of the 20th century competition-style as the norm within the province, at least in the more urban public sphere. While their influence was great, it would be an exaggeration to assume that these two men along with a few military pipe bands were able to deteriorate the musical tradition that had flourished here for almost two centuries. These men simply represent one stone of many that threatened to crush the already endangered Gaelic dance-piping idiom in Cape Breton.
The Gaelic College WHILE both the military piping sect and immigrant Lowland Scots pipers had a large impact on the tradition of community pipers, the greatest threat to such pipers and what was left of the old Gaelic way of life in Nova
students composed equally of Cape Bretoners, other Canadians and Americans. Although the College was held with respect by many during this time, dissidents who realised the fallacy of the operation offhandedly referred to the programme as the “Tartan Circus”. The founder of the College was a man
known as A.W.R. MacKenzie. He began his work with the goal of revitalising pride in the Scottish heritage of the province. He wished, ultimately, to “transform Cape Breton into a ‘miniature Scotland in North America’ ”. He saw Cape Breton as an area that had allowed its rich cultural heritage to die. This, he claimed, was particularly evidenced by the general lack of Highland pipe bands and especially High- land dancing, noting that the latter had died completely on the island. Showing a complete
‘Although the College was held with respect by many during this time, dissidents who realised the fallacy of the operation offhandedly referred to the programme as the Tartan Circus’
Scotia was yet to come. In a similar fashion to the changes affected in 18th and 19th century Scotland by the Highland Societies, a group of well intentioned enthusiasts would nearly cause the demise of all remaining traditional Gaelic arts in the province. The Gaelic College was founded during the mid-1950s in Victoria County, perhaps one of the most Gaelic areas of Cape Breton at this time. While the College’s initial mission was to cultivate Gaelic culture as a “living and breath- ing entity”, the work of the Gaelic College in the next several decades has been marked as the most “concentrated effort […] to fully de- velop piping in Nova Scotia, via Cape Breton, on the modern Scottish form”, according to Shears. With the best of intentions, the Gaelic College regularly shipped top-tier pipers and Highland dancers from Scotland to teach the communities of Nova Scotia the ‘true’ nature of Scottish traditional music. This ‘re-education’ generally came at the expense of local Gaelic styles that were either ignored or regarded as inferior to modern Scottish impressions of tradition. By the 1960s, the College’s summer programme was drawing a diverse group of
PIPING TODAY • 32
lack of understanding of local Gaelic piping and dancing, MacKenzie failed to understand that these things had not been “lost” by these people, but had in fact never been part of the tradition practised by the majority of immigrants who settled this island. After coming under fire by a few remaining critics, MacKenzie eventu- ally acknowledged the fact that his curriculum might not be native to the island and responded by arguing that Gaelic was in fast decline and that the declining traditions of the island “had to be replaced with something”. A second figure who contributed sig- nificantly to the revisionist path of the Gaelic College was Seamus MacNeil. He was the principal of the very influential College of Piping in Glasgow, Scotland, and was brought over to add an air of legitimacy to the staff in Cape Breton. Like MacKenzie, he was blind to the historical importance of the rich music and dance tradition in Nova Scotia. MacNeil was noted for his “typical colonial attitude” and was often extremely critical of local traditions. In an anecdote found in Shears’ book, MacNeil reminisced about his work with colleague James MacKenzie, who taught
piping and dance at the college. He explains that when James was told the local form of step-dancing originated in Scotland, but had since been forgotten in its native land, James “laughed” saying that to him, it was obvious “this was a form of Irish dancing, but in a country where Ireland and Scotland are fused together in peoples’ minds it was probably wishful thinking to attribute the dance to the wrong source”. Despite the vein of ignorance and conceit that ran through MacNeil’s teach- ing, he became widely regarded as an expert in the field of traditional Scottish music in the province. Shears notes that, as the College gradually alienated more and more of the island’s native Gaelic community, it became progressively more of a tourist icon and less focused on tradi- tion, instead favouring the type of romanticism that would draw a crowd. It is interesting and perhaps very telling to note that when the Gaelic College became a ward of the State in the 1970s, it fell under control of the depart- ment of tourism rather than the department of education. This shows that even in the eyes of the government, the Gaelic College was doing much more business for the economy than it was promoting traditional arts. It was not until much later, after much of the damage had already taken its toll, that new leadership reconsidered its position on the inclusion of the native pipe and fiddle styles.
Decline of Oral Piping Traditions THE biggest change of the 20th century was the altered perception of Gaelic culture that developed in future generations, growing out of predominantly English-speaking urban areas. Many of these newer generations never learned to speak Gaelic, never went to a traditional ceilidh, and were never exposed to the essential community relations that propagated the older Gaelic way of life. These members of society had only the imported, modern form of Scottish culture to rely on in their quest for identity or cultural relevance. As Shears notes: [T]he language and culture of the Gael
in Nova Scotia has been gradually replaced with the Victorian/Lowland Scottish stereotype of a kilted, haggis-eating, Burns- quoting Scot, festooned in a costume of dubious authenticity. This ‘Cult of Clan- ship’ did little to promote either Gaelic or traditional piping. Although these new perceptions greatly
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