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Sean
Smyth’s article Rose
Tinted Culture brought to mind the following lines
of Rabbie Burns - “O wad some power the giftie
gie us, tae see ourselves as ithers see us”.
All
too often we see ourselves and our experience of culture
through rose tinted glasses and it does no harm for
us to look at how others view us and our cultural
experiences. As we grow older we tend to look back
on what we feel were the halcyon days of wine and
roses, forgetting that at times the wine was bitter
and the roses had thorns.
If
my response to Sean (cf., Culture
of Hate? ) focused too much on the positive side
of the cultural experiences of my community, that
was me remembering selectively the days of wine and
roses. But it was also a genuine expression of my
own current cultural experiences and preferences.
Yes, there is a dark side to culture and to cultural
expression, and I have experienced that too. But it
would be wrong to imply that those dark experiences
were the sum total of my cultural experiences. They
were not. So it is with the cultural experiences of
the wider unionist community. The positive experiences
far outnumber the negative, and once again I will
dwell on what I believe are the positive aspects of
cultural activities enjoyed within the unionist community.
No
cultural activity is more associated with the unionist-Orange
community than lambeg drumming. John Nixon recalls
that his early memories of lambeg drumming was of
men beating out “ litanies of defiance, anger
and hate”, and Roy Arbuckle recalls republicans
in Waterford “who were not too happy that we
were using the Lambeg drum…(which)…to them
was a symbol of British ' Imperialism’.”
Can there really be a positive side to fifing and
drumming?
It
must be said that while the lambeg drum is more prominent
within the Orange community it has traditionally been
played by both communities. As Paul Marshall has pointed
out in The Lambeg Drum of Ireland “Throughout
history the Lambeg was used by both the Orange and
Green traditions with Hibernian and Orange members
having largely the same repertoire. Naturally there
was politically oriented music on either side as well,
but there was a large pool of common ground”.
Not only was there a pool of common ground, many a
Hibernian drum has been disguised as an Orange drum
and carried on the Twelfth parade. I had an uncle
who drummed all his days and was always sure that
if he bust a (drum) head coming up to the Twelfth
there would be an AOH drum available for him to beat
on the big day, and vice versa.
As
a cultural activity, drumming was common to both traditional
communities and need not be identified as an activity
that is driven by hatred. The vast majority of fifers
and drummers are more interested in the craft of building
and playing the instrument than they are in beating
out messages of hatred. While there are no tunes as
such in lambeg drumming the rhythm of the beat, together
with the shrill tones of the fife, produces a unique
musical sound. It is true that the lambeg sends out
a highly irritating signal to those with sensitive
eardrums, and for many the noise appears to be a meaningless
blatter of cane on skin. But listen to Willie Drennan
on the “wee lambeg” playing in time with
the highland pipes and trombone on “The Jolly
Beggarman” or the Galgorm Parks Fife and Drum
Group playing “One Hundred Pipers” or the
“Buglers Hornpipe” and you might just begin
to appreciate that there is a lot more to lambeg drumming
than beating out a litany of defiance and anger.
I
remember a few years back a republican friend of mine
looking with unbelief as a couple of Irish dancers
danced in time with Roy Arbuckle playing the lambeg.
He was even more amazed when he listened to the lambeg
and bodhran being accompanied by the Uilleann pipes,
the Scottish small pipes and the Highland bagpipes.
Again, I am putting across the positive side of a
cultural activity enjoyed within the unionist community.
During a conversation with Sean he suggested that
unionists needed to highlight more this positive side
of culture. While this is true - and I believe that
groups such as the “Ulster-Scots Folk Orchestra”
and the “Galgorm Parks Fife and Drum Group”
are trying to do just that - understanding and respect
for cultural activities such as lambeg drumming will
only come about when nationalists and unionists engage
both in cultural dialogue and shared activities.
The
“Different Drums of Ireland” band, which
includes lambeg and bodhran as well as a varity of
other instruments, and which involves musicians from
both traditions, is an example of how this can be
done. Rina Schiller’s book, “The Lambeg
and the Bodhran” is a worthy read for those
interested in learning more about the traditional
drums of Ireland.
Sean
mentions the blood and thunder flute bands which,
like the fifers and drummers of the lambeg community,
get a bad name as the conveyers of hatred. Many years
ago I was a member of one of the first generation
of blood and thunder flute bands. And, yes, we did
“let it rip” when we passed an area like
Seaforde Street or a Catholic chapel; but that was
tame compared to the rise in decibels produced by
both drummers and flautists when we passed another
loyalist band - the object was to blow the other band
off the road. When the the “devils buttermilk”
and the flow of adrenalin mixed it was a matter of
the blood being up and the thunder being directed
indiscriminately at whoever had the most sensitive
ears.
The
swagger of the flautists, the swirl of the mace, the
pounding of the bass drum and the thunder of the double
forties is an intimidating spectacle - especially
if you feel that you are the target of the noise -
and that is something that marching bands need to
address. Organisations like the Ulster Bands Association
are endeavouring to do just that. Indeed one of the
reasons which the Association gives for its formation
was “the lack of public and political support”
for the marching bands tradition. The Association
is not linked to any of the Loyal Orders or to any
political party and is simply seeking to promote the
cultural identity of the marching bands and to enhance
the public perception and image of the bands.
This
is not to say that they are going to water down their
unionist identity or their rejection of Irish Republicanism,
but simply that they are intent on promoting and encouraging
the positive elements of the marching bands. The Association
is also seeking to engage in youth development initiatives
and to encourage and promote musical excellence. There
are positive things happening within the loyalist
community that need to be encouraged and supported
for, as the Association points out, “Only when
respect and equality is afforded to our culture will
parades once again be enjoyed for the carnival events
that they are, by everyone irrespective of creed”.
Loyalists
do need to address those aspects of their cultural
activities that generate anger and cause offence,
and I know from my own interaction with loyalists
who are involved with marching bands, lambeg drumming
and the Apprentice Boys Order that there are a number
of positive initiatives being developed aimed at just
that. However, strict Codes of Conduct and a dedication
to the development of band discipline and musical
ability, will not change the minds of those who take
offence at a band or a drumming group simply because
they happen to be loyalists or Protestants. Objecting
to a band because of the political or religious background
of its members is something very different to objecting
to it because it behaves badly while on parade. Raw
anti-unionist prejudice cannot be addressed by the
unionist community, that is something that those who
are prejudiced must address themselves. Putting it
bluntly, objecting to a band simply because of the
religious make-up of its members is pure sectarianism.
Dialogue
such as that which Sean Smyth and myself are engaged
in, and outlets such as The Blanket and The
Other View which encourage and facilitate it,
needs to be replicated within and across our divided
communities. Only then will we begin to understand
and respect each others cultural identity and cultural
expressions.
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