Here in Portugal there have been bagpipes for centuries; they are played by men and women in Portuguese traditional dress; they are known as 'gaitas'; and the pipers won't be playing 'Amazing Grace' but traditional Portuguese folk tunes.
To read more about Portuguese bagpipers, click here.
Let's go back to the Minho. All over this part of the world, often atop hills and outlooks, you can find rings of stone that once were houses in hamlets. The Portuguese call them citânias. The most famous of these, which is just outside Braga, is called Briteiros. (I'll write of this again one day.) Does that remind you of anything? Britain? Bretagne - the Celtic fringe of France? You can find bagpipes there too.
If you look at the Minhoto people, it's surprising how many are fair-haired, how many are tall. These are not the small-boned, olive skinned people found on Medieterranean shores; they are not even like those found in the Algarve. Wasn't water the road of the ancients? In pre-history, you could travel in a boat far more easily than overland. Don't you think the Celtic peoples of Wales, Ireland, and Britany were in constant contact with their cousins in north-western Spain and Portugal? Wouldn't they have exchanged ideas and customs, perhaps even inter-married? Folk memory is long and there might be similar tales still told with local adaptations, perhaps similar tunes played or carvings made on granite hillsides. There is more here than meets the eye.
Believe me, though, the bagpipes of the Minho are indigenous, Portuguese pipes. The pipers above are members of the band from Sao Tiago de Cardielos, Viana do Castelo. They travelled the 20 kms or so to Ponte de Lima to entertain us after the Vaca das Cordas last year, which I wrote of in July 2014.
As you can see above, pipers often come with drums. There are tambourine players, too. The reverberations the women below can bring forth from a tambourine are skilful and amazing.
The tunes the gaita band chose were some I have heard at other festivals played on accordions, guitars and the curious instrument called the tréculas, which I told you of in 'The Language of Flowers – the Meaning of a Carnation'. Many were dance tunes and in Ponte de Lima at the Vaca das Cordas festival some in the crowd danced to them.
In fact, no Portuguese festa, whether saints day, semi-pagan festival like the Vaca das Cordas, or local wedding would be complete without a folklore group. Do you have a special occasion to celebrate? You could book the Banda de Gaitas São Tiago de Cardielos for your party if you wished. Why not?
Do you know more about the pipers of Portugal? Or indeed more about links with other Celtic cultures? For example, are the peoples of Ireland, Wales and northern Iberia genetically similar? Do write in and tell us any thoughts you may have. (If you are Portuguese, please feel free to write in your own language. You don't have write in English. O que é importante não é a língua mas a contribuição.)
Mary Jo Cabral wrote:
I'm glad you enjoyed the story. With the first name Mary Jo and the family name Cabral, I guess you are half Portuguese but perhaps don't live in Portugal. If you don't, I do hope you get a chance to go there s sometimes. It's a wonderful, fascinating country with kindly people and the Minho really is the heart of traditional Portugal.
You sound knowledgable about musical instruments and their distribution around the world. If you know more about the Portuguese pipes, do share your knowledge with us. I like to learn and I'm sure my readers do too. I'm glad you enjoyed the post and thank you for your comments.
I'm so pleased you enjoyed this post. I hope you have had chance to enjoy the pipes of the Minho yourself. If not, do try to go and hear them. I am always so impressed by how the people there keep up their traditions. You see tiny children playing instruments in the processions and parades that take place throughout the year. If only we encouraged the playing of instruments in the same way in the UK!
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At the height of summer, when the hold which Coronavirus had had over the people of Portugal began to weaken, we were at last able to choose a new place from which to start our walks. We and a group of our friends drove up the Lima valley towards the Spanish border. Before we got there, however, at Entre Ambos os Rios - literally between both the rivers – we turned inland towards the village of Froufe, where a walking trail follows a little river of the same name.
To read what the walk is like and see something of what we saw, click here.
"Why the awful spelling?" you may ask. "And what on earth is that picture about?"
Well, let me tell you. There's a new, multifaceted enterprise in Porto called W.O.W. Though the letters stand for World of Wine, that is only the start of the experiences on offer. There are exhibitions, museums, cafés and restaurants all belonging to the same venue. One is the Cork Museum and, as some of you may remember, I make things from cork fabric: (www.quercki.com or https://www.instagram.com/querckidesign/ on Instagram.)
To read more about the cork museum, click here.
Many years ago we used to visit Portugal with our sons. As well as visiting the beach, playing tennis and eating ice cream down on the waterfront, a favourite occupation was eating in traditional restaurants. (Let me advise you always to choose the restaurants where the Portuguese themselves eat. In my view, the food is tastier and they are much better value for your money. In short, the posher the food the less good it is!) At this time of the year, starting around St John's night, grilled sardines seasoned with sea salt and accompanied by a crisp green salad is a popular choice of main dish.
In fact, as you can see above, the Portuguese have gone totally crazy about sardines. Those above are stuffed fabric ones but there are ceramic ones too - there's a series of about 50 different designs.
To see more about sardines and a special sardine shop in Porto, click here.
Come with me to a village at the end of a long, winding road, which climbs ever higher up the mountainside from Ponte de Lima. The first time I went to Vilar do Monte was some 10 to 15 years ago when it looked run down and half empty. Indeed, it probably was since in 2011, the last date I can find for a census, the population numbered only 106 people. Up to 1970, there had been over double that figure but hardship and lack of opportunity had driven the young and adventurous to the cities or overseas.
Today, new red roofs and the occasional posh house with a swimming pool have transformed the appearance of the village. Maybe returnees from abroad have invested, as they so often do, or perhaps some weary city banker or entrepreneur from Porto has bought a hideaway here.
For us, it's where we shall park the car and start a splendid walk. Later we'll return for a glass of good vinho verde or a coffee in the shopcumcafé opposite the church.
To read more of the walk to the roof of the world from the end of the world, click here.
Going out into town: it's such a simple thing but these days it feels like a treat doesn't it? OK! So you have to wear a face mask when you enter shops but when you visit Trisabores, the ice cream shop, after you've ordered you can go outside to eat and take your mask off. There are fewer tables than there used to be and those there are have been more widely spaced but hey! The sun is shining and at last all seems right with the world. What then could be better than to celebrate the partial lifting of lockdown with a scrumptious ice cream?
Now, as a diabetic, I am not supposed to have sugary things but the end of lockdown is special. It demands a celebration, doesn't it? The only problem is what to choose. There are so many kinds of ice cream: rich dark chocolate, mango, cheesecake, hazelnut, banana ....
We were told that there was a truly celestial new flavour made from lemon and ginger but it wasn't available when we went. We are assured that it will be back but only next week. Boohoo! Or maybe not. Perhaps it just means we'll have to make another visit. We'll be misbehaving twice!
These were our choice this time. Lemon and coffee for me: lemon and passion fruit for Steve. Next week we'll probably both have lemon and ginger. But who knows? Maybe there'll be another innovative flavour.
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