Timeline of Celtic Culture
To be understood properly, Celtic history must be divided into two eras. The first we’ll call the era of the Historic Celts. This period begins during the very late neolithic age. Through the first millennium BCE Celtic history appears robust and spans from Ireland in the West to Asia Minor in the East. But, with the fall of Rome, extensive European migration, the rise of the Anglo-Saxons in England, and Viking invasion and settlement, the Celts as a viable cultural and political force assimilate, fade and nearly vanish by the medieval period.
The second period of Celtic history we’ll call the era of the Modern Celts. This period spans time from 1707 to contemporary times. It is marked by a revival of Celtic communities, language and culture and can be seen as a response by people of the hinterlands against the growing power and homogenizing forces of nation-states. Music continues to play a major role during the era of the Modern Celts. Some say that it is Celtic music that gives the revival movement is identity and establishes the multi-national character of what it means to be "Celtic".
The second period of Celtic history we’ll call the era of the Modern Celts. This period spans time from 1707 to contemporary times. It is marked by a revival of Celtic communities, language and culture and can be seen as a response by people of the hinterlands against the growing power and homogenizing forces of nation-states. Music continues to play a major role during the era of the Modern Celts. Some say that it is Celtic music that gives the revival movement is identity and establishes the multi-national character of what it means to be "Celtic".
The Historical Celts
Origins of the Celtic Language are obscure. The Celtic language belongs to the Italic branch of the Indo-European language family. While it seems unlikely that much detail will be discovered about the origins of the language, the rough dates about events which changed Celtic culture are well documented. Both archaeology and linguistic evidence make a strong case that the Celtic language originated in the Iberian peninsula - in the region of modern day Portugal and the Spain provinces of Galicia and Asturia.
The historical Celts were a large number of ethnic groups who occupied most of Europe during the first millennium BCE. They spoke related dialects that are called “Celtic” by linguists. These Celts moved eastward to settle and were quickly assimilated into local cultures. The farthest eastern reach of the Celts was by the Galatians who settled in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). The first five centuries of the Common Era were tumultuous for all Europeans and devastating to the Celts. Only in the extreme western regions (the Six Celtic Nations) did the language and memory of heritage and culture of the Celts survive. Ultimately this survival is the basis of the Celtic revival that has been underway for the past three centuries.
The historical Celts were a large number of ethnic groups who occupied most of Europe during the first millennium BCE. They spoke related dialects that are called “Celtic” by linguists. These Celts moved eastward to settle and were quickly assimilated into local cultures. The farthest eastern reach of the Celts was by the Galatians who settled in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). The first five centuries of the Common Era were tumultuous for all Europeans and devastating to the Celts. Only in the extreme western regions (the Six Celtic Nations) did the language and memory of heritage and culture of the Celts survive. Ultimately this survival is the basis of the Celtic revival that has been underway for the past three centuries.
Before the Common Era [BCE]
4,500 BCE The neolithic age beings in Brtain. Both farming and hunting-gathering societies are present. First evidence of pottery
3,000 BCE Celtic was spoken along the Atlantic coast of the Iberian peninsula, and along the Atlantic coast of France.
2,500 BCE The Brone Age begins in Ireland and Britain
2,200 BCE Celtic was spoken in Ireland and throughout the British Isles.
2,200 BCE Stonegenge is completed
1,800 - 1,500 BCE writing begins to develop in the Middle East and Egypt
1500- 800 BCE The Celts master the land and bronze. Metallurgical examination of bronze age weapons, jewelry and utensils found in ancient Greece have determined that the copper originated in an Irish mine (Ross Island) and the tin came from Cornwall. Scholars now debate whether the technology of the Bronze age began in Ireland rather than in Greece.
1200 BCE Bronze Age civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean collapse.
753 BCE Rome is founded
530 - 500 BCE the first written citation of the Celts is made by the historian Hecataeus of Miletus. He writes about the Celts of the Mediterranean.
400 BCE Celtic was the language of most of western Europe. Celtic culture, beliefs, and art were shared among many ethnic groups throughout western Europe
387 BCE Celts sack Rome
334 BCE The Celts and Romans sign a peace treaty in Northern Italy - The Treaty of Senones.
300 BCE A religious class know as Druid was in evidence in western Europe
279 BCE Celtic groups invade the Balkans and attack Delphi. Though defeated these Celts continue on to Asia Minor (contemporary Turkey) and create a robber-kingdom near Ankara. These Celts were called Galatae (Greek version of the Roman word for Gauls) Their land became known as Galatia. It is this place and these Celts who are the Galatians of the New Testament.
233 BCE The famous statue of "The Dying Gaul" is commissioned by King Attalus I of Pergamum to commemorate his victory over the Galatians (Celts located in modern-day Turkey). The original statue is lost, but was copied by the Romans.
217 BCE Celts ally with Hannibal of Carthage during his invastion of Itlay.
ca 200 BCE Rome begins to expand beyond the Italian peninsula. This new strategic direction is a direct result of the Punic Wars. Rome believed it had to conquer territory beyond the Italian peninsula in order to be secure. This agressive expansion puts the Celtic world and the Roman world on a collision course.
121 BCE Roman troops enter Gaul (modern day France) for the first time
58 – 52 BCE The Gallic wars of Julius Caesar begin the Romanization of the Celtic world
55 and 54 BCE Julius Caesar invades Britain
51 BCE The leader of the Gallic tribes arrayed against Caesar, Vercingetorix, surrenders to the Romans in order to save his men. In 46 BC as part of the celebration of Caesar's victory over the Gauls (Celts), Vercingetorix was paraded through the streets of Rome and then executed by strangulation. Vercingetorix is a folk hero in his native Auvergne region of France. The surrender of Vercingetroix marks the end of Celtic dominace of western Europe.
The Common Era [CE]
43 CE Emperor Claudius annexes the entirety of Britain. Roman rule continues on the Island until 410 CE
61-62 CE Queen Boudica leader of a failed uprising against the Roman Empire dies. Boudica is an English folk hero. in 1902 a large bronze statue of her was erected along the Thames embankment facing Parliament. The Roman historian Tacitus records her first speech to the army after being elected leader. "It is not as a woman descended from noble ancestry, but as one of the people that I am avenging lost freedom, my scourged body, the outraged chastity of my daughters," . . . This is a woman's resolve; as for men, they may live and be slaves." Before its defeat, Boudica's army killed between 70,000 and 80,000 Romans and supporting Britons.
ca 100 CE Most of the lands occupied by the Celtic peoples fall under Roman occupation. Only in Ireland and Scotland did Celtic-speaking communities continue to exist without Roman interference.
Welsh and Cornish settlers occupy parts of Brittany
The Druids structured themselves into three classes. Each class was focused on a different activity. The Bards wrote and performed poetry music. Their songs and poems had sufficient power to enhance or damage reputations. The Vates were diviners. Vates interperted "signs" of nature and predicted the future. Druids were teachers, philosophers and the intermediaries between ordinary people and the gods.
128 CE Work on Hadrian's Wall ends
350-650 CE A turbulent period during which the Romans abandoned Britain (ca 410) and the Saxons moved in. Three centuries of Roman occupation ended. A total collapse of government ushered in a period of rule by war lords. Young Irish men of the underclass took to military service as a means to improve their lives. They became raiders and settlers in Britain. Turmoil roiled the continent too and many crossed the sea hoping to find stability in Britain. Chaos ruled. By 500 CE the turmoil calmed. A period of consolidation ensued. By 600 CE Germanic settlement of eastern Britain was firmly established. In Ireland the monastic culture created a society of superb craftsmen whose art was always dedicated to God. Out of the political and culture chaos (and more than 150 kings ruling various size kingdoms) leaders emerged who consolidated power into seven regional kingdoms. These kings of the seven kingdoms are often refereed to as the “High Kings”.
376 CE The “Barbarian Conspiracy” inflicts sever damage on the fringe of the weakening Roman empire. Irish raiders crossed the Irish Sea to attack the coastal communities of Roman Britain. The Picts joined in and perhaps even the Germans participated.
The Irish create permanent colonial settlements in Wales and Scotland. These Irish settlers brought their version of the Celtic language with them and set the basis for the Welsh and Scots languages
400 CE Anglo-Saxon becomes the dominant language of Britain.
450 CE Significant numbers of Celtic people migrate from Wales, Cornwall, Devon and possibly Ireland into Armoica These Celtic Britons take control of the region and create the Kingdom of Brittany.
476 CE Fall of Rome – the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus, was deposed by a Germanic prince called Odovacar.
789 CE The first Norwegian ship landed on the Dorset coast of Britain in 789 CE. The Scandinavianpresence in Britain continued until 1035 when the Britto-Scandinavian empire broke up. Within a few years Saxon rule returned to Britian. Three claimants to the throne of Britain battled to rule Britain. The final conflict, the Battle of Hasting in 1066, brought Norman rule to Britain. The last Scandinavian raid on Britain took place in 1075 CE. The irony is that the “Normans” (Nordmanns in French) were from Scandinavia. The original Normans were Scandinavian soldiers, mostly Danish, but lead by a Norwegian. These Norsemen settled in France after defeating the Franks at Chartres in 911. They were allowed to settle in return for protecting Paris from further seaborne attacks. The Normans brought an elite culture to Britain. It was a culture of exclusion that sought to establish, and enforce the difference between the conqueror and the conquered. Latin became the language of Government. French became the language of the aristocracy. The
Celts of the British Isles – Wales, Cornwall, Scotland, Isle of Man – immediately became the underclass. The “Irish Question” who should rule Ireland has continued to vex the British ever since. It is, at least from a cultural point of view, a matter of whether the native Celts or the Saxons, or the Normans will rule the island of Ireland.
800s Norsemen established the Kingdom of the Isles, which included the Isle of Man.
942 CE The Celtic Kingdom of Brittany becomes a vassal state of King Louis IV of France. Brittany' King, Alan Twistedbeard drove out the Normans, but so weakened his army and country that he was unable to reestablish his independent sovereignty. He and ended up paying tribute to king Louis IV of France.
ca 1000 CE Druids disappear. This important social group vanished because of multiple forces acting aggressive against their beliefs. The Romans tried to repress the Druids. The Norse invasion also repressed Druids. Celtic Christianity not only absorbed, but adopted many Druidic systems. Many Vates became clerics who actively supported the institution of the Christian Church. The Druids themselves were degenerated by the priesthood and were quickly seen by society as merely magicians. The bards? Well, the bards became the class most worrisome to the elite. On any given day a bard would sing the praises of his master. But that evening the bard might sing a different tune of contempt and rebellion. Little has changed for the bard class. They remain a thorn in the side to all powerful classes in all times. The bardic tradition is all that's left of the Druids.
1000 CE A serious scholarly debate is underway about the Brenton Language. The traditional view is that Breton developed only after the eleventh century and that is has the same Brythonic root as Cornish and Welsh.
1014 CE Brian Boru, first High King of Ireland, is killed outside of Dublin during the Battle of Clontarf. Brian Boru fought the armies of Máel Mórda for control of Ireland. Both sides in the battle were Irish. Both armies included Vikings and other Norsemen soldiers. The fight pitted Irish against Irish. Vikings came to Ireland as raiders.But, they stayed, settled and ultimately merged into Irish culture.
1100 Earliest dating of the harp in Wales
Under the pressure of Christianity, the Druids fade away during the Medieval period. An 8th-century Christian hymn asks for God's protection from the spells of women, blacksmiths and druids.
The Book of the Dun Cow (Lebor na h-Uidreor Leabhar na h-Uidhri) is the oldest surviving manuscript of Irish literature. The text is called The Book of the Dun Cow because the original vellum upon which it was written was supposedly taken from the hide of the famous cow of St. Ciarán of Clonmacnoise. The text was compiled by Irish monks using older manuscripts and oral traditions. The Book of the Dun Cow is a mix of factual material and legends that date from the 8th and 9th centuries. Religious text is found throughout the book.
1188 Giraldus Cambrensis tours Wales and publishes a book about traditional Welsh music. In this text he observes that polyphonic music was present throughout Wales. Polyphony is one of the major developments in the history of Western music. The technique is more widely known as "harmony". Two or more voices simultaneously singing or playing creates harmony or polyphony. The date cited in Cambrensis' work challenges the long standing belief that polyphony first occurred in the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.
1266 Isle of Man became part of Scotland
1284 - 1301 England adopts the Statute of Rhuddlan which restricts Welsh laws. King Edward I’s builds a ring of stone castles as military platforms to assist in the domination of Wales In 1301 King Edward gives his son, and heir, the title Prince of wales. From this point on in time, Wales became part of England even though the Welsh people spoke a different language and lived within a society that maintained dramatically different culture practices.
1350 The White Book of Rhydderch (Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch) is written. It is the oldest collection of Welsh prose texts and poetry. The Welsh stories are now collectively known as the Mabinogion. Historians believe that the original text was copied in the mid-14th century for Rhydderch ab leuan Llwyd. His name and the white cover of the text give the book its name.
1382 The Red Book of Hergest (Llyfr Coch Hergest), is written. The book is one of the most significant Welsh language, medieval manuscripts. The text is a collection of Welsh prose and poetry. The manuscript was created for the Hergest Court. The color of the book's binding is red.
1399 Isle of Man came under the feudal lordship of the English Crown
1553 Scottish Scholar George Buchanan proposed that Britons were descendants of the Gauls and that the language of Scots Gaelic was a Gaulish language.
1542 England completes its annexation of Wales. The Welsh legal system is abolished and the Welsh language is banned from any official role or status.
1568 Queen Elizabeth I issued a decree to ”rid Wales of numerous vagraunt and idle persons naming theim selfes mynstrelles, Rithmers, and Barthes”
1603 (February 7) Queen Elizabeth I ordered Lord Barrymore (Lord President of Munster, Ireland) "to hang the harpers wherever found, and destroy their instruments".
1607 James I/VI, The House of Stewart, ends the autonomy of the last Gaelic rulers in Ireland.
1670 Famed Irish harper and composer Turlough O'Carolan born near Nobber, County Meath, Ireland
1703 Paul-Yves Pezron publishes Antiqutie de la Nation, et de langue des Celts, autrement appellez Gaulois. In this text he proposed that contemporary Brenton and Welsh were expressions of the ancient language of the Gauls. He did not use the term "Celts". Pezron's goal was to establish the historical pedigree of the Bretons and to separate this culture from that of France. Simon James explains in this way: "For the Bretons stood in much the same relation to France as the Welsh and other stood to England, i.e. a self-aware people who face reduction to the status of peripheral province of a large homogenizing nation-state."
The Modern Celts
Imperial Politics, the dominance of the nation-state and the homogenizing effects of money and power lay the foundation upon which the Modern Celts arose. The press of England to expand its rule throughout the Island of Britain, the expansion of centralized power in Paris and the consolidation of separate regions of modern Spain all created a strong drive for many to revive long extinct claims to their Celtic origins. Modern Celts are all about a search for cultural identity and the quest to have that identity recognized as real in a political sense and legitimate in an historic sense.
1707 Welsh scholar Edward Lhuyd publishes Archaeologia Britannica. He was the first to identify the notion of "Celts" as various ethic groups who shared common philosophical, cultural and linguistic practices. Lhuyd identified six different Celtic dialects and reported that all but two had become extinct. He identified Irish, Scottish and Manx languages as goidelic; and Breton, Cornish and Welsh languages as brythonic languages.
1707 The Treaty of Union between England and Scotland was established. This union created the political identity called "British". The Union was a response by the Scottish Protestant and the English/Welsh elite and aristocracy to address the power of France and the perceived dangers of Catholicism.
1727 Famed Scottish fiddler and composer Niel Gow was born in Strathbraan, Perthshire. He died in 1827. Others often spell his first name as "Neil" or "Neal". To increase the confusion the elder Gow's grandson named "Nathaniel" often used the name "Neil". Since 2004 the annual Niel Gow Fiddle Festival has been held in Dunkeld and Birnam, Perthshire, Scotland to celebrate the life and music of Gow.
1738 (March 25) Turlough O' Carloan died - Alderford, County Roscommon, Ireland
1740 John Toland published Critical History of the Celtic Religion. This text was later published until the title The History of the Druids.
1740-1741 William Tukeley published Stonehenge: a Temple Restored to the British Druids and Abury, A Temple of the British Druids. These works were geared to the sensibilities of the Romantic Era. They presented the Druids as the wise priests of the noble-savage ancestors of contemporary Briton.
1746 British Parliament passes the Act of Proscription. This law identified the highland bagpipes as an "instrument of war" and prohibited musician from playing them. The small pipes and border pipes of Scotland were largely supplanted by the fiddle late in the 18th century. The objective of the Act of Proscription was to destroy the Highland culture of Scotland.
1756 the Lord of Cornwall signed over his dominion to King of England. Cornwall became and remains wholly owned by the British Crown.
1759-1796 Life span of Robert Burns. He rewrote traditional Scottish tunes and composed lyrics to these rejuvenated melodies. Burns' songs remain staples in the Scottish tradition.
1760 James MacPherson publishes the poems of Ossian. This collection of poems set off an effort to rediscover the early literature of the Celtic languages.
1765 Isle of man becomes a dependency of the British Crown
1777 Last native speaker of Cornish died
1790s Iolo Morganwa becomes the central figure of the Welsh revival of history and literature. Morganwg sought to recreat a distinctive character of the Welsh people. He focused on Duric traditions and the ongoing struggle of the Welsh against Englihs oppression. A new Welsh national ideology was created that built upon scholarship as well as invented "traditions".
1792 (July 11-14) The Belfast Harpers Assembly takes places in Belfast, Ireland. Players to compete for prizes. Their music is transcribed to preserve the music of the dying tradition of the Irish harp. Ten Irish harpers and one Welsh harper participated. Participants ranged in age from fifteen to ninety- six years. All but one was over forty-five years old. The three winners were each awarded a yearly stipend of £10 . Forty tunes were played during the Assembly. Nineteen-year-old Edward Bunting was employed to transcribe those forty tunes. After the Assembly concluded Bunting visited each participant to collect all the available contemporary harp music. His work was published in three collections dating from 1796 to 1840.
1822 George IV of England visits Scotland and wears a kilt. The King's wardrobe choice lifts the fifty-year old ban on wearing a kilt.
1903 - 1922. During this period Chief James O'Neill of the Chicago Police Department publish multiple volumes of traditional Irish music. O'Neill is considered one of the two greatest collectors of Irish traditional music during the 20th century.
1910 Famed fiddler and composer Tom Anderson was born on a croft at Eshaness, Shetland Islands, Scotland. He died in 1991. His service in the Royal Air Force took him to India where he learn about Indian traditional music. This inspired him to launch a crusade to save what remained of Shetland's traditional fiddle music. After WWII he formed several bands and even performed for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. Anderson's campaign to have fiddle taught in Shetland school began in 1970 and was ultimately successful. In 1977 he was awarded the MBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for his work in traditional music. By the 1990s Anderson's young pupils were formed into Shetland's Heritage Fiddlers and have played in many intentional venues. He was a prolific composer writing more than three hundred tunes. His most widely played piece is titled Da Slockit Light (The Light that has Gone Out). During a 1988 radio interview he had this to say about Da Slockit Light.
"I was coming out of Eshaness in late January, 1969, the time was after 11 pm and as I looked back at the top of the hill leading out of the district, I saw so few lights compared to what I remembered when I was young. As I watched, the lights started going out one by one. That, coupled with the recent death of my wife, made me think of the old word ‘Slockit’ meaning, a light that has gone out, and I think that is what inspired the tune"
1917 Motivated by the terrible social and cultural aftermath of The Great War, Edward John, Welsh Member of Parliament, created The Celtic Congress. The organization's has six branches carry out independent programs throughout the year. Once each year the international congress is held in one of the Celtic nations. This organization must not be confused with The Celtic League (founded in 1961). The two organizations share many objectives. However, the Celtic League was founded, in part, to pursue political goals. .
1974 Last native speaker of Manx died
1950 – 1970 Irish composer and arranger Seán Ó Riada’s creates the modern concept of a Celtic Ensemble. His artistic formulation brought together instruments that had not historically been part of the Celtic ensemble. Seán Ó Riada’s work is the origin of famed bands during the course of the past sixty years.
1951 Comhaltas is founded. Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann is the largest organization in the world committed to he preservation and promotion of Irish traditional music. Many musicians who founded influence Celtic bands passed through programs run by this organization. Comhaltas is a cultural movement with hundreds of local branches around the world. https://comhaltas.ie/about/
1961 The Celtic League was founded. The organization's website reports: "The League was founded in 1961 by Celtic nationalists who saw the need for an inter-Celtic organisation with a political dimension in order to make the peoples of the Celtic nations more aware of their commonality in terms of their language, history and culture, to further the Celtic nations' right to independence and to promote the benefits of inter-Celtic co-operation."
1963 Paddy Moloney, Sean Potts and Michael Tubridy form the influential Irish band known as The Chieftains. The band has won many awards of recognition including six Grammies. Many music experts credit The Chieftains with bringing traditional Irish music to a worldwide audience. The band is famed for its many and wide ranging musical collaborations. In 1989 the Irish government awarded them the honorary titled of "Ireland's Musical Ambassadors.". The band's name came from John Montague's book Death of a Chieftain. The Chieftains celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2012 and they continue to tour, perform and record.
Other influential, trend setting, Celtic bands of the period include:
The Dubliners formed 1962
Battlefield Band formed 1969
Planxty formed 1972
Bothy Band formed 1974
Dé Danann formed 1975
Pogues formed 1982
Dervish formed 1989
1707 The Treaty of Union between England and Scotland was established. This union created the political identity called "British". The Union was a response by the Scottish Protestant and the English/Welsh elite and aristocracy to address the power of France and the perceived dangers of Catholicism.
1727 Famed Scottish fiddler and composer Niel Gow was born in Strathbraan, Perthshire. He died in 1827. Others often spell his first name as "Neil" or "Neal". To increase the confusion the elder Gow's grandson named "Nathaniel" often used the name "Neil". Since 2004 the annual Niel Gow Fiddle Festival has been held in Dunkeld and Birnam, Perthshire, Scotland to celebrate the life and music of Gow.
1738 (March 25) Turlough O' Carloan died - Alderford, County Roscommon, Ireland
1740 John Toland published Critical History of the Celtic Religion. This text was later published until the title The History of the Druids.
1740-1741 William Tukeley published Stonehenge: a Temple Restored to the British Druids and Abury, A Temple of the British Druids. These works were geared to the sensibilities of the Romantic Era. They presented the Druids as the wise priests of the noble-savage ancestors of contemporary Briton.
1746 British Parliament passes the Act of Proscription. This law identified the highland bagpipes as an "instrument of war" and prohibited musician from playing them. The small pipes and border pipes of Scotland were largely supplanted by the fiddle late in the 18th century. The objective of the Act of Proscription was to destroy the Highland culture of Scotland.
1756 the Lord of Cornwall signed over his dominion to King of England. Cornwall became and remains wholly owned by the British Crown.
1759-1796 Life span of Robert Burns. He rewrote traditional Scottish tunes and composed lyrics to these rejuvenated melodies. Burns' songs remain staples in the Scottish tradition.
1760 James MacPherson publishes the poems of Ossian. This collection of poems set off an effort to rediscover the early literature of the Celtic languages.
1765 Isle of man becomes a dependency of the British Crown
1777 Last native speaker of Cornish died
1790s Iolo Morganwa becomes the central figure of the Welsh revival of history and literature. Morganwg sought to recreat a distinctive character of the Welsh people. He focused on Duric traditions and the ongoing struggle of the Welsh against Englihs oppression. A new Welsh national ideology was created that built upon scholarship as well as invented "traditions".
1792 (July 11-14) The Belfast Harpers Assembly takes places in Belfast, Ireland. Players to compete for prizes. Their music is transcribed to preserve the music of the dying tradition of the Irish harp. Ten Irish harpers and one Welsh harper participated. Participants ranged in age from fifteen to ninety- six years. All but one was over forty-five years old. The three winners were each awarded a yearly stipend of £10 . Forty tunes were played during the Assembly. Nineteen-year-old Edward Bunting was employed to transcribe those forty tunes. After the Assembly concluded Bunting visited each participant to collect all the available contemporary harp music. His work was published in three collections dating from 1796 to 1840.
1822 George IV of England visits Scotland and wears a kilt. The King's wardrobe choice lifts the fifty-year old ban on wearing a kilt.
1903 - 1922. During this period Chief James O'Neill of the Chicago Police Department publish multiple volumes of traditional Irish music. O'Neill is considered one of the two greatest collectors of Irish traditional music during the 20th century.
1910 Famed fiddler and composer Tom Anderson was born on a croft at Eshaness, Shetland Islands, Scotland. He died in 1991. His service in the Royal Air Force took him to India where he learn about Indian traditional music. This inspired him to launch a crusade to save what remained of Shetland's traditional fiddle music. After WWII he formed several bands and even performed for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. Anderson's campaign to have fiddle taught in Shetland school began in 1970 and was ultimately successful. In 1977 he was awarded the MBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for his work in traditional music. By the 1990s Anderson's young pupils were formed into Shetland's Heritage Fiddlers and have played in many intentional venues. He was a prolific composer writing more than three hundred tunes. His most widely played piece is titled Da Slockit Light (The Light that has Gone Out). During a 1988 radio interview he had this to say about Da Slockit Light.
"I was coming out of Eshaness in late January, 1969, the time was after 11 pm and as I looked back at the top of the hill leading out of the district, I saw so few lights compared to what I remembered when I was young. As I watched, the lights started going out one by one. That, coupled with the recent death of my wife, made me think of the old word ‘Slockit’ meaning, a light that has gone out, and I think that is what inspired the tune"
1917 Motivated by the terrible social and cultural aftermath of The Great War, Edward John, Welsh Member of Parliament, created The Celtic Congress. The organization's has six branches carry out independent programs throughout the year. Once each year the international congress is held in one of the Celtic nations. This organization must not be confused with The Celtic League (founded in 1961). The two organizations share many objectives. However, the Celtic League was founded, in part, to pursue political goals. .
1974 Last native speaker of Manx died
1950 – 1970 Irish composer and arranger Seán Ó Riada’s creates the modern concept of a Celtic Ensemble. His artistic formulation brought together instruments that had not historically been part of the Celtic ensemble. Seán Ó Riada’s work is the origin of famed bands during the course of the past sixty years.
1951 Comhaltas is founded. Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann is the largest organization in the world committed to he preservation and promotion of Irish traditional music. Many musicians who founded influence Celtic bands passed through programs run by this organization. Comhaltas is a cultural movement with hundreds of local branches around the world. https://comhaltas.ie/about/
1961 The Celtic League was founded. The organization's website reports: "The League was founded in 1961 by Celtic nationalists who saw the need for an inter-Celtic organisation with a political dimension in order to make the peoples of the Celtic nations more aware of their commonality in terms of their language, history and culture, to further the Celtic nations' right to independence and to promote the benefits of inter-Celtic co-operation."
1963 Paddy Moloney, Sean Potts and Michael Tubridy form the influential Irish band known as The Chieftains. The band has won many awards of recognition including six Grammies. Many music experts credit The Chieftains with bringing traditional Irish music to a worldwide audience. The band is famed for its many and wide ranging musical collaborations. In 1989 the Irish government awarded them the honorary titled of "Ireland's Musical Ambassadors.". The band's name came from John Montague's book Death of a Chieftain. The Chieftains celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2012 and they continue to tour, perform and record.
Other influential, trend setting, Celtic bands of the period include:
The Dubliners formed 1962
Battlefield Band formed 1969
Planxty formed 1972
Bothy Band formed 1974
Dé Danann formed 1975
Pogues formed 1982
Dervish formed 1989
1994 Riverdance was created as a filler performance act for the Eurovision Song Contest. Because of the extemely positive audience response, John McColgan and Moya Doherty quickly expanded Riverdance into a full stage show. The initial performance took place in 1995 in Dublin, Ireland. . Since its creation Riverdance has performed in more than 500 venues worldwide. More than 25 million people have attended a Riverdance performance.
1999 The new Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly are constituted.
The Golden Age of Celtic Music
Our times might well be called The Golden Age of Celtic Music. Never before has this genera of music and dance been embraced by so many people in so many different places, across so many different cultures. Celtic music embraces nearly everyone who hears it.
The voice of Celtic music is always evolving. In the beginning it was played by a solo instrument to accompany dance or singing. Over time, the harp and fiddle were joined by pipes, flutes, guitars, banjos, concertinas, whistles, cellos, kit drum sets, bodhrans, accordions and now synthesizers and sampling. Traditional Celtic music is widely available but so too are Celtic Punk, Celtic Rock and Celtic Rap. The folks music of the 18th century is certainly “on a roll”.
Today there are more luthiers building fine custom instruments than ever before and more industrialized manufacturers turning out high quality, low cost instruments. The act of creating Celtic music is more accessible than ever before.
The list of A-level bands is huge and growing. Vinyl discs, tape, CDs have been eclipsed by digital files making Celtic music more available at lower cost than ever before.
The motivating forces of Celtic music – the search for cultural identity, the over reach of nation-states, the protest against being ignored by political leadership, the preservation and revival of legacies (real or imagined), political alienation - all of these forces, continue to act both locally and on the world stage. That suggests that Celtic music, and its evolution, are here to stay for a very long time.
Now is the time to pick up an instrument, master it, learn tunes and play. My hope is that this Pan-Celtic Repertoire course motivates you and opens new vistas into the extraordinary experience of Celtic Music.
The voice of Celtic music is always evolving. In the beginning it was played by a solo instrument to accompany dance or singing. Over time, the harp and fiddle were joined by pipes, flutes, guitars, banjos, concertinas, whistles, cellos, kit drum sets, bodhrans, accordions and now synthesizers and sampling. Traditional Celtic music is widely available but so too are Celtic Punk, Celtic Rock and Celtic Rap. The folks music of the 18th century is certainly “on a roll”.
Today there are more luthiers building fine custom instruments than ever before and more industrialized manufacturers turning out high quality, low cost instruments. The act of creating Celtic music is more accessible than ever before.
The list of A-level bands is huge and growing. Vinyl discs, tape, CDs have been eclipsed by digital files making Celtic music more available at lower cost than ever before.
The motivating forces of Celtic music – the search for cultural identity, the over reach of nation-states, the protest against being ignored by political leadership, the preservation and revival of legacies (real or imagined), political alienation - all of these forces, continue to act both locally and on the world stage. That suggests that Celtic music, and its evolution, are here to stay for a very long time.
Now is the time to pick up an instrument, master it, learn tunes and play. My hope is that this Pan-Celtic Repertoire course motivates you and opens new vistas into the extraordinary experience of Celtic Music.