Scad the Beggars at Festivals

*********************************

As well as all the Folk Club spots and in-house festival appearances Scad the Beggars have performed at over the years, we have also played in numerous Village Hall & Town Hall concerts, plus country fairs. 

One such local performance was when we played in Ballymoney for the BBC Radio show 'A Kist o' Words'. The line up by this stage included Sabine Glasgow (Harp & Fifes), Alan Wade (Scottish Smallpipes), Dick Glasgow (Fiddle, Hammered Dulcimer, Mandolin & Concertina), Sam Fleming (Northumbrian Pipes, Harmonica & Whistles), Riley Piddington (Vocals & Guitar) & Desie Hasson (Percussion & Vocals). 

In Ballymoney for BBC's 'A Kist O' Words'

Every now and then, we are asked to play at something a little bit special. So back in 2006, Scad the Beggars were delighted to be asked to play at an open air concert, to celebrate the Maritime Festival in Belfast.

Maritime Festival Belfast 2006

By 2006, our regular line up included Desie Hasson ( Percussion & Vocals), Sabine Glasgow (Harp, Fifes & Vocals), Dick Glasgow (Fiddle, Hammered Dulcimer, Concertina & Mandolin), Riley Piddington (Vocals & Guitar) and Sam Fleming (Northumbrian Pipes, Harmonica & Whistles). 

For this particular event we were joined by local singer John Moulden (Vocals, Bodhran & Spoons).

**********************************************

The Dalriada Connection

Ever keen to strengthen the musical links that have existed between North Antrim and Argyll for hundreds of years, from the time of the Kingdom of Dalriada, I have, over the years, been in constant touch with a number of very fine musicians and singers in Campbeltown, Argyll. 

This has resulted in me being invited to bring over a number of musicians to perform at various Mull of Kintyre Music Festivals over the years, including my students. 

The success of these trips led on to being asked to bring over an adult group to perform at the festival. So for three years I took over a group of musicians under the title Scad the Beggars, although not all the actual group members were available for these trips. 

For two years in a row we were even invited to perform at their prestigious 'Dalriada Connections Concert'.

Scad the Beggars & friends at 'Dalriada Connections Concert' 2005

Here we are as a concert finale, playing with excellent local musicians, including Ross Kennedy of Canterach plus Les Oman and Anne Leith of The Wild Sarachs

*****************

For the following year's festival, our line up had changed a little, but we still had a fabulous time at this event.

Scad the Beggars at 'Dalriada Connections Concert' 2006

As well as playing in concert and in sessions all weekend, we're always keen to make an impression and let as many people as possible hear our music, so we're not shy when it comes to any form of public performance, including a bit of busking on the main street of Campbeltown. 

This is a wonderful way to get the music out to lots of folk, especially young children, who might not be able to attend pub sessions or concerts.

Scad the Beggars playing on the Main Street of Campbeltown

*********************************

Scad the Beggars at the 'Black Nun Folk Club'

As well as playing at literally hundreds of informal Sessions over the years, Scad the Beggars have also played at a variety of clubs and festivals.

For eight years I ran the Black Nun Folk Club in North Antrim, to not only help promote local musicians and singers but also to inspire by bringing talented musicians and singers to the area, who might otherwise never be seen here.

Looking down through the list of previous guests you will see that instead of the more traditional folk club approach, I opted for a far more eclectic variety of guest artist, so as well as Traditional Irish and Scottish Singers and Musicians, I invited many Singer Songwriters, Bluegrass and Old Time Musicians plus a number of Rock and Country groups too, so folks knew that the only thing they should expect, on a Black Nun night, was the unexpected!

Scad the Beggars would usually start the Black Nun nights off, so over the years you could say we have supported a huge variety of musicians, which was a great way for us to give our material exposure.

However, one of the main functions of Black Nun was to encourage local musicians and singers, so although Scad the Beggars would usually get the night started, I always encouraged other local musicians and singers to get up and perform a couple of numbers too. 

Two such regular attenders and performers were Riley Piddington and Desie Hasson who are now actually members of the regular Scad the Beggars line up.

Riley Piddington and Desie Hasson

*****************************

Headliners: Scottish group 'MALINKY'

The Black Nun Fest

One of the highlights of the Black Nun years was the Black Nun Fest in 2003. 

As you will see from the festival programme, there was a great line up and members of Scad the Beggars were always on hand to play.

**************************

John Rea of Glenarm

Glenarm Castle Kitchen Concert

Another wonderful Black Nun event was the Castle Kitchen Concert which I organised in Glenarm Castle, which once again, saw Scad the Beggars helping to kick start the night.

*************************

The Festival Launch at Glenarm Castle

Causeway Dulcimer Festival

Probably the most ambitious Black Nun event took place in Bushmills in 2005, with the Causeway Dulcimer Festival which, like the Black Nun Fest before it, had a truly international line up. 

I organised this event in memory of the late, great John Rea of Glenarm, and also to highlight the vanishing Hammered Dulcimer of Co Antrim. 

Once again, members of Scad the Beggars stepped up to perform at a variety of formal and informal events throughout the festival weekend.

******************************************

Scad the Beggars - 2002

Scad the Beggars

After the success of Ptarmigan, I decided to keep the momentum going by forming a group to continue to promote the Traditional Tunes, the Songs and the Rhymes that are popular throughout North Antrim, so I gathered up a few like minded souls and formed this new group.

We needed a name and we left it to Charlie to come up with some suitable couthy local words or expressions which might work as a handle for this new ensemble. From all his suggestions we settled on Scad the Beggars.

For those who don't already know, Scad the Beggar, is actually a local term for mealie-crushie, which is oatmeal fried in bacon fat, known in Scotland as creesh-mealie - so now you know!

So the initial line up was in fact:

Dick Glasgow: Fiddle, Hammered Dulcimer, Mandolin and Concertina.

Sabine Glasgow: Harp and Fifes.

Charlie Gillen: Rhymes and Banter.

Alan Wade: Scottish Smallpipes.

Colin Urwin: Vocals and Guitar.

Greg Gault: Guitar.

This line up lasted for a couple of years, but just as we were about to leave to perform as guest artists at the 'Music on the Move' festival, in the Ulster American Folk Park, in May of 2004, Colin suddenly decided to leave the group.

We managed to carry out our festival commitments that weekend, without a singer, but that was a major setback and shortly afterwards, Charlie also decided to call it a day, to spend more time at his writing and that was effectively, the end of the first chapter. 

However, the remaining four members soldiered on, keeping the group's name alive, in order to continue to promote the traditional music of the area.

Since 2004, the line up has varied a little as we have become involved with other musicians and singers in the area and encouraged them to join us. So we meet up as often as possible and play informally in one local hostelry or another, to help keep the music and song alive in the area.

We also perform at local and not so local events when asked, so we've taken our music and song to stages in local village halls and town halls and to festival stages in Belfast and even Campbeltown in Scotland.

The important thing for us is to keep playing and singing, to help keep the old tunes and songs alive for the next generation.

While Charlie was a member of the group, he penned this little ditty.

Scad the Beggars

1 

WE’LL TAK YE BACK TAE GRANNY, 
WAE HER SKILLET ON THE CROOK, 
THE RECIPES O’ YISTERYEAR, 
THEY NIVIR LEEV’T WITHIN A BOOK.

CHORUS 

SCAD THE BEGGARS, MEALIE CRUSHIE, 
YE CAN CA’ IT WHAT YE CAN, 
OATEN MALE AN BACON CREESH, 
TASTY FRYIN IN THE PAN

2

WE HANNAE GOT THE OAT MEAL, 

NOR HAE WE A FRYIN PAN, 

BUT WERE HERE TAE ENTERTAIN YE 

WI THE SCAD THE BEGGARS BAND.

3 

COME BACK IN TIME A DANNER ,
JOOST COME WAE US FOR A WHILE,
TAE HEAR THE TUNES AN SANGS AN STORIES ,
THAT ARE SURE TAE YE BEGUILE.

4 

HOOCH, CLAP AN JOIN THE FUN ,
AN WATCH YER CARES A' FLEE AWA’,
AN GIN YE AW WID KEN THE CHORUS ,
THEN YE AW CAN SING AWA’ .

5

SHUT YER EEN AN DRIFT AWA ,
FOR MEMORIES O’ TIMES LANG GAN ,
ON THE SHIP O' DREAMS COME SAILIN ,
WAE THE SCAD THE BEGGARS BAND.

by Charlie Gillen

*********************************

Ptarmigan - 2001

This is Charlie Gillen with 'Ptarmigan'

Way back around 2000, Charlie Gillen approached me to come up with some suitable music for a Tape of North Antrim Rhymes he was working on. 

However, rather than just play myself, I decided to ask a few musicians if they might like to get involved in the project and fortunately they all agreed, so a new group 'Ptarmigan' was formed.

I hunted around for suitable tunes that would reflect the variety of traditional music which was favoured throughout the North Antrim area and I then proceeded to arrange the music to suit Charlie's Rhymes and the varied instruments of the musicians involved.

The musicians I chose for this project were:

Dick Glasgow: Fiddle, Banjo, Concertina & Mandola.

Robert Watt: Scottish Small Pipes & Whistles

Valerie Quinn: Piano Accordion

Emma Culbert: Piano Accordion & Tin Whistle

Sabine Glasgow: Clarsach

Gregory Gault: Acoustic Guitar

Kevin Glasgow: Acoustic Bass

Paul McAuley: Bodhran

The resulting Tape and CD were called 'When a' the Kye Had Names'.

I even experimented by arranging three waltzes to be played in behind Charlie's Rhyme on one track, and many folk have said since, that this is actually their favourite track.

*****************************

Here's a review of ' Whun a' the Kye Had Names' 

by Sean Laffey - Irish Music Magazine

November 2001

Charlie Gillen & Ptarmigan
'Whun a' the Kye Had Names'
Rhymes in the North Antrim Tongue and Scottish Traditional Music
Own Label, 11 Tracks.

"Charlie Gillen is a North Antrim Rhymer, a composer of poems in the North Antrim dialect, and an able reciter of the same. He is joined on this album by Dick Glasgow's band Ptarmigan, who provide musical interludes between the poems. Dick plays Fiddle, Banjo, Concertina and Mandola, he is joined on Scottish Small Pipes and Whistles by Robert Watt, Valerie Quinn and Emma Culbert(Piano Accordions), Sabine Glasgow (Clarsach), Gregory Gault (Guitar) and Kevin Glasgow(Acoustic Bass) and finally Paul McAuley on Bodhran.
The poems reflect their author's Ulster Protestant backgrounds, but apart from the name Wullie and the accasional reference to Pipe Bands (Ten Poun Passage), the themes will be familier to anyone who has lived anywhere in rural Ireland. Tales of lost youth, lost opportunity & lost love, the spectre of emigration, the loss of place, almost universal motifs of course, but here they are given a particular Irish context, & one we all understand. It is not all bible black doom. Take Liza Jane's Pig for instance, which is a story of an unusual country courtship.
Musically this album is a little treat, & don't be put off by the "Scottish Traditional Music" in the title, the tunes here have a definite Irish accent. The Kiwi & the Braes of Knocksaughey (both Strathspeys) are clearly Scots pieces (the twin Piano Accordions come in with the Scotch Snap as the second number kicks off). Nice Small Pipes playing on Over the Hills & Far away treated as a single reel. There are some unusual tunes too. My love She's gone away (a quadrille). Jenny Pawned her Bonnet (a fling) Dick Glasgow's The Hazel (a March), Cave Hill Side & Jenny Put the Kettle On (2/4 marches), each taken at a sensible dancing pace and all are worth learning. They also point to the wealth of the musical tradition we share across the two communities."

**************************************

Here's the CD's Track List

1. Whun a' the kye had names (written by Charlie Gillen)

2. The Fiddlin' Man (written by Charlie Gillen)

3. Bees among the Heather (Traditional Hornpipe)

4. Wullie at the Pictures (written by Alec McAllister)

5. My Love she's gone away (Traditional Quadrille)

6. Tam (written by Charlie Reynolds)

7. Farewell to Ballymoney / Long Cookstown (Traditional Air & 2/4 Marches)

8. Wullie's Motor Car (written by Alec McAllister)

9. Jenny pawned her bonnet (Traditional Fling & Reel)

10. Oot here mae lane (written by Charlie Gillen)

+ Rathlin Sound, Rathlin Ferry & Angela's Waltz (written by Dick Glasgow)

11. The Batchelor (written by Alec McAllister)

12. Cave Hill Side & Jenny put the kettle on (Traditional 2/4 Marches)

13. Ten Poun Passage (written by Frank McLernon)

14. The Hazel (6/8 March by Dick Glasgow)

15. Liza Jane's Pig (written by Alec McAllister)

16. The Kiwi / The Braes o' Knocksaughey (Strathspeys written by Dick Glasgow)

17. The Big Wumman (written by Alec McAllister)

18. Ower the hills an' far awa' / Goodnight an joy be wi' you a' / Come let us dance & sing

(Traditional Single Reels)

19. Niver loas heart (written by Charlie Gillen)

**************************************************************