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There are examples of women singing, examples of men singing, a sean-nós children’s song, flutes, reels, sad ballads, one comedy lust song about a collier (“With My Pit Boots On” sung by Louis Killen with jigging vibrato - moral, do not get into bed with coal miners, they are faithless booted people), and the source recordings of some classics and standards. You’ll hear the anarchic piper Billy Pigg on “Border Spirit”, long after he had moved away from the established staccato playing into a more hungry ravening style. You’ll hear examples of uillean pipes and Northumbrian smallpipes. Brian Conway of New York City revives compositions by old Martin Wynne on a fiddle track named, “Martin Wynne’s Nos. There’s music from Ireland, music from Scotland, a single fiddle tune from Jean Carignan of Canada (because the poor Bretons usually only get one shot on these things, the North England borderland included), and some migrant-derived music from North America because the Smithsonian is located in Washington, DC. He gives one- or two-track examples of the many ways that Celtic music can be played. He also points out when Harry Cox is addressing a tune that the American portion of his audience might recognize as the original “Streets of Laredo”. “Like all the compilations in the Classic series, this one is meant to serve as a brief introduction to the Celtic music riches of the Folkways catalog.” So they assume you’re not already familiar with the folk repertoire they’re offering, the tunes have been picked to be clearly accomplished and good - a solid album - nothing that might make you say, “That person is too amateur, her voice is shaky.” Sometimes, though, a field recording can be both shaky and interesting but they’ll also leave you to discover how later, in other releases - and sometimes the songs are even familiar - “Her singing of this song was featured in the film Far From the Madding Crowd,” writes the compiler, referring to Isla Cameron on “Bushes and Briars”. The goal of this album isn’t hard to figure out: they’ve got it in the description.