1 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:08,000 For Victorian Britons, George Bradshaw was a household name. 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:10,160 At a time when railways were new, 3 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:13,320 Bradshaw's guidebook inspired them to take to the tracks. 4 00:00:16,240 --> 00:00:18,000 I'm using a Bradshaw's Guide 5 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:21,960 to understand how trains transformed Britain and Ireland, 6 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:25,720 their landscape, industry, society, and leisure time. 7 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:29,720 As I follow its routes, 130 years later, 8 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:32,720 it helps me to discover these islands today. 9 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:56,640 I'm moving northwest across Ireland, 10 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:59,520 on a rail journey that began in Wexford. 11 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:03,240 Discovering how, in the 19th century, a surge of pride 12 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:07,840 in Irish culture accompanied a growth of nationalism. 13 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:12,920 On this part of the journey, I hope to unearth a use for the potato, 14 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:15,400 reveal Irish on the fiddle, 15 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:19,280 and I will arise and then go then, and go to Innisfree. 16 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:30,840 I began my journey on the coast at Wexford 17 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,240 and then travelled up to the capital, Dublin, 18 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:35,920 before turning west. 19 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:39,880 Crossing this beautiful country, I'm uncovering Irish identity, 20 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:42,720 forged in a time of political strife. 21 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:46,440 I'll be ending my cultural exploration on the Atlantic coast. 22 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,120 Today, I begin in the town of Dromod, County Leitrim, 23 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:56,360 before travelling north to the county and coastal town of Sligo. 24 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:03,680 Along the way, I try my hand at traditional Irish cuisine... 25 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:06,040 - How's that looking, Timmy? - You wouldn't be selling it now. 26 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:08,320 You don't think a lot of customers would come and buy mine? 27 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:10,800 Yours was very lumpy, you know what I mean? 28 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:12,560 ..see the landscape that inspired 29 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:16,120 one of the 20th century's greatest poets, WB Yeats... 30 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:19,200 It gave him the sense of where Celtic man, Irish man, 31 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:23,320 had come up, off the landscape, and that drove him to believe that 32 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:26,160 Ireland should have an independence. 33 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:28,960 ..and step in time, Sligo style. 34 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:30,640 One, two, three... 35 00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:33,040 Michael Flatley had better watch out! 36 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:43,280 I leave this train at Dromod. 37 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:45,560 Bradshaw's says, "Where the railway projects 38 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:48,400 "into the counties of Leitrim and Cavan, 39 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:52,800 "its character varies, and the surface becomes rugged and uneven." 40 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:56,080 I'm looking forward to some spectacular scenery. 41 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,200 Despite the hunger and poverty of the mid-19th century, 42 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:03,600 the railway boom in Ireland was as intense as it was in Great Britain. 43 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:09,160 And in the 20th century, the closure of underused lines was as drastic. 44 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:14,760 I'm alighting at Dromod, 45 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:18,280 a stop on the old Midland Great Western Railway mainline 46 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:20,280 from Dublin to Sligo. 47 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,600 At the time of my guide, it was also the first station 48 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:29,360 of the now-defunct Cavan and Leitrim Railway - 49 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:32,800 a branch line that connected to Ireland's mining region. 50 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:44,240 It's been one man's mission to restore part of the railway, 51 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:45,280 Michael Kennedy. 52 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:55,200 - Hello, Michael. - Hello, Mike. 53 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:58,120 What was the history of the Cavan and Leitrim railway? 54 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:02,120 The Cavan and Leitrim Railway was built in 1887 and lasted until 1959. 55 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:04,120 It ran all the way from Dromod, in the south, 56 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:05,480 through Mohill, Ballinamore, 57 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:07,400 Bawnboy, Ballyconnell and into Belturbet, 58 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:10,080 with a branch from Ballinamore all the way to Drumshanbo and out to 59 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:11,480 Arigna, where it met the coal mine. 60 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:13,760 Coal mines are not very common in Ireland, are they? 61 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:15,800 There's only two small coal mines in Ireland. 62 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:18,840 One in Castlecomer, in County Kilkenny, and one up in Arigna. 63 00:04:18,840 --> 00:04:22,160 - Was the track always narrow gauge? - Always narrow gauge. 64 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:23,360 It was light railway. 65 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:30,680 Running for almost 50 miles, the Cavan and Leitrim Railway 66 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:35,520 opened up the coal and iron districts of Arigna and Lough Allen. 67 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:38,000 And passengers made use of the same trains. 68 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:45,600 The train left here with one carriage and a load of wagons 69 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:48,400 and the steam engine on the front. It went to Mohill, it stopped, 70 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:50,680 the engine came off the front, went round the back, 71 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:53,200 shunted the wagons from the station that were to go on further 72 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:55,680 and shunted the ones off that were to be left at the station. 73 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:59,000 And took three hours to go from here to Belturbet, 35 miles. 74 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:02,600 So, it wasn't a brilliant experience for the passengers. 75 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:03,840 No, it took all day. 76 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:07,680 It was obviously a very special railway. 77 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:10,920 Yes, and it was all run by the locals, 78 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:13,480 who drove the trains and were the crews. 79 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:15,320 But the management were Anglo-Irish, 80 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:18,800 so by the time the War of Independence came, they didn't get on with each other. 81 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:20,640 There was a lot of friction between them. 82 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:23,120 Queen Victoria was one of the smaller Stevenson locomotives, 83 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:27,080 and the men didn't like driving this engine called Queen Victoria, so they took the name plates off 84 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:28,680 and put them underneath a wood stack. 85 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:31,240 The management found the name plates and put them back on again, 86 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:34,840 so the lads drove the engine out to Drumshanbo, where the line went, took the name plates off 87 00:05:34,840 --> 00:05:38,640 a second time and put them down a deep well, where they're still supposed to be there to this day, 88 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:41,960 and painted the engine green, white and orange and called it the Sinn Fein engine. 89 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:44,200 Oh, my goodness. 90 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,200 The line outlived most Irish narrow-gauge railways, 91 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:49,440 running until 1959. 92 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:52,240 Being the last steam tramway in Ireland to close. 93 00:05:56,360 --> 00:05:58,480 And that's a very natty bicycle you've arrived on, 94 00:05:58,480 --> 00:05:59,680 tell me about that. 95 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:02,120 Yeah, well, that's our railway bicycle. 96 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:03,440 A very smart machine. 97 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:06,200 Now, this is all a nice bit of fun, but they had a serious purpose once? 98 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:07,640 Yes, they were inspection cycles. 99 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:09,560 There was a seat clipped onto the front, 100 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:12,760 and the inspector sat on the seat and two men cycled along the line. 101 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:14,920 And he would inspect the track as they went along. 102 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:16,920 Well, I don't think there are any trains coming. 103 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:18,520 - Shall we give it a go? - Yes. 104 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:21,520 # Daisy, Daisy, 105 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:23,960 # Give me your answer, do... 106 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:26,920 These bicycles fell out of use in the 1960s, 107 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:28,520 as steam gave way to diesel 108 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:33,440 and it became simply too dangerous to ride the rails. 109 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:38,120 # ..of a bicycle made for two. # 110 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:42,240 # Are you right there, Michael, are you right? 111 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:46,000 # Do you think we'll get to Ballinamore tonight? 112 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:48,520 # Oh, there's passengers for Creagh 113 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:50,560 # And more from outside Fenagh 114 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:54,520 # Still we might now, Michael, so we might. # 115 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:55,920 Excuse me interrupting. 116 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:58,280 It sounds like a song about late trains? 117 00:06:58,280 --> 00:07:01,560 It is, it's a song by the great Irish composer Percy French. 118 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:05,400 He was scheduled to appear at a concert in Kilkee in County Clare. 119 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:07,040 Unfortunately, when he arrived, 120 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:09,120 and due to the poor way the train operated, 121 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:12,520 by the time he arrived, all the people had gone home. 122 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:15,560 So, he sued the railway company for loss of earnings 123 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:17,600 and was awarded ten shillings. 124 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:21,440 He composed the song, Are You Right There, Michael, Are You Right? 125 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:23,720 immediately after the court case. 126 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:27,280 But when it was published, the West Clare Railway Company 127 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:29,320 actually sued Percy for libel. 128 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:33,120 And the morning of court, Percy arrived late. 129 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:36,760 The judge was very, very annoyed, and when he arrived in, he said, 130 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:38,320 "You're late, Mr French." 131 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:43,200 Percy duly explained, "I travelled by the West Clare Railway." 132 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:45,160 So they say, "Case dismissed". 133 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:49,760 A good story. And is that song still known in Ireland today? 134 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:52,160 - It is indeed. - It'd be one of the well-known Irish ballads 135 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:55,480 that sung the length and breadth of Ireland in every house in Ireland. 136 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:56,600 How does it continue? 137 00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:59,400 # You may talk of Columbus' sailing 138 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:02,200 # Across the Atlantical Sea 139 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:05,000 # But he never tried to go railing 140 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:08,160 # From Ennis as far as Kilkee 141 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:11,080 # You run for the train in the morning 142 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:13,880 # The excursion train starting at eight 143 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:17,400 # You're there when the clock gives the warning 144 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:21,560 # And there for an hour you'll wait 145 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:25,040 # And as you're waiting in the train 146 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:30,400 # You'll hear the guard make this refrain 147 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:34,520 # Are you right there, Michael, are you right? 148 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:38,480 # Do you think we'll get to Ballinamore tonight? 149 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,240 # Oh, there's passengers for Creagh 150 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:43,400 # And more from outside Fenagh 151 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:48,280 # Still we might now, Michael, so we might. # 152 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,640 Well, I'm all right, after hearing that song. 153 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:53,720 - Thank you. - Thank you very much. 154 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:00,160 I'm staying in Dromod, 155 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:03,080 a town surrounded by lush, green countryside. 156 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:07,440 Talking of the soil around here, 157 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:11,400 Bradshaw's says it partly consists of good tillage ground 158 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:14,440 and partly of mosses and bog. 159 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:18,600 In the boggiest of years, the potato crop would rot in the ground, 160 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:20,640 or be affected by blight. 161 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:22,080 But in a good year, 162 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:26,000 the potato could be mixed with a few modest ingredients 163 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,080 to make a dish that could stave off starvation. 164 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:36,880 I'm intrigued by a dish called boxty, a kind of potato pancake. 165 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:42,240 It's associated with the counties around Leitrim 166 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:44,520 and originated in the 1800s. 167 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:47,360 The family-run Dromod Bakery 168 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:51,080 supplies much of north and western Ireland with its boxty. 169 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:55,360 I've come to meet the Faughnan family at their home bakery 170 00:09:55,360 --> 00:09:57,160 in the hope of getting a taste. 171 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:01,120 So, I have come here to talk about boxty. 172 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:03,320 Well, you've come to the right place, anyway. 173 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:06,640 Boxty is made of raw potatoes and flour 174 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:09,960 and salt and milk and a drop of water. 175 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:11,600 And how did you learn to make it? 176 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:14,360 I learned from seeing me mother making it. 177 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:17,000 The minute she had it fried in the pan, 178 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:20,480 we were like little pups, getting up after her, taking it off the plate. 179 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:24,560 Apart from your mother making it, 180 00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:27,960 do you know what the older origin of it is? 181 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:30,800 The older origin would have been back in the famine times 182 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:33,440 when the people had nothing to eat, only potatoes. 183 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:37,000 That is where boxty, I think, originated from. 184 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:38,120 How do you like to eat it? 185 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:40,200 You can have it in a number of different ways. 186 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:43,160 You can use it as a wrap, like, to put stuff in. 187 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:45,280 Use it that way. You can use it as part of a fry, 188 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:47,800 so like with bacon and sausages and egg. 189 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:50,400 Timmy, maybe enough talking about it, would you like to show me 190 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:52,920 - how it's made? - Sure, Michael. Right. 191 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:57,360 - Get up there, your apron is there. - Thank you. 192 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:00,280 Now, Michael, this is the ingredients of the boxty. 193 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:03,000 So, just need to grate the potato, presumably very finely? 194 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:05,800 Yeah, that's grand. Ah, you've done this before. 195 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:10,000 - Now we'll put in the flour, OK? - Yes. 196 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:13,360 - Mix this in fairly gradually, I suppose? - Yeah, yeah. 197 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:15,520 And a drop of water to make it... 198 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:16,920 Bind it in. 199 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:19,120 And there's the drop of milk. 200 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:20,160 A pinch of salt. 201 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:25,000 - How's that looking? - That's good. 202 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:27,000 That will come out more lumpy 203 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:29,920 or a rougher boxty than we make ourselves, 204 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:34,000 because our liquidiser cuts it down very fine, you know. 205 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:35,880 That's made the real, traditional way. 206 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:37,840 Does this remind you of your mother then? 207 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:39,560 Oh, it does remind me, yeah. 208 00:11:39,560 --> 00:11:41,280 You think she's here now. 209 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:43,320 Only difference, she's not here now with a stick 210 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:44,720 to keep you away from taking it. 211 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:48,680 Now, that's ready for the pan. 212 00:11:48,680 --> 00:11:50,840 We'll bring it up to the bakery. 213 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:52,960 In the tradition of a cottage industry, 214 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:56,320 the commercial kitchen is attached to the family home. 215 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:58,200 So, there's the hotplate. 216 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:01,520 - Yeah. - So will I just pour it on there, will I? - Yeah. 217 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:08,360 How's that looking, Timmy? 218 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:10,160 You wouldn't be selling it now. 219 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:12,480 Yours is very lumpy, you know what I mean? 220 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:15,160 - You don't think a lot of customers would come and buy mine? - No, no. 221 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:17,600 It might be nice when you're eating it. 222 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:20,160 - Timmy, have we got to flip that, have we? - You have, yeah. 223 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:21,400 Just a flick of the wrist. 224 00:12:23,560 --> 00:12:25,560 Wahey! 225 00:12:25,560 --> 00:12:29,200 - That is smelling brilliant, Timmy. - Yeah. 226 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:32,240 It just needs a couple of minutes on each side to cook. 227 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:36,440 Hello, Angela. Hi, Niall. 228 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:39,360 We're back. And that is my effort. 229 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:43,360 It's not a bad effort, but you tend to let the flavours come out 230 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:47,040 a bit more after a couple of hours, so here's one we made earlier, 231 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:50,560 so it might just taste a little bit better. But good effort. 232 00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:52,760 I feel slightly crestfallen, but... 233 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:56,000 So that is what it is meant to look like? 234 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:58,200 - Yeah. - Well, let's have a go at that. 235 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:04,400 Wow, that is good. 236 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:07,800 So, even though it sadly came out of the famine, it's a very good food, 237 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:09,920 - isn't it? - A very good food, yeah. 238 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:12,280 There's a rhyme that goes with boxty. 239 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:15,080 There's boxty on the griddle, boxty on the pan 240 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:18,240 If you never eat boxty, you'll never be a man. 241 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:19,920 Well, I've come of age today. 242 00:13:51,560 --> 00:13:55,840 Bradshaw's tells me that Sligo is the capital of a county. 243 00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:58,120 "The River Garavogue runs through the town, 244 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:01,680 "carrying off the surplus waters from Lough Gill 245 00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:03,800 "on a plain among fine hills." 246 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:08,360 And certainly the high ground here is more muscular, more rocky, 247 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:13,640 and somehow, Ireland's universal green is even more intense here. 248 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:24,480 Located between the mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, 249 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:28,560 the town of Sligo marks my arrival on the western coast. 250 00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:36,400 During the great famine of the mid-19th century, 251 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:39,560 over 30,000 people emigrated through its port. 252 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:44,600 When the railway from Dublin arrived in 1862, 253 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:46,160 the town could grow once again. 254 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:51,640 Sligo, Bradshaw's says, 255 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:55,920 has several public housings dotted about its outskirts, 256 00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:59,440 the county infirmary, fever hospital, soldiers barracks, 257 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:04,600 workhouse and this, the district lunatic asylum. 258 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:08,920 For 140 years, it housed up to 1,000 patients, 259 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:13,200 pioneered some relatively enlightened new techniques, 260 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:17,160 was so solidly built by the Victorians that today, 261 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:20,000 it makes a capacious and fine hotel, 262 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:22,040 and my asylum for the night. 263 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:46,200 It's a new day, and this morning, I'm taking a walk through Sligo, 264 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:50,360 a place famed as much for its cultural and literary associations 265 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:51,840 as for its beauty. 266 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:55,840 Sligo occupied an important place in the heart 267 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:59,680 of Ireland's outstanding 20th-century poet, WB Yeats, 268 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:03,080 who drew great inspiration from its landscape. 269 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:09,080 I'm making my way to the Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery to find out more 270 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:13,040 about him from Yeats enthusiast and guide, Damian Brennan. 271 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:17,920 Here we are in Carrowmore, and you could believe yourself to be very 272 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:21,600 remote, but actually, we are just at the edge of the town of Sligo. 273 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:23,400 Yeats had the opportunity to come here when? 274 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:26,520 During the early years of his life, he was born in 1865. 275 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:29,320 He lives largely in London, but he comes to Sligo 276 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:32,000 to his maternal grandparents frequently. 277 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:33,880 And roves out into this landscape 278 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:36,240 and discovers all of this ancient space. 279 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:40,120 So, in his early days, he's inspired by landscape like this - 280 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:43,600 who would not be? - and what sort of poetry does he write? 281 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:45,760 In the beginning, he's writing ballads, 282 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:48,120 but much of it inspired by the whole folklore 283 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:49,880 and fairy lore of this landscape. 284 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:52,280 For instance, he's inspired by Queen Meave, 285 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:54,280 the legendary Queen of Connaught - 286 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:56,560 buried on Knocknarea, behind us here - 287 00:16:56,560 --> 00:16:58,840 and he writes, The wind has bundled up the cloud 288 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:00,720 High over Knocknarea 289 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:02,480 And thrown the thunder on the stones 290 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:04,240 For all that Meave can say. 291 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:06,320 Angers that are like noisy clouds 292 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:07,880 Have set our hearts abeat 293 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:09,880 But we have all bent low and low 294 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:12,360 And kissed the quiet feet of Cathleen 295 00:17:12,360 --> 00:17:14,440 The daughter of Houlihan. 296 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:16,920 So, what did this ancient history mean to Yeats? 297 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:20,000 It gave him a sense of where Celtic man, Irish man, 298 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,560 had come up out of the landscape and had lived in the landscape 299 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:25,240 for all that length of time. 300 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:29,600 And that drove him to believe that Ireland should have an independence 301 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:34,560 and should have its own art and drama and poetry and literature. 302 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:38,120 Yeats belonged to the Protestant Anglo-Irish minority 303 00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:42,840 who ruled Ireland, yet he strongly identified with Irish nationalism. 304 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:46,960 The call for Irish nationhood and independence 305 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:52,520 was subliminal within his poetry, and emerged through his evocation 306 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:54,280 of a rich Celtic past. 307 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:58,800 Ireland gallops towards independence over a very short number of years 308 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:00,920 at the beginning of the 20th century. 309 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:03,600 Can you say what kind of role literature and maybe Yeats 310 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:05,960 play in that process, in your view? 311 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:09,320 Well, he himself asked after 1916, 312 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:12,560 "Did that play of mine send some men out to die?" 313 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:17,760 He worries about that, because he was part of a romantic group 314 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:20,680 who coalesced with the left-wing 315 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:26,040 and had the very unlikely but very pivotal 1916 uprising. 316 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:31,760 The Easter Rising of 1916 was a six-day armed rebellion 317 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:35,080 by Irish Republicans against the British in Dublin. 318 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:39,720 The rebels failed to establish an independent Ireland. 319 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:41,560 Hundreds were killed in the fighting. 320 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:45,560 Much of Dublin was destroyed and ringleaders were executed. 321 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:51,320 How does Yeats feel about the 1916 Rising when it happens? 322 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:54,160 Well, he's taken by surprise. He doesn't anticipate it. 323 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:55,560 He's in London at the time. 324 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:59,160 He writes his great poem, Easter 1916, 325 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:00,920 and suppresses it for three years, 326 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:03,480 because he's not quite sure how it'll work out. 327 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:07,960 He refers to the Easter 1916 as, "A terrible beauty is born." 328 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:11,680 Yeats' contribution to Irish self-consciousness and independence? 329 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:13,400 He's absolutely central. 330 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:15,240 He called for it. 331 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:16,560 He wrote about it. 332 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:21,120 He's the towering figure behind even the military movement, because it's 333 00:19:21,120 --> 00:19:24,200 his voice and his words that stand the testimony of time. 334 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:32,040 When Ireland established its right to self-government in 1921, 335 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:35,000 WB Yeats joined the Irish Senate, 336 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,520 where he argued for artistic freedom 337 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:41,600 and against the social conservatism of the Catholic administration. 338 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:45,640 Time and again, he returned to this landscape. 339 00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:53,520 Time for me to go to Innisfree, 340 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:56,640 to the lake isle that inspired his most quoted verse. 341 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:09,240 Guiding me across Lough Gill, George McGoldrick. 342 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:17,920 George. 343 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:20,240 - Hello. - Hello, Michael. You're very welcome. 344 00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:23,960 Innisfree, what does it mean? 345 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:26,760 Inis Fraoigh is the Gaeilge, the Irish. 346 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:28,240 It means "heathery island". 347 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:31,840 Heathery island. And do you know the poem? 348 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:34,360 - I do indeed. - Would you mind saying it for me today, please? 349 00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:35,760 I'll give it a go for you, surely. 350 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:39,640 I will arise and go now 351 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:41,760 And go to Innisfree 352 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:44,080 And a small cabin build there 353 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:46,080 Of clay and wattles made 354 00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:50,480 Nine bean rows will I have there 355 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:52,880 A hive for the honeybee 356 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:56,600 And live alone in the bee-loud glade. 357 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:00,400 And I shall have some peace there 358 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:04,040 For peace comes dropping slow 359 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:07,000 Dropping from the veils of the morning 360 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,240 To where the crickets sing 361 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:12,040 There midnight's all a glimmer 362 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:14,640 And noon a purple glow 363 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:17,280 And evening full of the linnet's wing. 364 00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:21,400 I will arise and go now 365 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:23,920 For always night and day 366 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:25,840 I hear lake water lapping 367 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:28,800 With low sound by the shore 368 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:31,440 While I stand on the roadway 369 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:33,920 Or on the pavements grey 370 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:37,000 I hear it in the deep heart's core. 371 00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:42,120 A poet in distant London, yearning for his beloved island. 372 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:44,240 Indeed. 373 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:52,280 It's extraordinary to me that, out of this natural beauty, 374 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:56,040 an emotion could be born that became an idea, 375 00:21:56,040 --> 00:22:00,480 the idea of an Ireland, independent of Britain. 376 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:06,280 And that was expressed in language, in poetry, 377 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:09,400 which inspired men to take up arms, 378 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:14,040 to be willing to die, and which led to an independent Ireland. 379 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:19,960 Extraordinary, the power of an idea. 380 00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:23,240 As Yeats said, "A terrible beauty is born." 381 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:37,360 Sligo's rich cultural associations extend further. 382 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:40,760 World famous Irish fiddler Michael Coleman 383 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:44,600 was a Sligo-born musician who exerted a huge influence 384 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:47,680 on traditional Irish music. 385 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:50,120 A FIDDLE PLAYS A REEL 386 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:58,080 I'm visiting the Coleman Heritage Centre 387 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:00,880 to meet renowned fiddler Oisin Mac Diarmada 388 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:04,040 and traditional Irish dancer, Samantha Harvey. 389 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:14,400 Hello. That was delightful. 390 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:17,120 Now, I imagine the fiddle must have been part of Irish music 391 00:23:17,120 --> 00:23:19,200 - for a very long time? - It certainly was, yeah. 392 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:22,480 It came out of 17th-century Italy primarily, the instrument, 393 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:25,920 but it very quickly spread over to Ireland because there were so many 394 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:27,640 fiddles, violins being made. 395 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:30,280 And fortunately, they were not that expensive to purchase. 396 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:31,800 Some people could even make their own. 397 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:34,360 And so it became very quickly one of the most popular instruments 398 00:23:34,360 --> 00:23:35,960 on which traditional music was played. 399 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:38,800 I'm following a guidebook around Ireland from the late-19th century. 400 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:41,440 What was the state of fiddling music by then? 401 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:45,000 Fiddle would have been a very strong instrument at that time. 402 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:47,640 It would have been played stylistically quite different 403 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:51,120 in various parts of Ireland, predominantly because people didn't 404 00:23:51,120 --> 00:23:54,560 travel very much outside a five to ten mile radius. 405 00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:57,640 So you had very distinctive voices, styles, 406 00:23:57,640 --> 00:24:00,440 a little bit like regional dialects of speech. 407 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:03,880 This, I believe, is a replica of the cottage of Michael Coleman. 408 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:06,480 What part did he play in all this? 409 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:08,920 He's very much the god of Irish fiddling. 410 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:11,440 He played the most amazing fiddle music, 411 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:15,640 that we still learn from and aspire to play like now, 100 years later. 412 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:23,080 Born in 1891, Michael Coleman journeyed across the Atlantic 413 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:25,320 to America at the age of 23. 414 00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:28,080 He joined the vaudeville circuit in New York, 415 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:30,160 playing to audiences of thousands. 416 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:33,720 And was the first Irish fiddler to make recordings of his work. 417 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:41,080 What was it that he did that was new or striking? 418 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:43,840 He took what were fundamentally simple dance tunes 419 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:46,800 and he put a lot of musical detail into that music. 420 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:50,640 One of the first tunes he recorded was a tune called Reidy Johnson's, 421 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:51,960 it's a reel. 422 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:54,240 If you take the structure of a tune like that... 423 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:55,840 A JAUNTY REEL 424 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:04,240 What Michael did with the tune is he filled in a lot of details 425 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:06,760 and ornamentation in those notes and variations. 426 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:09,440 THE SAME REEL WITH MORE NOTES 427 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:19,200 And on and so forth. 428 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:22,680 He's reputed not really to have ever played the tune the same twice. 429 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:29,360 His recordings travelled back to Ireland and around the world. 430 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:33,240 His fast bowing technique became known as the Sligo style 431 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:36,200 and has come to dominate traditional Irish music. 432 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:42,560 Sligo must be rather proud of its place in Irish music history? 433 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:45,800 It certainly is. This area is often known as Coleman Country, 434 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:49,720 and it reflects not only Coleman's genius, but the magical music 435 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:52,880 that so many people played in this particular area. 436 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:56,240 Well, Michael, I hear you've danced all over the world. 437 00:25:56,240 --> 00:25:59,280 You could hardly come to Ireland and not do a step. 438 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:02,200 I have made a fool of myself all over the world. 439 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:04,920 - Will you show me, Samantha? - I sure will. 440 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:06,360 Heel, toe, 441 00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:07,760 one-two-three, 442 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:09,600 and heel-toe-heel, 443 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:10,880 one-two-three. 444 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:12,960 And heel, toe, 445 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:14,240 one-two-three. 446 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:16,080 And heel-toe-heel, 447 00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:17,560 one-two-three. Excellent! 448 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:21,440 - And what do I do with my arms? - You can keep them down by your side. 449 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:23,400 They sometimes keep them very stiff, don't they? 450 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:25,120 - They sure do! - Right. 451 00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:27,200 - Maestro, some music. - That's it. 452 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:29,440 MID-PACED REEL 453 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:33,160 Five, six, seven, eight. 454 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:34,440 Heel, toe, 455 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:35,920 one-two-three. 456 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:38,080 Heel-toe-heel, one-two-three. 457 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:39,280 Heel, toe... 458 00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:49,800 Perfect! 459 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:02,800 Michael Flatley had better watch out! 460 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:17,960 The failure of the potato crop in the 1840s was a cause of the famine 461 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:21,600 which gave an enormous boost to Irish nationalism 462 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:24,440 and was blamed on Anglo-Irish landowners. 463 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:28,800 Ironically, a poet who didn't speak Irish, 464 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:32,680 from a middle-class Protestant family, William Butler Yeats, 465 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:35,040 gave the Irish nation its voice, 466 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:39,760 as surely as the fiddle gave it its music and dance. 467 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,560 A LIVELY REEL 468 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:01,600 Next time... 469 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:05,040 Things heat up with an unusual Victorian health treatment... 470 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:09,320 Steam is rising all around me. 471 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:12,600 ..I learn of the terrible tragedy at Clew Bay... 472 00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:16,160 A lot of the young people got very excited because they'd never seen a steamer before 473 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:20,240 and they all went to one side, and unfortunately the boat capsized. 474 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:22,720 ..and stretch my skills at a woollen mill. 475 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:26,840 I'm involved in a delicate industrial process. 476 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:28,200 I'm on tenterhooks.