[Harp-L] Howling Dogs

["Aongus MacCana" <amaccana@xxxxxxxxxx>]

When I was a kid (60 years ago or so) I used to spend holidays with my aunt
in the West of Ireland. With no radio and with TV scarcely invented, the
only entertainment available to my cousins after a hard days farm work was
to take out the box and fiddle and play a few tunes. They were very
competent trad players - one of them later emigrated to England and made a
living  playing music. Their two collie dogs however were not impressed and
one of the abiding memories of my childhood is of the two dogs howling
outside in the yard while the music was being played within. This seems to
be a common phenomenon and I guess it must be some characteristic in the
sound of the reeds  whether in an accordeon or a harmonica that gets the
dogs going. I used to think that it was the fiddle that provoked them.
Beannachtaí
Aongus Mac Cana