Sunday 1 April 2012

Day Four and the sun was still shining

Quiet lounge in main house

I was the only guitarist in the course so there wasn't much chance to play bodhran except at the final session. The course was enjoyable, but my finger tips are very sore from previous lack of use. Accompanying the fiddlers was a bit boring, too, as the chords are very basic and the tunes repetetive. When the fiddlers and woodwing were learning a 'set', it was played much slower than I am used to, 'though there was the chance of working out a bodhran rhythm to complement the tune.

The main house was owned by the Seebohm family - a well-known quaker family that had lived in the town since the banker and historian, Frederick, moved there and became a partner in The Hitchin Bank ( now the Barclays Bank) . The grounds are a wonderful environment in which to stroll and relax, set mainly as managed woodland with clearings planted with seasonal 'wildflowers'. The daffodils gave a magnificent show throughout the four days of the course.