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Photo: Vincent Campbell, Highland’s hotel, ca. 1990
By Rónán Galvin
It is often said that the musical expression of a particular region can reflect its landscape and environment, though rarely does a power and dynamism in one’s music mirror a player’s stature and bearing. This is evident in the opening track of the 1987 LP ‘The Brass Fiddle’ and the reel ‘Muileann na maidí’ – Vincent Campbell’s music is fully appreciated by those lucky to have witnessed it in close quarters.
Vincent was born in 1938, one of six brothers in An tSeanga Mheáin, eight miles east of Glenties with strong roots in Na Cruacha and the language, life and lore of these hills provided a solid foundation for Vincent’s dance music. Apart from a rich local tradition of fiddle players, lilting and song, spontaneous visits from Mickey and John Simey Doherty, through their music and lore had a rich and lasting influence on Vincent and his brothers. In 1956 the wheel of life brought him to the tunnels of the Scottish highlands and London before his return to Ireland in 1962. He married Peggy and settled in Co. Meath where they reared a family of eight, moving home to Glenties in 1978.
Vincent’s life could have taken a very different route had he accepted Barney McKenna’s offer to join a certain band in the early 1960s. Perhaps we would have been deprived, in many ways and not least the fruits of this rich collection recorded by Caoimhín Mac Aoidh in Glenties and Na Píobairí Uilleann in the 1980s.
The playlist features some tunes or versions not yet released – for example his setting of the reel ‘The gravel walks to Granny’ that subtly highlights the original two tunes first, then combined to form one ; the two-part reel ‘Sweet cup of tea’ which he explains was the older version and likewise, his local version of ‘Drowsy Maggie’ as opposed to Mickey Doherty’s take on it ; the two-part highland version of the reel ‘Lucy Campbell’ and John Eoghain Sheáin’s highland, a version of the more common ‘Glashagh highland’ to name but a few.
Vincent was a true custodian of the music, lore and language of the Bluestack mountains. Donations like the Caoimhín Mac Aoidh collection reflect the wealth of material that ITMA can make available to the wider public, gratefully supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
This project is possible thanks to funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
