Dance of the Haymakers William Sidney Mount These poems, stories, songs, quote, and art have been gathered from all over the world, partly via FIDDLE-L, an online list for fiddlers and those who love fiddle music. dhebert@crocker.com

Music for the Birds by Peter Schug A few months ago a couple of musicians I know started talking about being attacked by birds while playing out of doors. I would have thought it was a joke, but it happened to me also. I went out on a friend's deck to play my fiddle, and I no sooner played a couple of notes then two chickadees crashed into the back of my head, landed on the nearby bird feeder and began jabbering at me. One of them pooped on my fiddle case and they flew off in a huff. No joke! I've played on that deck several times before and since, but that was the only occurance. I also play a lot outdoors when visiting a friend in Vermont and though there are lots of birds, the worst I ever encounter is his dog's desire to sing along. The two young musicians mentioned earlier were both mystified by their attacks. One of them is a very good violinist, so the birds that attacked me were probably not music critics. The other is a bagpiper, and is used to taking risks with critics. My one theory is that I interrupted the birds in the middle of a song, and they interpreted my butting in as something very rude and expressed their annoyance in no uncertain terms. Peter Schug