The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

Matthew Gurnsey, aka The Kilted Man, presented two programs last week at the Blaine County Library. In an afternoon performance he entertained a large number of children from the summer reading program and adults, then did a second show in the evening for a predominantly adult audience. About 90 locals attended the two programs funded by memorial funds given to the library to support public programs or provide for special needs of the library.

The Kilted Man now lives in Colorado and was on a tour that he described as, "Beginning in Arizona, moving on to Wyoming and now going along the Hi-line." He had to think if he was headed east or west but decided, "Whichever way is Cut Bank, that's the way I'm headed." Immediately before the stop in Chinook he performed in Malta.

Varied Program of Celtic music and stories

Gurnsey began his program with a sea shanty. Back in the era when sailors did all the work on huge sailing ships by hand, sea shanties were songs that synchronized the labor of large numbers of sailors as they pulled, tugged and lifted to keep the huge ships sailing. Often a sea shanty told a story and The Kilted Man got the audience involved in singing some choruses as he sang an ancient work song.

Revolving around the different types of music and songs that make up Celtic music, Gurnsey introduced his audiences to several different musical instruments that are used. Celtic music, whether a song or a musical number, has a very prominent rhythm that the performer would emphasize with a set of bells around one ankle or with specialized "clicking devices" of various types he held in one hand. Demonstrating how Celtic music can be soft and calming, he played a Scottish lullaby on a concertina, a small accordion-like instrument. He assured the children in the afternoon audience, "Don't be afraid, the lullaby never put me to sleep."

Several numbers involved his singing and accompanying himself using a bodhran, or Irish drum. Unlike most drums used in American bands or orchestras, the bodhran is open on one side and the drummer holds the drum with one hand inside the underside of the instrument. Using a stick called a 'tipper,' he could beat several different rhythms on the drum and change the pitch and the tone of the sound by changing how he held his other hand inside the drum. He sang an old song using the bodhran for accompaniment, about a whaling ship called the "Diamond."

He also played a mandolin, a pennywhistle (or, Irish whistle) and a bowed psaltery to create the Celtic sound. Gurnsey noted at one point, "In Celtic music you have two options for types of music, Option One is about war, death and suffering and Option Two is about love." He played some of both.

The children in the afternoon performance especially enjoyed a song that answered the question, "Why do you never see unicorns?" The song tells the Bible story of God telling Noah to build an ark and save the animals from the coming flood. When the ark was completed, just as the rains began, Noah called the animals to board the ark. The unicorns waited until the last minute to go on the ark because they wanted to play in the forest. Suddenly the ark was lifted by the flood waters and drifted away. It was too late for the unicorns to get on Noah's ark. And that's why you never see a unicorn.

Library Director Valerie Frank said, "Both concerts went very well and we had a good turnout for each. Matthew Gurnsey tailored his program to each of the audiences. He was very entertaining." The kids in the summer reading program sat enthralled as The Kilted Man used multiple instruments to share his program of Celtic music. One little girl literally jumped out her seat when she recognized a song from the Harry Potter movies played on a bowed psaltery, an instrument first mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible.