Page 20 - What's In A Name - The Barry Pipes Canon

WHAT’S IN A NAME? The Barry Pipes Canon • 2005 - 2018 Tribute To The Borders 039-2011-January-Set&Link
This jig is just one of the many delightful dances devised by Yorkshireman Roy Goldring. Truly one of the icons of Scottish country dancing, Roy spent many of his adult years in and around the community of Ilkley, also known in song for its famous moor (“Wheear ‘ast tha bin sin’ ah saw thee?"). And yes, some Yorkshire folks still talk like that... so it is said. Ilkley is located in an area of West Yorkshire known as Wharfedale.
While dancing around that location, including numerous appearances at RSCDS Leeds, Roy Goldring devised favourite after favourite known to us all throughout the Scottish country dancing world. As I look over a list of the many dances about which I have written over the past few years in this column, I am astonished to be reminded how many of them were devised by this man.
But let me not get too far off track! Roy’s tribute in this instance refers of course to the border country between England and Scotland. Time was, going back to medieval days, the Borders covered a much broader area encompassing not only Dumfriesshire and Kirkcudbrightshire to the west (now Dumfries & Galloway), but also the English counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmorland. In these contemporary days, the now more shrunken Scottish Borders country encompasses only the area between Solway Fifth and the mouth of the River Tweed at Berwick.
The Argyll Strathspey 040-2011-February-Set&Link
Seems like a great Tartan Ball program again this year, but what’s this? The Argyll Strathspey? Oh no! Isn’t that the one that includes that Tournée thingy?...the formation that many of us always manage to forget between its somewhat infrequent appearances?
Who devised that dance? Ah! It’s that Roy Goldring again; the guy from West Yorkshire! But let’s forget about the tournée for the moment, and think about Argyll, that region of the west coast of Scotland that also seems to cover a fair chunk of the Inner Hebrides. And if we think about Argyll, we cannot help but also focus on the Clan Campbell.
Is it Argyll or Argyle? Well, the latter is apparently more archaic and may have more to do with hosiery, but whichever, either is easier to say or pronounce than the Gaelic version Earra Ghaidheal, which derives from “Coast of Gaels”. Before leaving the Argyle hosiery mention, it needs saying that the Argyle pattern is supposed to reflect the tartan of Clan Campbell. See how all this is nicely coming together?
Up until 1975, Argyll was a County (Argyllshire?). Historically, its county town was Inveraray, at which you will arrive soon enough if you ever have the experience of careering downhill west-bound from Rest And Be Thankful and around the windy end of
From Set&Link, newsletter of RSCDS Toronto
But does this piece of British real estate deserve a tribute? Well, certainly there was no shortage of past strife in the border country, with armed incursions crossing the English/ Scots border in either direction to inflict harm against perceived enemies. I don't doubt that tribute was frequently paid by either side in the form of ransom money, or perhaps in payment of stolen livestock. Readers may have heard of the Border Reivers who were the 16th century equivalent of what were later called cattle rustlers in the United States’Wild West. So I will leave it to you to decide whether any form of Tribute to the Borders is merited from a more positive standpoint.
Why not try this jig at the January Monthly Dance, then decide whether, in current times, Roy Goldring’s tribute is deserved by these border folk. ◼︎
Loch Fyne on the A83. Talk about SCD names galore! But, What about those Campbells?
Dominant in Argyll since the
13th century, and once one of the
most powerful families in Scotland,
the Campbell Clan could be said to
have transformed Argyll into no
less than a Duchy. As Clan Chief,
the Duke of Argyll’s family seat is
located at Inveraray Castle. The
Campbells have a long history over
the centuries of battling in one
cause or another and, of course,
were considered by some to be a murderous bunch following the infamous massacre of a large number of MacDonalds at Glencoe due to a long running feud. But enough of this warlike stuff of which Scotland’s history is replete.
Now, about that Tournée again! Do think carefully as you work your way through the Argyll Strathspey. It's worth it. ◼︎