Poet and musician Cahal Dallat and poet Anne-Marie Fyfe, both from the Glens of Antrim, will tell the story, in words, music and images, of how Scots and Ulster Scots music and poetry not only weathered the rigors of a two-step migration but went on to influence the course of twentieth century folk, country and rock music.

Antrim’s rugged Glens, on Ireland’s North Eastern coast facing Scotland’s Ayrshire and Campbelltown, were for centuries, the landing point for generations of Scots and a meeting point/melting pot for diverse cultural traditions. Border Ballads like Barbara Allen, The Unfortunate Rake and The Lass of Roch Royal blended with modal Gaelic laments and the reels and jigs of Irish pipers and harpists. So when Ulster’s 18c Scots Dissenters upped sticks again and took their chances across the Atlantic, they took their cultural baggage of ballads and fiddle tunes to the North Eastern states and on down into the sparsely-populated Appalachian foothills.

This event is presented by the Southern Historical Collection, Southern Folklife Collection and Rare Book Collection at the Wilson Special Collections Library.