ty to several million more.
The purpose of this research is to examine connections between Celtic music, which originated in Britain, chiefly Scotland and Ireland, and which migrated to the US, chiefly to the Appalachian region of North America, and the intergenerational aspects of musical heritage. The plan of the research will be to set forth a history of Celtic music from its origins in Britain and the history of migration of the music to the US, and then discuss the resonance that such music has in musical styles of the modern period, finally linking the musical tradition to the manner in which cultural memory is preserved for and transmitted down the generations over the course of the lifetimes of persons whose roots are in Celtic tradition. As well, the research will explore ways in which the art form appears to enhance the quality of life for roots-music enthusiasts, not a few of whom are elderly people organizing their lives around the enjoyment of and participation in the music and its heritage.
In order to appreciate the phenomena of musical migration associated with Celtic tradition, it may be useful to begin with a picture of the Celts as culture bearers. While the modern anthropological and archaeological consensus about the Celts appears to be that over the course of some 3,000 years, through about the first century AD, the collection of the peoples known as the Celts "ranged from the British Isles and northern Spain to as far east as Transylvania, the Black Sea coasts, and Galatia in Anatolia" (Champion). The Celts were dispersed by the vicissitudes of Great Rome's empire-building efforts over much the same territory; they were designated as Britons, Gauls, Galatians, Helvetii, and similarly situated peoples by Roman commentary. However, an important concentration of Celtic peoples took place in the British Isles and in Brittany on the Continent. Why that particular concentration was important was that Highland Scot...