Discovering the roots of our music (and country)

Man, it would be cool to go back in time and see Patrick Henry play the fiddle! I thought as I skimmed my history packet in order to collect information for an american history project. I had been looking over this packet, pausing to read the text box below the main article. To my surprise, the text box stated that playing celtic jigs and irish reels was one of Patrick Henry's greatest hobbies. It even said that Patrick Henry met Thomas Jefferson at a fiddling session! Of the three people I could research, I had received the one that I could directly relate to by my music. Furthermore, I could bring in my button box and play the class something that Patrick Henry might have played when he met Thomas Jefferson. When sunday arrived, my dad and I searched 17th century tunes on the web. There were many names I recognized, but I wasn't really excited until we saw Fairy Dance listed. Fairy dance is a tune we play almost every dance along with Batchelders reel. We learned that it was by Scottish Composer Neil Gow, who lived from 1727 to 1807.

I was able to quickly learn it on my accordian. In the end, I didn't get the chance to play it for my classmates, but it is interesting to realize some of the things we play connect us to famous politicians from the past. How fun to think that centuries ago, Patrick Henry might have played the same songs we play every dance.