W.B. Yeats was born 150 years ago, on 13 June, 1865. Here's his poem The Fiddler of Dooney, written in 1889, when he was 24, celebrating the importance of the fiddle player: 'For the good are always the merry, Save by an evil chance, And the merry love the fiddle And the merry love to dance': When I play on my fiddle in Dooney, Folk dance like a wave of the sea; My cousin is priest in Kilvarnet, My brother in Moharabuiee. I passed my brother and cousin: They read in their boo

The great British writer Thomas Hardy was born on 2 June, 1840. His father was a fiddler in the village band and he himself also played. There are lovely vignettes of village music throughout his stories, and in 1916 he wrote this poem, reflecting on the loss of his father, through the silent violin. My Father's Violin Does he want you down there In the Nether Glooms where The hours may be a dragging load upon him, As he hears the axle grind Round and round Of the great

I heard this band on in the background playlist at the Green Note in Camden last week and had to stop my conversation, I was so captivated. They are Genticorum and they're from Canada. Their arrangements are just lovely, rich but delicate, and the fiddle player, Pascal Gemme, has a beautiful tone and a precision technique. Here's something to tap your foot to: #violin #fiddle #folk #playing #blog #view