“Celtic” Music (yeah, right!)

As if there is such a thing. Good grief. There is Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Breton – and whatever else – music. Why do we need to use a term that is misapplied so often anyway to categorise these lands’ music. It does little else but obscure the origin and uniqueness of the different forms. Let me be clear: a strathspey is a Scottish dance invented by James Scott Skinner not that long ago. It is not “Celtic”. And the originators of jigs and reels were not Celts; they were Irish and Scots many of whom had ancestry which could not be traced anybody who could with certainty be called a Celt – whatever that is. I assert that a strathspey is no more “Celtic” than Red John – and my mother was English (albeit with Irish ancestry).

There is an internet forum dedicated to Celtic guitar. I suppose there are some guitar players who claim to be Celtic guitar players. I wonder if there are even players composing original tunes and calling them “Celtic”. I’d better stop.

Why am I so engaged by this? Does it matter? I don’t really know. I think I’ll call myself a Pictish guitar player and songwriter because I live in Aberdeenshire.