Is this Why Celtic Music Makes My Heart Sing?

For as long as I can remember, Celtic music has made my heart "sing." I feel every note from the tips of my toes to the top of my head...and deep inside my heart. When it's a slow tune, my emotions ebb and flow with the emotional story the ballad tells. When it's a fast tune, my feet don't want to be still.

Celtic music calls to me because it's part of my heritage, and something deep down inside recognizes the connections.

For those not privileged to be from the Appalachian region, here's an article, published a couple of years ago in the New River Voice and titled "The Celtic Influence on Appalachian Music," that explains the connections.

According to the article: "Depending upon the source, 40 to 60 percent of the settlers who nested into the Appalachian region were of Ulster-Scots descent, by far the largest ethnic group to call Appalachia home save for the Native Americans who had been here for quite some time. These settlers brought with them their cultural baggage, which included the many ballads, stories, and instrumental tunes from their Irish and Scottish heritage, much influenced by the Celtic tradition before their departure. Some of these tunes and lyrics go back to the bardic period of Celtic and British assimilation, thus culturally connecting Appalachia with its Celtic ancestry."

To learn more, read the rest of the article.

The Scots-Irish Influence in Appalachian English

I ran across a PDF--probably a college or graduate school paper--entitled "The Scotch-Irish Element in Appalachian English: How Broad? How Deep?" For those of us who grew up in the Appalachian Mountains, are indeed of Scots-Irish heritage and have (or at least once had) the accent made famous by Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn, this paper is quite interesting. Enjoy!