John Doherty (fiddler)

John Doherty (1895-1980) is perhaps the best-known of the vibrant living tradition of fiddle playing of County Donegal, Ireland. A travelling tinsmith, he was and is held up by Irish traditional musicians as an example of the very best of Irish fiddlers, easily in the same rank as Michael Coleman and Padraig O'Keeffe, his contemporaries. He had a voluminous repertoire of tunes that he played with an unusual, distinctively "lonesome" style that has often been compared to the highland bagpipes. John--Irish musicians are typically referred to by their given names in this way--was also the source of many tunes. It is not controversial to refer to him as a "fiddler's fiddler."

Life

John Doherty was born in 1895 in Ardara, County Donegal, the youngest of a large family of travellers with a long tradition of fiddle and bagpipe playing. By his 20s he was recognized as a very strong fiddle player. He plied the family trade, however, of travelling tinsmith. This brought him into regular contact with people from all over southwest County Donegal, and in that way he both learned and spread many tunes. John was also an accomplished singer and storyteller, and his arrival in a village or town was cause for some celebration, because it meant that music, dancing, singing, and storytelling were in store. In the late 1940s, through to the 1970s, music collectors visited John and the result was several albums. The style was, for most listeners of Irish traditional music, completely unusual, and John gained a reputation thereafter as the Donegal fiddler. John is known for playing with virtuosity well into his 80s, and he died in January 1980.

Style

As a listener may hear on recordings still available, John Dohery's bowing is powerful and vigorous. He said he took some stylistic cues from the Highland pipes. Like the pipes, the tones produced are lonesome-sounding, and yet singing. His playing does not have the "swing" of other Irish fiddlers, but is more straightforward and driving. His playing is usually one-note-per-bow, which gives his music a brisk, staccato flavor. The tempos at which he plays are also famously brisk, as well. He has rather less finger ornamentation than other players, and it tends to imitate piping ornamentation, with a lot of cuts and some trills. Like many Donegal fiddlers, John's primary ornament is perhaps the bowed triplet, which also contributes to the piping sound of the playing. The overall effect is a stark, lonesome, and powerful sound.

Further Reading

Evans, Alun. Liner notes for The Floating Bow. Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim: Claddagh Records, 1996.

Feldman, Allen and Eamonn O'Doherty. The Northern Fiddler: Music and Musicians of Donegal and Tyrone. Belfast: Blackstaff Press, 1979.

Mac Aoidh, Caoimhin. Between the Jigs and the Reels. Drumlin Publications, 1994.