Dolly Parton was an absolute pleasure to meet, says News Letter journalist
News Letter journalist Billy Kennedy says that he found Dolly Parton “humble” and an “absolute pleasure” to meet.
Mr Kennedy met the superstar in Nashville in October 1995 when he was just beginning his research for his famed series of books on the Ulster Scots in America.
Speaking after her death, Mr Kennedy said: “Dolly Parton was American country music personified. She was the leading lady in every respect, and wrote over 4,000 songs.
“One of her biggest hits was the family orientated song, 'Coat Of Many Colours' which was written about her mother pulling a lot of rags together, and making them into a dress for her to wear to school, which her schoolmates scorned her for. She came from a humble wooden cabin in the mountains of East Tennessee, a hamlet called Pigeon Forge.”
He has visited the area several times, and said that it is now the location of Dolly’s multi-million, dollar theme park, ‘Dollywood’.
“I met her backstage at the Grand Ole Opry in 1995,” he added. “I just talked briefly about the show. she was just so humble, just Dolly Parton. She was an absolutely pleasure to meet.”
He had a more extended interview with her two maternal uncles, Bill and Louis, who were both musicians and singers at her theme park.
“And they explained to me all about Dolly's background and to their music. And they said the songs we sang and play are essentially mountain music – that was brought to these parts 200 years ago by the Scots, the Irish, and the German people.”
Mr Kennedy was moved by narration of a film at her theme park, describing the Scots-Irish people. It said: “A strong willed people, who forged their homes out of the region, and brought their love and beauty with them. The deeds of our Scotch Irish ancestors are blended with the skills of the musicians who seized the Smokies' Irish spirit. And this heritage has been passed down from generation to generation.”
The Ulster-Scots Agency said many people would be saddened by her passing.
“Dolly was hugely proud of her roots as a Scotch-Irish hillbilly, in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and after finding stardom she did much to help the community where she had grown up in poverty,” it said.
“When she played Belfast in 2002, she declared, 'With my Scotch-Irish ancestry, it's ridiculous that I haven't been here before'.”
The Ulster-Scots Community Network said that hers was an “incredible life and legacy,” adding that she was “a true music icon with a special connection to Ulster-Scots”. Dave McCausland of the Maine Ulster-Scots Project in the USA wrote that Dolly was extremely proud of her Scotch-Irish ancestry.
“She had stated that her father's side of the family is of Irish-Scottish/Ulster-Scots descent, tracing back to regions like Bushmills in Northern Ireland,” it said.
Donaghmore Historical Society in Co Tyrone said Dolly spoke warmly about growing up with Ulster Scots ballads and wrote the foreword to ‘Wayfaring Strangers’, “a book tracing the musical journey from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia”.