Traveller in the glens [Hardcover] - Hardcover

It is gratifying to contribute, no matter in how small a way to a

harvest home. That is what Traveller in the Glens is, a gathering-in of

historical curiosities, tales, customs and ballads, that Jack McBride

has gleaned in years of dedicated search through his native glens.

The resumption of regional broadcasting after the war meant a

considerable widening of programme output. Improvements in

recording technique meant that the voices and opinions of Ulster folk

were more readily accessible. Contributors were no longer tied to the

studios in Broadcasting House. Producers could wander at will

recording men and women in towns, villages and the countryside. But

the producer and his team had to find someone who knew the district

-intimately, someone who could act as guide and counsellor. In my first

trip to the Antrim Glens as a B.B.C. producer, back in the forties, I

had the great good fortune to meet Jack McBride. On that, and on

many subsequent visits I met, through him, such worthies as Maurice

Finlay, Mary Stone, Arthur Harvey, Dan McGonnell, James Kelly and

Sarah O'Mooney. There was Willie McKillop of Ballybrack who could

whistle as sweetly as any blackbird and Mick McAuley with his wealth

of memories. Up in windswept Newtowncrommelin Jack and I talked to

William McQuitty and were persuaded by his unshakeable confidence

in the future of Antrim iron ore.