11 Days of Hallow Crossing - Let's Diguedin

Welcome to day 2 of 11 Days of Hallow Crossing. Today I want to talk about music.

I learned a new Quebecois word while doing research for Hallow Crossing. It’s a music style called diguedin. A quick internet search will bring up this definition: 

"Diguedin" is primarily a phonetic component found in traditional French and Québécois folk songs and nursery rhymes, often used to evoke the motion of dangling or swaying. It does not have a single, direct meaning as a standalone dictionary word in modern French.

I recently heard it used in connection to folk music, and it really struck a chord with me (pun intended). I love this word because if you repeat it quickly, it actually feels like the beat of the music itself—diguedin, diguedin, diguedin. 

If you read Book 1 of the Fair Folk of Mullarkey Series (Black Annis Year), you might remember that music plays an important roll in Mullarkey. It’s the backdrop to the little community and brings people together to dance beside Auntie Clare’s famous pie shop. 

In Hallow Crossing, I continued with that tradition, adding new tunes for Joelle to listen to while she renovates Cedar Grove Inn. And the diguedin matches the beat of her hammer—diguedin, diguedin, diguedin. I can just hear it as she pounds nails into shiplap on her camp cottages.

Diguedin is a style of Quebec folk music that has been sung in taverns and sugar shacks for generations. It’s a toe-tapping tune that makes you want to bang spoons together. Not surprisingly, I can sometimes taste the flavor of a Parisienne café in the whine of a diguedin fiddle. But I was pleasantly surprised to hear a Celtic flare in there, and also a hint of an indigenous beat, especially in the call and response songs. 

Here's a song that is actually called "Diguedin."



If you’re not into folk music, diguedin is probably not for you, but I love it. The call-back songs remind me of childhood nights around the campfire and the sawing fiddles tug at my Quebecois-Celtic heart. 

For Hallow Crossing, I discovered some new bands, including my two new favorites: Les Charbonniers de l’Enfer (The Coal Miners from Hell) and Le Vent du Nord (The North Wind). 

If you’re interested in discovering this unique folk music from Quebec, you can find the playlists on the Fair Folk of Mullarkey Page. But get your spoons ready. You’ll need them!
 

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Then come back tomorrow for some fun lore about Mullarkey Mills!