Support your local carol singers as they spread some much needed Christmas cheer
In the case of George Clooney, he blessed him with the looks of George Clooney.
For Michael Flatley, he gave ‘feet of flames’. Flatley has the fastest feet in the whole of Fermoy, if not the whole of North Cork.
In my case, it’s my hands. He gave me the grandest pair of hands that a farmer could ever hope to have. Hands that can be turned to a whole multitude of farming tasks.
From pushing my old tractor down the slope, to waving a stick in anger as a wayward bullock rushes to mount the boundary ditch.
My hands are my greatest asset. Without my hands, I really wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.
But it’s not only for farming that my hands are useful, my hands can also be used to churn out music.
Yerra, for years now, I have been dabbling with the guitar. With a guitar clasped tightly to my chest, and I strumming away like the devil himself, I can be a sight to behold.
And it being Christmas time once again, my old guitar has been hauled out of cold storage and my hands are once more back in action strumming out Christmas classics as I ably assist a bunch of very talented local carol singers.
Tomorrow evening, we will be in O’Learys of Lissarda, belting out Christmas hits for all those who pause there while going about their business.
Without wanting to blow my old trumpet with regards to my guitar playing, I think it’s fair to say that I keep the whole show going with the height of strumming, fingering and general hand action.
While my overall knowledge of the guitar isn’t magnificent, once a tune starts in the keg of G, I’m away.
G is my best chord, and I have been known to play it for hours at a time without getting it wrong once.
“Start in the key G,” I often roar to the group, before they begin a song like Silent Night. “And we’ll be flying in no time.”
Of course, sometimes the singers might attempt to start on a different note to G, but like John Wayne lassoing wayward steers, I soon have them back in the fold for my gentle but constant strumming of G.
Yerra, they would be lost entirely only for the farmer and his musical hands.
So it was a disaster, a couple of months back, when I had the misfortune of breaking my right hand.
Rumours quickly went out that the break would surely spell the end of Denny and his guitar.
Some locals, so distraught by the news, even went so far as to demand that I throw my old guitar into a nearby river.
But I was having none of it. “No,” I assured them, “I’ll be back, I’ll be playing my guitar by Christmas, even I if I have to play it with my big toe.”
Sure enough, didn’t my hand make a full recovery — even though I’m sure I would have been every bit as good with my big toe — with the result that the carol singers have the full support of the farmer and his guitar again this year.
Now that you know the sacrifice and effort that goes into groups like our carol singers of Kilmurry, wherever you are, be sure to support your local singers who will be spreading much needed Christmas cheer over the coming week.
