Serendipity Mary Cornelia Brown Murphy   © Copyright 2026 by Mary Cornelia Brown Murphy

Carolann Madden and Norman Kennedy in Vermont.  Photo by the author.

In 1963 my late husband was mentored by Ralph Rinzler to come from England to help collect music and musicians in the Appalachian Mountains in order to expose them to wider, statewide audiences. This having been a success, stirred Ralph into introducing yet more 'folk' talent. He gathered a Gaelic singer, Norman Kennedy, into the fold. Norman had lived and worked in Aberdeen, Scotland as a weaver, singer and tax collector. His talents were many and some time later, he became the master weaver at Historic Colonial Williamsburg, as well as touring and singing. He eventually set up a school in Vermont teaching spinning, dyeing and weaving.

In 1976 Barry and I, with our two sons, moved from Nashville, Tennessee to the UK where we settled down. Before we moved, as a skilled woodworker and furniture maker, Barry decided to built me a large, box, floor loom with matching bench in Walnut and Ash. I began to weave Colonial coverlets for my family and miles of rugs to sell in shops in East Sussex. As time passed my hands became difficult to use, due to arthritis and with Barry having died; with a very heavy heart I decided to sell or give away the loom. With mounting failure I eventually advertised it in a small, almost obscure site called The Loom Exchange. I had seen other large, box looms advertised there that had been shown for some years and so had little faith in finding a buyer, even at the rock bottom price I was asking. To my amazement, the ad had been shown for only a few days when I got a phone call from a William Morris, asking about it. His wife had seen the ad from their home in Ireland and asked him to buy it for her. As a professional weaver, she needed a larger loom. William, in England at the time as a skilled furniture maker working for a client of his, would drive down soon to collect it. We agreed on a day and time for its collection.

Large Box Loom

The day before William was to arrive I had a surprise visit from a friend, Rosie Davis, a musician, singer and dancer who had moved to Dublin some years back. We talked about my loom and her life in Ireland. She had studied textiles and had always wanted a loom, but never had space for one and so she had learned to knit and wished she could spin and dye her own yarns but needed a wheel. I showed her my wheel and suggested she accept an ancient one I had in the attic that Ralph had found for me in Nova Scotia. I assured her that Norman Kennedy had spun on it and while he recognized its age, said that although worn in places it was an excellent wheel. She accepted having it and on the day that William arrived to dismantle and load the loom into his van, he also loaded the wheel for Rosie to collect in Ireland.

What luck! But that is not the end of it.

A couple of years passed and I got an email from William saying that his wife had enjoyed the loom but no longer needed it and had found a person who wanted it. It was to be passed on to Carolann Madden in Galway, Ireland. And, as the most astounding happening would have it, this new owner was from the States, knew Ralph Rinzler and had learned her weaving and spinning skills from Norman Kennedy.