of intricacy employed by others involved team dances and difficult footwork.

With similar etiquette to that which exists today among Irish Dance Teachers, Dance Masters seldom encroached on another Dance Masters territory and overall they were widely esteemed by the Community.

Outlets for this new founded skill began to emerge with small sessions engaging in communal dance instruction and open air displays when the weather permitted. Thus in this way, dancing at the Crossroads was born and following the Catholic Emancipation Act in 1829 Irish tradition had had its reprieve.

This practice continued well on into the late nineteenth Century with Dance Masters surviving in more isolated areas into the early twentieth Century. However, the devastating famine of the 1840’s which resulted in mass emigration and the deaths of almost a million people had far reaching effects on the emphasis towards the Irish Language and Culture.

Towards the end of the nineteenth Century as the Country struggled to rebuild it’s sense of nationalism the grip of the Catholic Church tightened with crossroads dancing and such informal gatherings as had become common being denounced from the pulpit as 'sinful'.

The Gaelic League was set up in 1893 to encourage the renewed interest in Irish Culture and the first ‘Ceili’ was organised in London in 1897 by the Irish Diaspora residing in London who wished to keep a stronghold on their own traditions. It was highly successful with many high profile members of the Gaelic League attending and it created a blueprint for encouraging the same in Ireland.

These ‘Ceili’ were encouraged in Ireland by the Catholic Church who wished that any socializing between men and women be supervised and with the introduction of the ‘Dance Halls Act’ in the 1930’s it seemed that dancing at the Crossroads had come to it's inevitable end.

Thus the first Irish ‘Feis’ was held in Macroom, Co. Cork on 20th March 1898 with Irish Dancers competing in Reel, Jig and Hornpipe and Irish Dance Schools were set up to fulfill the growing demand for tuition.

Irish Dancing continued to flourish throughout the 1930’s and 40’s with the introduction of ‘An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha’ which was set up by Conradh na Gaeilge in 1929 to promote and preserve the skill of Irish Dancing and to aid in the running of Feiseanna. Feiseanna were organised competitions and proved hugely popular. Developing on the Tailteann Games, the nature of Irish Dance Costumes began to change with individual Schools creating their own costume embellished with Celtic Designs most of which were hand embroidered with Collar and Cuffs hand crocheted.

In the 1950's there was a marked decline in the numbers of Dancers particularly in rural areas with many people leaving school early and travelling to Dublin and other major cities with the promise of better prospects and a higher living standards. With the happening years of the 1960’s, 70's and 80's the main Dublin Venue, The Lord Major’s residence, The Mansion House continued to play host to many Dublin, Leinster and all Ireland Dance Championships although this was a controversial period with policy differences in 'An Coimisiún' leading to the setting up of 'Comhdháil na Muinteorí Rince Gaelacha' in 1969 and further differences in 'An Comhdháil' resulting in the setting up of ' Cumann Rince Naisiunta' in 1982. Since this period many other Irish Dance Organisations have been set up Worldwide exploiting areas where previously no Irish Dance Classes existed.

Then in April 1994, during the interval of the Eurovision Song contest in Mill Street, Co. Cork the history of Irish Dancing was re-written.

‘Riverdance’ as it was named, was a line up of uniformly clad Irish Dancers fronted by the American Duo, Jean Butler and Michael Flately in a piece created by the team of Moya Doherty, John Mc Colgan with Music by Bill Whelan.

They took to the stage with such force and energy that the dynamics of Irish Dance changed forever with Irish step dancing being transported into the 21st Century overnight.

Classes immediately saw huge influxes of eager students wishing to emulate the dancers they had seen with Butler and Flately becoming overnight sensations.

'Riverdance' the Show was launched in 1995 to Worldwide acclaim and has been instrumental over the last fifteen years in setting trends not only within Irish Dance footwork but with Irish Dance Costumes becoming lighter, shorter and more embellished with exotic fabrics being used in dazzling creations and spawning countless dancing shows.

The future of Irish Dancing is as strong as it has ever been, since the beginning of the 20th Century, Irish Dance has changed from a rural preoccupation of the working classes to the global phenomenon with exponential increases in Eastern Europe, South Africa and USA. In these challenging times where Tradition and Culture are often looked on as the staples in peoples lives, Irish Dancing has become synonymous with a deeply rooted sense of National pride.