Green Grow the Rushes - From Alden Patterson and Claude Methé

 Hello everyone,

There's been a tune I've been meaning to share on here for a few years. In 2018, Laura, Brian, and I were in Goderich, Ontario playing at the Celtic music festival and camp where we were showcasing Gaspé Bay fiddle music. We spent the week teaching and performing to a very interested audience of traditional musicians - both beginner to professional. There I met husband-and-wife duo Claude Methé and Dana Whittle from Ste-Béatrix, QC who were also there performing and teaching. We had a lot of fun jamming and it was also a fortunate encounter for our research as well.

While we were talking, Claude brought up an old fiddler named Alden Patterson (1916 - 1989) that he met once in the early 1970s and who was living in Ste-Foy, just outside Quebec City. Alden had originally come from Sandy Beach, Gaspé. As a teenager, Claude had met Alden's two sons, Daniel and Beverley, who were playing guitar around Old Quebec and the three became friends hanging around Old Quebec together. At the time, Claude was early into his interest in the fiddle and managed to acquire a few home recordings of Alden. Although Claude doesn't know what happened to these tapes, he remembers this one tune he learned from Alden's playing called "Green Grow the Rushes." 

Claude played this tune for me to record during our hangout in 2018 so that I could share it on this blog. Have a listen to him playing Alden Patterson's "Green Grow the Rushes."

Claude played this tune often during his stage appearances throughout the week. He also recorded it on a 2000 album with the group Entourloupe. This title is applied to many different melodies in traditional fiddle music but the version here is very Québécois in its structure and phrasing although the melody seems to suggest an Irish polka, perhaps this one bearing the same title.

We don't know much about Alden and where he learned his music yet but if you or anyone you know has any more information, we'd love to hear from you. I want to thank both Claude and Paul Fackler for their contributions to this post.

Enjoy and have a go at learning this delightful melody.