Love that phrase… no doubt the smaller tribes and kingdoms were glad of the ‘stability’…
Anyway I’m a hybrid - Ulster-Scots, which means my ancestors came from the Anglo-Saxon area of Lindesey, moved up through England (Lincolnshire) into Scotland and then across to Northern Ireland around 1700 - 1800 and have remained ever since. Notwithstanding those who claim there is no such thing as Ulster-Scots culture, the music involves bagpipes and other local instruments such as the huge Lambeg Drum, which has dozens if not hundreds of localised rhythms depending on where the player comes from, interspersed with more-wodely known Irish and Scots tunes. The best of both worlds, probably.
Incidentally if I drink enough whisky I can speak fluent Ulster-Scots, an example of which I’ve added below (taken from some local government website or other):
We’d be ableeged gin ye’d gie us aa tha wittins ye can anent tha ootfa ye’r makkin pleen o, takkin in thďngs tha like o:
tha day, oor, date an richt bďt whar thar wus tha ootfa
whut the’ caa tha offyser or yin frae tha darg-ban yokkt intil’t, an thair shoodčr nummer an tha leuk o thaim
whut the’ caa onie yins remairkin whut cum aboot, an thair bakkin an langbl’r nummer
tha registratin nummers o onie motors ’at wus yokkt intil tha ootfa
onie ither helplie or effeirin pruif, tha like o leknesses or soon or video recoardins
Dinnae fash yersel gin ye’ll can gie nae mair nor a feck o this wittins. We’r fur ettlin at fynnin whutiver wittins we reck tae be effeirin til yer pleen.
Ye maun mak yer pleen athin a towmond o tha ootfa ye’r taen wi.
Total gibberish, but when drunk it all makes perfect sense. So: the weirdest thing I’ve ever done musically, apart from phonetically singing a Greek song in Greece before a Greek audience, has to be either playing along with a pipe band on my hurdy-gurdy (great drones for pipe band tunes) or else playing jigs and reels accompanied by Lambeg Drum players at an Ulster-Scots concert, and trying to work out if those speaking the language actually liked it or not.
For some info on Lambeg drums and their rhythms see the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51MClt_FW0s
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