onds, the light-bringer who dissipatesthe darkness. This is the theme of thesilent harp, or as Job says: "My harp istuned to funeral wails, my flute to thevoice of mourners" .In <strong>all</strong> the wealth of metaphor inScripture where life on this earth is concerned- it is variously described as aflower, a dream, a vanity or even as amilitary service - two aspects of humanexistence are stressed in very markedfashion. The first is its depen.dence on ahigher power, and the second is thetotal and unshakeable confidence thatsuch a dependence entails. God is primarilylord, ruler, dominus of the humanrace. He is Ri an Domhnaigh in theIrish phrase. He is also Saviour,Slanuighthe6ir, Healer and Restorer.Our concepts of God as Ruler, as the infinite, eternal, unfathomable, spiritual,personal Truth are hazy, clumsy, moredark than light. We are like blindpeople trying to describe light andcolour, or like deaf people trying to describemusic - that is, if we rely tot<strong>all</strong>yon our reason. But the heart is ourguide in the darkness. It is morecapable of leading the soul by theinstinct of love, towards God than is ourreason .. It is true that we cannot see Hiscountenance, but we can be aware ofHis presence, because it is only there wefind total tranquility. God is theAlmighty Ruler, to whom <strong>all</strong> things and<strong>all</strong> men pay homage, if only because <strong>all</strong>human beings and things are mortal, andonly God remains ever young and everlasting.Everything earthly is perishable.Babylon has f<strong>all</strong>en, the fertile granaryof the Roman Empire is now a barrendesert, with its people dying of starvation.The earth itself is gradu<strong>all</strong>y windingdown - everything upon it is destinedto decay. Iron rusts, graniteweathers into powder, the mighty oakrots and f<strong>all</strong>s, beauty ends in wrinkledtoothless ·old age, intelligence ends insenility .... Nothing is comparable to theworship of our Infinite Lord, Masterand Ruler. The whole purpose of ourcreation", in the Master's plan, is our loveand praise of Him at the time of ourflowering and our splendour, and notless so "when our blossom is shed, ourpower faded, and we the mere husks ofwhat we were . But then human, transitoryrejoicing is replaced by profoundestadoration; an adoration so perpetualthat it is eternal. That is God's plan <strong>for</strong>us. We don't always live up to it - wedon't follow the blue-print. Sometimes,because of sheer obstinacy we don'tknow how to read it.God is our guide through a labyrinthof contradictions. The thread thatguides us through the maze of life inHis holy will, and if we drop that threadwe lose <strong>all</strong> sense of direction. Wecannot cope with the struggles andsufferings of daily living. We cannotbring order or harmony into the chaoswhich we c<strong>all</strong> human life . It is theorganising activity of the Divine Will ofour Ruler and Lord which alone cansave us. Our strings must be properlytuned, our adherence to the rules ofcomposition strict, if we are to produceharmony and make music <strong>for</strong> the Lordout of our lives. We need God to bringlight out of darkness, we need to keepon learning - making music not justplaying scales. And <strong>for</strong> each one, as <strong>for</strong>each string, there is a different pitch.For one it is health, <strong>for</strong> another sickness;<strong>for</strong> one riches, <strong>for</strong> anotherpoverty ; a short but high-pitched career<strong>for</strong> some, <strong>for</strong> others the long boringdrone of low-profile renunciation andsacrifice <strong>for</strong> others. We are members ofthe orchestra - only God the conductorknows the whole score. As St. Paulsays: "Think of a musical instrument, aflute or a harp. if one note on it cannotbe distinguished from another, how canyou tell what tune is being played?"The harp has always been held inhonour in Ireland - it is ournational symbol. One of themost common motifs in Irishilluminative art, in stone sculpture andin meta1craft is that of the Psalmist andhis harp. We find it, time and timeagain, in our illuminated manuscripts,on our High Crosses in Clonmacnois,Monasterboice and elsewhere, on suchshrines as the Breac Maodh6ig and theShrine of St. Molaise. We shouldhonour that tradition by listening to thestill-repeated prophecy that come withthe harp, the same message that St.John saw in the Book of Revelations."I seemed to see a glass lake suffusedwith fire and standing by the lake ofglass, those who had fought against thebeast and won, and against his statueand the number which is his name.They <strong>all</strong> had harps from God, and theywere singing the hymn of Moses, the servantof God, and of the Lamb :-"How great and wonderful are <strong>all</strong> yourworksLord God AlmightyJust and true are <strong>all</strong> your waysKing of nationsWho would not revere and praise yourname, 0 Lord,You alone are holyAnd <strong>all</strong> the pagans will Clf--le and adoreyouFor the many acts of justice you haveshown".9
PADDY KILLORANtives and friends was able to get a j ob onthe docks. Ambition overtook caution,however, and Hugh left his employmenton the docks <strong>for</strong> what he considered tobe a mor~ prestigious c<strong>all</strong>ing- a realestate salesman. His gift of "theBlarney" coupled with the shrewd salestechniques acquired at sheep sales madehim a good salesman, but nothing couldovercome the recession of the times andthe bottom fell out of the market.Hugh was determined that he was notgoing to be just another number in asocial security hand-out so he set towork <strong>for</strong> himself as a door to door salesmanselling tea. His wares, lib. packetsof tea in attractive "Irish Cottage Tea"wrappers, were packed into a large suitcasewhich he carried around with him.Business became brisk and he took in apartner. Other lines were added, likefree range chicken eggs "fresh from thehens", vegetables, and since those weredays of prohibition, "a drop or two ofhome made beer and whiskey".The police soon got wind of theirillicit distillery, but it wasn't altogetherthe threat from the police that madethem close down their distillery operationbut rather a fear that the mobster;-and there were a number ofthese in the area- would take moreruthless action if they discovered thatsomeone, even a sm<strong>all</strong> time operator,was moving into their territory. Hughalso gave up his legitimate door to doorround to take up a permanent job. Hispartner persisted, however, and went onto become a millionaire.By now Hugh was augmenting hisearnings by playing the fiddle in the"Old Log Cabin" <strong>for</strong> $3 a night. He hadalready met Michael Coleman and theyhad become firm friends. Coleman'sname was synonymous with the greatresurgence of traditional music in theStates in the 30s and he was hailed asthe greatest living exponent of Irish traditionalfiddling. He always attractedlarge audiences to his concerts, he had awide listening public when he broadcast,and his records had excellent sales, particularlyamong the Irish exiles inAmerica. Coleman's memory, and hisgreat talent, were honoured in his nativeKillavill, Co. Sligo, a few years ago, andupwards of a thousand people gatheredto see the unveiling of a monument totheir native son. Hugh Gillespie wasColeman's only student ever and theybecame inseparable friends. They appearedtogether in many concerts andco-operated in numerous recordingsessions. They had their own fournights a week spot on radio from CarnegieH<strong>all</strong>. Hugh had married in theHUGH GILLESPIE and FRANK KELLY11meantime to a girl from Westmeath, arefmed, channing woman who shares hislove of music and is content to "be agood listener and entertain. his friends" . .For those of us who have enjoyed th~hospitality of the Gillespie home I mustsay it is an accomplishment she hascertainly mastered.When Michael Coleman died in 1954Hugh was distraught. They had beenlike brothers. In recognition of thisgreat friendship the Coleman familypresented him with Michael's "Cosgrove"fiddle . Some years later therewere claims by a number of people whosaid they were in possession of Colemanfiddles but the family rejected theseclaims saying that the only violins whichbelonged to Coleman were now in thepossession of Hugh Gillespie and a Mrs.McGovern from Sligo. Coleman's niece.During his musical career Hughbecame friendly with many prominentpeople including John McCormick andFritz Kreisler, the latter a weekly coffeedate. Even Henry Ford found time todemonstrate his own dexterity on thefiddle with- Hugh and Coleman in J oeMaguires, in New York.Hugh's album of memorabiliacontains many precious items includingletters from Ford himself.Hugh Gillespie made his first recordingin 1937 in New York. A collectionof his best have been reissued by theTopic Recording Company. A musiccritic has described Hugh as "evenbetter than Coleman" but modesty andloyalty to his friend makes Hugh rejectthis claim out of hand. Other criticshave said that it was a pity that greatplayers like Hugh Gillespie, Killoran andMorrison had not received the sameattention Coleman had.Hundreds of students passed throughthe Gillespie School of Music but themost accomplished of these was his own