The Chieftains, The Wide World Over.

Chieftains, Glastonbury 1983.

It is another nice October day here. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and my kitchen door is open. I have just been pottering around in my tiny garden. There are still flowers coming into bloom, which is great for the time of year. I’m not going anywhere today. I love days like this, far from the madding crowd. I am now listening to The Wide World Over by The Chieftains. It is a compilation album of 2002 celebrating 40 years of The Chieftains and features collaborations with some of the biggest names in music, such as The Rolling Stones, Joni Mitchell, Sinead O’Connor, Linda Ronstadt and many more . As you can probably guess I am playing it because of the sad passing of Paddy Moloney three days ago.

It inspired me to try and write my own little tribute to Paddy because he was a brilliant musician and played a huge part in bringing Irish traditional music to the attention of a worldwide audience. I think the Irish nation owes him a deep debt of gratitude for all he achieved in taking Irish culture to the wide world over. It was 1975 when I first became aware of the music of Paddy Moloney. I bought the album Ommadawn by Mike Oldfield and thought that Paddy’s playing on the uilleann pipes was the highlight of the whole album. Also, that same year I purchased Chieftains 5 which was a wonderful album (and incidentally, one of the very few records I played that my dad actually said he liked). I think Peter Sellers wrote the sleeve notes if I remember correctly. I later bought a cassette recording that Paddy made with another founder member of The Chieftains Sean Potts called Tin Whistles. I still have that album but haven’t heard it for years because I don’t have a cassette player anymore.

The Chieftains are on the posters for Glastonbury Festival in 1982 and 83. I don’t think they played in 82 though. The posters often bore little relation to who actually turned up in those days. They were definitely there in 83 though. The photo you see at the top of this story isn’t that great but is the only photo I ever took of The Chieftains. I can’t remember a lot about their performance that day, except that I know they were one of the few bands who got the audience on their feet and dancing with the infectious jigs and reels. The Chieftains went off my radar for a few years after that until 1988 when they collaborated with Van Morrison on the Irish Heartbeat album which was a huge success critically and commercially and remains one of my favourite albums. Several years later I met Matt Molloy the flute player of The Chieftains at his pub in Westport, County Mayo, and said that I thought they should do a volume 2.

That never happened, but Van and The Chieftains did collaborate occasionally on the album Hymns To The Silence with the songs I Can’t Stop Loving You and Be Thou My Vision. There is also the stunning version of the traditional American song Shenandoah which I am listening to at this very moment. Paddy played whistle on Van's song Celtic New Year and Van also worked with Paddy on the fabulous track Piper At The Gates Of Dawn on The Healing Game album. There is also a rare song called Celtic Spring which was included on one of Van’s singles on which Paddy plays whistle. I have been looking for that song to play. It was on Youtube but I can’t find it now. 

The last time I saw The Chieftains play live was in Liverpool three years ago when they were on the same line-up as Van at the Irish festival called The Feis. I wish now that I had paid more attention because I can’t recall much at all about their performance. I think I was too busy talking to my friends. There were only three of the band left from when I first saw them. They had guests and a choir and did a great version of Shenandoah. That is all I can remember about the last time I saw Paddy Moloney who was a legend of Irish music, and his legacy and influence in the wide world over will live on forever.

PS, Thanks to Hans Driezen for extra info.

Golden October Days.

Temple Of Flora, Stourhead.

Sorry I haven’t written anything for a while, but I have been a bit busy with one thing and another. Now that things are a bit quieter, I thought I would give you a quick update on what I have been doing. The first thing to say is that the weather has been wonderful for golden October. We have been very lucky in that respect. Shortly after I wrote my piece about the Patti Smith concert in Bath my best friends arrived from Yorkshire. It was great to see them again after a two-year gap due to Covid. The first night we didn’t do much apart from go to the pub, watch University Challenge, and sit up late talking.

Me At Stourhead.

Westbury Festival coincided with their visit, so on Tuesday we went to a recital in the church by a recorder group. I have enjoyed these lunchtime concerts in the past, but sadly this one was disappointing, and we left after fifteen minutes. My guests are mad keen on the outdoors and go for a walk every day, so after we left the church, we went for a walk as far as the lake by the golf club. On Wednesday I showed them one of the walks that I discovered during lockdown. We went right up the hill near the White Horse, then along the edge of Salisbury Plain and then back down through some amazing woods before emerging at the top end of Westbury. 

John Cooper Clarke, Frome.

On Wednesday evening we took a taxi over to Frome for an evening with John Cooper Clarke the punk poet who is known as the Bard Of Salford. The last time I saw him was when I shook hands with him backstage at Glastonbury 1982. The evening was ok I suppose but felt a bit flat after the genius of Patti Smith a few nights before. He is a brilliant writer and I might buy his new autobiography soon, but I was very familiar with most of the poems he recited, and had heard his jokes before. I also wish sometimes that he didn’t have to recite the poems at the speed of a machine gun.  There was another northern poet on the bill called Mike Garry who my visitors seemed more impressed with and bought a signed copy of his book when he appeared at the merchandise stall during the interval. For me, it seemed a bit strange hearing poems about inner-city urban deprivation in a genteel small West Country town like Frome, but I suppose it is still relevant. 

The Canal, Bradford On Avon.

On Thursday we drove over to Bradford On Avon where we parked and then had a pleasant walk along the canal to the Cross Guns at Avoncliffe where they treated me to lunch. It was very enjoyable eating outdoors by the river. Afterwards we visited my sister Margaret and her partner Wayne who live in B-O-A. The highlight of my visitors stay for me was our trip to Stourhead on Friday. I have lived in this area for 44 years and never visited there before. It is only about twelve miles from Westbury. I was very impressed. Stourhead is a 2,650-acre estate at the source of the River Stour on the border of Wiltshire and Somerset. It includes a Grade I listed 18th-century Palladian mansion, the village of Stourton, gardens, farmland, and woodland and has been owned by the National Trust since 1946. 

We went for a long walk around the lake which was artificially created. Following a path around the lake is meant to evoke a journey similar to that of Aeneas's descent into the underworld. In addition to Greek mythology, the layout is evocative of the "genius of the place", a concept expounded by Alexander Pope. Buildings and monuments are erected in remembrance of family and local history. Henry Hoare who lived here was a collector of art; one of his pieces was Claude Lorrain's Aeneas at Delos, which is thought to have inspired the pictorial design of the gardens. Passages telling of Aeneas's journey are quoted in the temples surrounding the lake. The gardens are home to a large collection of trees and shrubs from around the world.

I think we chose a great time of the year to visit because the leaves are now changing colour and the trees look quite magnificent. There are temples, follies, and grottoes around the lake, some containing amazing statues of nymphs, gods and goddesses. Even the sheep on the surrounding hillsides added to the pastoral beauty of the place. It was like receiving a glimpse of heaven. My only regret is that we didn’t have time to look in the house which contains a large library and art collection. That will have to wait for another occasion because I certainly intend to return. 

My visitors set off for home on Saturday morning which was my 70^th birthday. I spent a very pleasant family afternoon at my niece Lee’s house in Edington with my sister, my other niece Katherine, the children, and other family members. Sunday was Kim’s anniversary and I had a quiet day at home. I didn’t go out on Monday or Tuesday either. I might venture out to the pub tomorrow though. I was very sorry to hear today of the death of Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains, that is why I shared a video of a Van Morrison song below which features his great playing.

Lake At Stourhead.

Piper at the Gates of Dawn by Van Morrison. R.I.P Paddy Moloney.