Page 65 - Johnny Wilmot: Talk and Tunes

ISSUE : Issue 40

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1985/8/1

This traditional Irish jig comes from Henry Fortune via Johnny Wilmot. Johnny tells me that Henry would use a long flowing bow on this type of tune. Apparently one bowstroke would be used for as much as two bars of music. Irish Jig ??' • ' J * • *-' • ' J * * • *-' ? c/?? • • L>' r'J 'lU ' Johnny has made many wonderful jigs and reels. Here he composed a reel to suit a traditional strathspey he learned from old Joe. The reel has a flavour of its own that's not quite Irish or Scottish. In other words, it's a true Cape Breton reel! . ' Johnny Wilmot's Reel Of , '-r r-|. P '~ • -' h rrir Reel Johnny Wilmot * m m f m , m ' m p m ' ' 1 ' 1 **l f*' ,, var. • f p f #' '- '''''' r ' J J J) 11 = Johnny Wilmot: (What was the tramline story?) At that time there were streetcars (trams), you know, like they have in Toronto, between North Sydney and Sydney Mines. And right where I was born--right where Joe Confiant stayed--the crossing was right in front of the house. So this old Alex Basker played the harmonica. And sometimes he'd have to have the 7 (harmonicas). He had to have all the different keys, you know, to go with the fiddle. And he was a motorman, driving a streetcar. Well, at our place, there was always some? body in there playing something, you know. Whether Joe was home or not, there'd be somebody in there. So, Alex Basker i?as mo? torman. The other fellow--the fellow that was going the opposite way to him--he was just running his schedule. So Alex started to pep her up, you know, the old car--give her hell. He'd get to the crossing before the other fellow would get to the crossing. Then he'd come in for a few minutes and he'd play a few tunes on the mouth organ. Then he'd go out again. So, the streetcars would cross, and he'd make for North Syd? ney. And he couldn't get back quick enough. He'd beat the other fellow back to the crossing, and he'd come in again. And he'd have a few minutes before the other fel- low'd get in, and he'd play on the mouth organ. He was satisfied. (Do you think Irish music is going to hold on?) Well, I don't know about around here. I wouldn't say, you know. The Scotch music is just holding on by the fiddle string. I'll tell you what spoiled the music, the first thing--but it was a good thing. When the television--there used to be a lot of that Scotch music going on--there'd be somebody playing in the house all the time--then televisions came out. As soon as televisions came out, the end of that, the house parties. Television is good, you know. But that ended the parties. You could go to a party any night. I know a fellow in Waterford, never fin? ished his house over there--we were over there every Saturday night--dancing. And building a new home, he never put the par? tition in, left them all open. Trying to make room for the dance--give them floor space. It was like that quite awhile. The television came in, and then his wife died, and he got married again. And the other wife, she wanted a television by this time. That ended that. (What did he do about the partitions?) Oh, he had to finish them, had to finish the house up. (Didn't need the dance room any more.) No. Then after that, that other stuff came out. Rock-and-roll. That really finished it. (Rock-and-roll was competing for the young people.) Even yet. You went and hauled out a fiddle, they'd throw you out, I wouldn't want to take a chance of going there. They don't want that. (Before the TV came out., .o) They had lots of square dancing then. A lot of outdoor picnics. In that time (65)

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