\
Stnber tbt .Supcnntínoítta of % jstoriiig for % ^«sírbaíion anír publication of tbe
l^lííobiís of Jfrttairo.
I
THE PETRIE COLLECTION
OF THK
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
ARRANGED FOR THE PIANO-FORTE.
EDITED BY
GEORGE PETRIE, LLD., R.H.A., Y.P.R.I.A.,
FOREIGN MEMBER OF THE IMPERIAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF FRANCE; HONORARY FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETIES OF ANTIQUARIES
OF SCOTLAND, COPENHAGEN, ETC. ETC. ;
PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY.
VOL. T,
\
' ' • •»« » • »'■ 1
DUBLIN: 3PrtntEiJ at too ^Hníbersítg $rcss, FOR THE SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION AND PUBLICATION OF THE MELODIES OF IRELAND,
BY M. H. GILL. 1855.
C/
[«!BntcreiJ at Stationers' i^all.]
HOW TO FIND THE TIME IN WHICH EACH AIR IS TO BE PLAYED.
The Time of each Air in this Volume is marked at the head by reference to the stroke of a Pendulum of a certain length. Persons not provided with a Metronome may easily ascertain for themselves the ti'ue time in which any Air is to be played, by the following simple rule. Take a cord of the length in inches assigned to the Pendulum at the head of the tune. To one end of the chord attach a small weight, and, holding it by the other extremity, let the weighted chord, thus converted into a tem- porary Pendulum, swing gently backwards and forwards. The oscillations of a Pendulum of a given length are always constant, and measure exactly equal portions of time ; and thus each beat of the Pen- dulum of the length required — the motion from right to left constituting one beat ; that from left to right another — marks the time during which the crotchet, dotted crotchet, quaver, or other note used to measure the time, is to be sounded. A proportionate time is to be given to every other note accord- ing to its musical value. A little practice will very soon enable any one to perceive, almost involun- tarily, the accordance in time between the beats of a Pendulum and the proper duration of the notes of an Air.
SOCIETY
!raerkíÍ0it raft jpnblication of % |0tótotáes aí frelanÍL
FOUNDED DECEMBER, 1851.
GEORGE PETRIE, LL.D., R.H.A., V.P.R.I.A.
THE MOST NOBLE THE MARQUESS OF KILDARE, M.R.1A. THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF DUNRAVEN, M. R. I. A. THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF BECTIVE. THE RIGHT HON. LORD TALBOT DE MALAHTDE, M. R. I. A. THE RIGHT HON. LORD ROSSMORE, M. R. L A.
THE RIGHT HON. THE LORD CHIEF BARON'. M. R.I.A. THE RIGHT HON. ALEXANDER MAC DOXXELL. SIR VERE DE VERE. BART. PATRICK MAC DO WELL, R. A. SDH GEORGE F. HUDSON, BART.
(ínmmi.
THOMAS BEATTY, M. D., M. R. L A.
FRANCIS WILLIAM BRADY.
F. W. BURTON, R. H. A., M. R. L A.
ROBERT CALL WELL, M.R.LA., Treasurer.
EDWARD CLEMENTS.
EUGENE CURRY, M. R. t A.
JOHN C. DEANE, M. R. L A.
JOHN T. GILBERT, M. R. I. A.
REV. CHAS. GRAVES, D.D., F.T.C.D., V.P.R.LA.
BENJAMIN LEE GUINNESS.
THOMAS RICE HENN.
HENRY HUDSON, M.D., M. R. L A.
ROBERT D. LYONS, M. B., M. R. L A., Secretary.
SAMUEL MACLEAN.
JOHN MACDONNELL, M.D., M.R.LA, P.L.Com. HON. GEORGE PONSONBY O CALLAGHAN.
JOHN EDWARD PIGOT, >L R. I A., Secretary.
WILLLAM STOKES, M. D., M. R. L A
WALTER SWEETMAN, M.R.I. A.
W. K. SULLIVAN.
JOSEPH HUBAND S5UTH M. R. L A.
REV. JAS. H. TODD, D.D., S.F.T.C.D., Sec. R.I.A
W. R. WILDE, M. R. L A.
23nn. €xtmám.
ROBERT CALLWELL, M.R.I. A., 10, Bachblor's-walk, Dublin.
23nn. frrrrtarirs.
JOHN EDWARD PIGOT, M. R. I. A., 96, Leeson-6treet, Dublin. ROBERT D. LYONS, M. B., M. R. I. A., 31, Upper Merrion-street, Dublin.
Subscriptions, £1 a year, received (either personally, or by P. 0. Orders) by the Treasurer, the Secretaries, or by Mr. EDWARD CLXBBOEN .
at the Royal Irish Academy, Dawson-street.
AGENTS
Dublin — H. Bussell, Westmoreland-street. Cork — A. D. Roche & Son, Patrick- street. Belfast — Coffey, Music-seller.
Limerick — Corbett & Son, 109 and 110, George's-street Derry — J. Hempton, The Diamond.
Copies may be had, likewise, from the Hon. Secretaries or the Treasurer
Galwat — J. Costello, "William-street. London — Cramer, Beale, and Chappell, 201, Regent-street. Hull — J. W. Holder, 1, Whitefriar-gate.
Edinburgh — Messrs. Wood & Coy, Music-sellers, Waterloo-place. Glasgow — Messrs. Wood.
The Preservation and Publication of the immense quantity of National Music still existing in Ireland, and of which much is yet unwritten, have long been a desideratum among those who are acquainted with the great extent and value of some private collections. Among these lie, almost unknown, many hundreds of airs hitherto unpublished in any form, and which range through every class of pure Irish Music, from the most elevated style of ancient vocal melody, down to the smooth-flowing graceful songs of the last two centuries; and among which are preserved, very many, too, of those vigorous, dance-compelling, quick tunes, which cannot be equalled by any similar music of other countries. Besides these collections, a considerable quantity of airs, not yet noted down, is to be found current, as is well known, among the peasantry in all parts of the country.
( vi )
This Society has been instituted for the purpose of Preserving, Classifying, and Publishing these airs of every kind, and likewise all such words (whether in the Irish or English language) connected with any of them, as appear to possess any peculiar interest.
The Preservation of existing Irish Music is proposed to be effected by the collection and classification of all such as has been already noted down on paper, and by the formation of a central depot in Dublin, to which persons having opportunities of noting down what is still unwritten* may be invited to send copies of any airs which they can obtain, either in Ireland or among our countrymen in other lands.
The Council invites every Irishman, and every Irishwoman too, to send copies of any Irish airs they may possess, or may find any means of procuring, to one of the Honorary Secretaries, who will immediately submit all airs sent them to the Committee charged with their arrangement and preservation.
The Publication of our National Music will also be proceeded with by the Society, to the utmost extent that the subscriptions they may receive will allow. It is proposed to print a selection, consisting of. several hundred airs of all kinds, both vocal and instrumental, and to arrange them with suitable Harmonies and Accompaniments for the Harp or Piano-Forte. A volume of such selections (containing from 150 to 200 airs, hitherto unpub- lished) will be given to every member, in return for his subscription of One Pound ; and the Council have already at their disposal the materials of more than five such volumes, which will also include copious notes upon the structure, expression, and (where possible) the history of each air printed.
These volumes will not be published generally, but will be distributed to the members of the Society only ; any person may become a member on payment of One Pound, annual subscription, but without any entrance fee. Subscriptions are payable in advance, and become due on the first of January in each year, and each member will be entitled to receive one copy of every publication of the Society issued within the year for which he shall have subscribed. [Members may take their books, either in volumes complete, at the end of the year, or in parts con- sisting of a certain number of sheets, stitched in a strong cover, which will be issued according as the work is printed.]
The Council have completed arrangements with the President, George Petrie, LL. D., V. P. R. L A., for the printing of his splendid collection in connexion with the Society, and they feel great satisfaction in being able to announce that their first volumes will comprise his invaluable stores. That collection consists of considerably more than five hundred unpublished airs, carefully selected from the results of many years' investigation ; and if the Society obtains the amount of support the Council feel it may well claim, they hope to complete the printing of Dr. Petrie's work in three volumes.
The Collection of Dr. Petrie will be accompanied by an introductory dissertation upon the history, antiquity, and characteristic structure of Irish Music, by that most eminent Irish antiquarian, the former portions of which will also embrace the learning of another distinguished member of the Council, Eugene Curry, M. R. I. A. After such a commencement the Council will proceed to the publication of other collections which have already been presented to the Society, and which will be prepared for printing under the superintendence of a Committee of Publication, appointed by the Council, and including, perhaps, the most competent authorities on Irish Music now among us: [the Committee appointed on the formation of the Society consisted of Dr. Petrie (Presi- dent), Rev. Dr. Todd,S. F. T. C. D., Rev. Dr. Graves, F. T. C. D., thelate W. E. Hudson, M.R.I.A., Dr. Hudson, M. R. I. A., and Eugene Curry, M. R. I. A.] Thus the Council do not think it too much to expect that the volumes eventually completed by this Society will contain a complete, satisfactory, and popular explanation of the structure, character, and peculiarities of Irish National Music, an accurate account of its history as far as known (and it reaches back for many centuries), and a Collection which in extent, rarity, and beauty, will surpass anything of the kind ever attempted. The genius and expression of our Music will thus be fixed, and its noblest stores preserved for the admiration of future ages, and the perpetual pride of the Irish race.
g|p° The first volume of the Society, now completed, consists of the first volume of the Petrie Collection, and contains 147 airs, arranged for the Piano-Forte, illustrated by a great quantity of criticism and observations. The Dissertation upon the History, Antiquity, and Structure of Irish Music, by the Editor, is in preparation, but cannot be satisfactorily published until the completion of his editorial labours upon this splendid collection.
The Council desire to make it known, that according to the arrangements with their President, by which he con- sented to publish his great work in connexion with the Society, the property in the Petrie Collection is exclusively vested in Dr. Petrie, after those members of the Society icho shall have paid their subscriptions during the present year shall have received their copies ; and accordingly, that members joining after the 1st January, 1856, will have to purchase this volume at an advanced price. The Council have also to observe, that Dr. Petrie^s collection has been edited and prepared for the Press solely by himself, and not under the control of the Committee of Publication, and that Dr. Petrie alone is responsible for the opinions contained in the present volume.
INTRODUCTION.
Though aware that, in works not of a purely scientific nature, and which -will be chiefly opened with a view to amusement, a Preface receives but little attention from the majority of readers; yet I cannot refrain from availing myself of the old privilege accorded to Authors and Editors to offer a few prefatory remarks on the occasion of presenting to the public this First Volume of a Collection of Irish Tunes, which I have edited under the patriotic auspices of the " Society for the Preservation and Publication of the Melodies of Ireland."
In the first place, I feel it due to that Society, and more particularly to some of the most zealous members of its Committee, to state that, but for their solicitation and warm encouragement, it is not at all likely that I should have entered on the compilation of a work requiring, necessarily, not only a great devotion of time and labour, but also an amount of varied talents and powers of research, scarcely to be hoped for in any single individual, and to the possession of which I, at least, could make but little pretension.
A passionate lover of music from my childhood, and of melody especially — that di- vine essence without which music is but as a soulless body — the indulgence of this passion has been, indeed, one of the great, if not the greatest, sources of happiness of my life. Coupled with a never-fading love for nature, audits consequent attendant, an appreciation of the good and beautiful, it has refreshed and reinvigorated my spirits when depressed by the fatigues of mental labour. In the hours of worldly trials, of cares and sorrows, I have felt its power to soothe and console; to restrain from the pursuit of worthless and debasing pleasures, — of soul-corrupting worldly ambitions, destructive of mental peace ; and to give contentment in an humble station.
But, though I have been thus for my whole life a devoted lover of music, and more par- ticularly of the melodies of my country — which are, as I conceive, the most beautiful na- tional melodies in the world — neither the study nor the practice of this divine art has ever been with me an absorbing or continuous one, or anything more than the occasional indul- gence of a pleasure, during hours of relaxation from the fatigues of other studies, or the
vm
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INTRODUCTION.
general business of life. It was in this way only that I acquired any little knowledge or skill which I may possess in the practice of the musical art ; and, until lately, it was in this way only that I gradually formed the large collection of Irish melodies of which a por- tion is now submitted to the public. From my very boy-days, whenever I heard an air which in any degree touched my feelings, or which appeared to me to be either an unpub- lished one, or a better version of an air than what had been already printed, I never neglected to note it down ; and my summer ramblings through most parts of Ireland, for objects more immediately connected with my professional pursuits, afforded me opportuni- ties, for a long period almost annually, for increasing the collection which so early in life I had felt a desire, and considered it as a kind of duty, to endeavour to form.
In making such collection, however, I never seriously thought of giving even any portion of it to the public in my own name. The desire to preserve what I deemed so worthy of preservation, and so honourable to the character of my country, was my sole object and my sole stimulus in this, to me, exciting and delightful pursuit : and hence I was ever ready to encourage and aid, to the utmost of my ability, all persons whom, from their professional talents as well as their freedom from other occupations, I deemed better qualified than myself to give such collection to the world.
Thus, as early as 1807, or 1808, I communicated, through my friend the late Richard Wrightson, Esq., M. A., a number of airs to the poet Moore, some of which subsequently appeared, for the first time, in his "Irish Melodies;" and shortly afterwards I gave a much larger number to my then young friend the late Francis Holden, Mus. Doc, and which were printed in his collection ; and amongst these were many airs — such as " Lough Sheelin," "Arrah, my dear Eeeleen," and "Luggela" — on which time has stamped her mark of approval, and which have carried the deepest emotions of pleasure to thousands of hearts in almost every part of the globe. For it was from this collection, which — with the excep- tion of Bunting's three volumes — has been the only published collection of our melodies of any importance worthy of a respectful notice, that Moore derived many of those airs which his poetry has consecrated and made familiar to the world. And I may further state, that my contributions to Mr. Moore's admirable work, as well directly as indirectly, did not end here ; for, subsequently to the publication of Frank Holden's volume, I again supplied the poet, through his Irish publisher, Mr. William Power, with several other airs, which found a place in the later numbers of his " Melodies," and among these was that beautiful one called " Were I a clerk," but now better known as " You remember Ellen."
In thus imparting to others the results of my young enthusiasm for the preservation of our melodies, I never asked, and so never obtained, even the acknowledgment, to which I might have felt myself justly entitled, of having my name coupled with those airs as their preserver : nor is it from any vain or egotistical feeling that I state such circumstances now,
INTRODUCTION.
ix
but as simple facts in the history of the preservation of our music that might be looked for hereafter, and which, without such statement, would be looked for in vain.
But to resume: retaining, with even an increasing zeal, my ardour in collecting the melodies of Ireland, I found in the course of a few years that my gatherings had amounted to a number but little short of two hundred as yet unpublished airs ; and, with a view to their being secured to the public with suitable harmonies, I presented them to a lady, now long deceased, who to other varied accomplishments added a sound professional knowledge of music, and who possessed a true feeling for Irish melody. The lady to whom, with a grateful reminiscence, I thus allude, was the late Mrs. Joseph Hughes, the daughter of Smollet Holden, the most eminent British composer of military music in his time, and the sister of my young friend, Dr. Francis Holden, to whose published collection of Irish melo- dies I had been, as already stated, so large a contributor. But the untimely death of this most estimable lady prevented the accomplishment of this project, after some progress had been made in preparing the work for publication.
Still adding to my collection, however, and indulging in the expectation that an oppor- tunity for giving it publicity would sooner or later occur, I thought such expectation likely to be realized when, at a later period of my life, I formed a close intimacy with the late Mr. Edward Bunting. This intimacy, which had its origin in, at least, one common taste, occurred shortly after the publication of the second volume of that gentleman's collection ; and with the double object in view of giving my airs publicity, and, still more, of stimu- lating him to the preparation of a third volume for publication, I freely offered him the use of the whole of my collection, or such portions of it as he might choose to select. Such offer was, however, accompanied by one condition, namely, that in connexion with such tunes as.he chose to accept from me, he should make an acknowledgment in his work that I had been their contributor. This condition, however — which I thought a not unrea- sonable one, but rather suggestive of a course which, in all similar cases, as supplying a sort of evidence of authenticity, should have been followed — had the effect of preventing the accomplishment of my wish that Mr. Bunting should be the medium through which my collection of airs should be given to the public. After the acceptance of some five and twenty or more airs — of which, however, he printed only seventeen — my friend sturdily refused to take even one more ; assigning as his reason that, as he should acknowledge the source from which they had been derived, the public would say that the greater and better portion of the work was mine. In my primary object, however — that of stimulating him to the preparation and publication of his third volume — I had the satisfaction of believing that I had been more decidedly successful. The threat, put forward in playful insincerity, but which was taken rather seriously, that if he did not bestir himself in the preparation of his work, I might probably, by the publication of my own collection, anticipate him in the e
x INTRODUCTION.
printing of many of his best airs, coupled with Mrs. Bunting's, as well as my own con- tinual goadings — and which he was accustomed to say had made his life miserable — had ultimately the desired effect of exciting into activity a temperament which, if it had ever been naturally active, had then, at all events, ceased to be so from the pressure of years, and of a state of health which was far from vigorous. After the devotion of his leisure hours for several years to the collecting together of his materials, and the patient elabora- tion of his harmonic arrangements of the airs, Mr. Bunting gave to the world the third and last volume of his collections ; and I confess that its appearance afforded me a more than ordinary pleasure, not only on account of the many very beautiful melodies which it con- tained, but also from a feeling that my zeal in urging on their publication had been instru- mental, to some extent, in their preservation. For it was Mr. Bunting's boast, that, with the exception of those airs which had been drawn from previously published works, the settings of his tunes would be wholly worthless to any other person into whose hands they might ultimately fall ; and this I knew to have been not altogether an idle boast ; for those set- tings were — as it would appear intentionally — but jottings down of dots, or heads of notes, without any musical expressions of their value with regard either to key, time, accent, phrase, or section, — so that their interpretation would necessarily have been a matter of uncertainty to others, and probably was often so even to himself.
I have thus endeavoured to show, by a statement which I trust will not be deemed wholly without interest, or irrelevant to the purpose of the present work, that though I have been, during the whole course of my life, a zealous collector of Irish melodies, I have been actuated in this pursuit by no other feelings than those of a deep sense of their beauty, a strong conviction of their archaeological interest, and a consequent desire to aid in the preservation of remains so honourable to the national character of my country, and so inestimable as a pure source of happiness to all sympathetic minds to whom they might become known. And though, when I had long despaired of finding any one qualified, according to my ideas, to give to the public in a worthy manner the collection which I had formed, I may have occasionally contemplated the possible production of such a work myself, as a delightful and not over laborious occupation of my declining years, it is most probable that, like my friend Bunting, if the stimulating pressure of friends had not been applied to me, I should have gone on to the end, absorbed in the completion of works of a different nature, and to which my studies had long been more particularly directed. Such a stimulus was supplied on the formation, in Dublin, of the " Society for the Preservation and Publication of the Melodies of Ireland;" and it was strengthened, not only by the honour which that Society conferred on me in electing me their President, but still more by the flattering proposal and expression of their desire to give precedence to my collection in the publications of the Society.
INTRODUCTION.
xi
But though this proposal was entirely free from any conditions which I could for a moment hesitate to accept; and though, moreover, I was sincerely anxious to promote the objects of the Society by every means in my power; I confess that I was startled at a pro- posal so unexpected on my part : and it was not till I had given the matter a very ample- consideration that I could bring my mind to agree to it. For, on the one hand, 1 could not but feel doubtful of my ability to accomplish, without a greater previous preparation, a work of so much national importance, in such a manner as might not seriously low er whatever little reputation I had acquired by the production of works of a different nature ; and disappoint, moreover, the partial expectations of the Society and those friends that had pressed me to the undertaking: and I also felt that if I did venture on such a work, with the desire to accomplish it not unworthily, it would necessarily require for its production the exclusive devotion of many years of a life now drawing towards its close ; and the con- sequent abandonment of the completion of other works on which 1 had been long engaged, as well as of the practice of that art which is so productive of happiness to its lovers, and so suited to the peaceful habits of declining years. And lastly, as I cannot but confess, I could not suppress a misgiving, that, let a work of this nature possess whatever amount of interest or value it may, there no longer existed amongst my countrymen such sufficient amount of a racy feeling of nationality, and cultivation of mind — qualities so honourable to the Scot- tish character — as would secure for it the steady support necessary for its success, and which the Society, as I thought, somewhat too confidently anticipated. In short, I could not but fear that I might be vainly labouring to cultivate mental fruit which, however indigenous to the soil, was yet of too refined and delicate a flavour to be relished, or appreciated, by a people who had been, from adversities, long accustomed only to the use of food of a coarser and more exciting nature. May this feeling prove an erroneous one ! On the other hand, however, I could not but be sensible that, viewed in many ways, the object which the Society had taken in hands was of great importance ; that, with an equal hope of suc- cess, such an effort might probably never again be made ; and that it was a duly, at least of every right-minded Irishman, who might have it in his power to contribute in any way to its support, to allow, if possible, no cold calculations of a selfish prudence, or an unmanly fear of critical censure, to withhold Mm from joining ardently in such an effort. I considered, too, that if, as Moore, perhaps somewhat strongly, states, " We have too long neglected the only talent for which our English neighbours ever deigned to allow us any credit," our apparent want of appreciation of the value of that talent was, at least To some extent, an evidence of the justice of such limited praise. I called to mind that, but tor the accidentally directed researches of Edward Bunting — a man paternally of an English race — and the sympathetic excitement to follow in his track which his example had given to a few others, the memory of our music would have been but little more than as a departed
xii INTRODUCTION.
dream, never to be satisfactorily realized ; and that, though much had been done by those persons, yet that Moore's statement still remained substantially true, namely, that " our national music never had been properly collected;" or, in other words, that it had never been collected truly and perfectly, as it might and should have been, and that it cannot be so collected now. I could not but feel that what must have been, at no distant time, the inevitable result of the changes in the character of the Irish race which had been long in operation, and which had already almost entirely denationalized its higher classes, had been suddenly effected, as by a lightning flash, by the calamities which, in the year 1846-7, had struck down and well nigh annihilated the Irish remnant of the great Celtic family. Of the old, who had still preserved as household gods the language, the songs, and traditions of their race and their localities, but few survived. Of the middle-aged and energetic whom death had yet spared, and who might for a time, to some extent, have preserved such relics, but few remained that had the power to fly from the plague and panic stricken land ; and of the young, who had come into existence, and become orphaned, during those years of desolation, they, for the most part, were reared where no mother's eyes could make them feel the mysteries of human affections — no mother's voice could soothe their youthful sorrows, and implant within the memories of their hearts her songs of tenderness and love, — and where no father's instructions could impart to them the tra- ditions and characteristic peculiarities of feeling that would link them to their remotest ancestors. The green pastoral plains, the fruitful valleys, as well as the wild hilLsides and the dreary bogs, had equally ceased to be animate with human life. " The land of song" was no longer tuneful ; or, if a human sound met the traveller's ear, it was only that of the feeble and despairing wail for the dead. This awful, unwonted silence, which, during the famine and subsequent years, almost everywhere prevailed, struck more fearfully upon their imaginations, as many Irish gentlemen informed me, and gave them a deeper feeling of the desolation with which the country had been visited, than any other circumstance which had forced itself upon their attention ; and I confess that it was a consideration of the circumstances of which this fact gave so striking an indication, that, more than any other, overpowered all my objections, and influenced me in coming to a determination to accept the proposal of the Irish-Music Society.
In this resolution, however, I was actuated no less by a desire to secure to the public, by publication, the large store of melodies which I had already collected, than by the hope of increasing that store, during the progress of the work, by a more exclusive devotion of mind and time to this object than I had ever previously given to it. I felt assured that it was still possible, by a zealous exertion, to gather from amongst the survivors of the old Celtic race, innumerable melodies that would soon pass away for ever ; but that such exer- tion should be immediate. For, though I had no fear that this first swarm from the parent
INTRODUCTION.
xiii
hive of the great Indo-Germanic race would perish in this their last western asylum ; of that they would not again increase, and, as heretofore, continue to supply the empire with their contribution of fiery bravery, lively sensibility, and genius in all the aesthetic arts, — yet I felt that the new generations, unlinked as they must be with those of the past, and sub- jected to influences and examples scarcely known to their fathers, will necessarily have lost very many of those peculiar characteristics which so long had given them a marked indivi- duality; and, more particularly, that among the changes sure to follow, the total extinction of their ancient language would be, inevitably, accompanied by the loss of all that as yet unsaved portion of their ancient music which had been identified with it.
To this task I accordingly applied myself zealously, and with all the means at my dis- posal ; feeling that I could not render a better service to my country : and of the success which followed my exertions some correct idea may be formed from the volume now pre- sented to the reader ; in which it will be seen that of the airs which it contains, nearly a moiety has been collected within the last two or three years. In truth, that success has gone far beyond any expectations which I might have ventured to indulge ; for, aided, as I am happy to confess I have been, not only by my personal friends, but by the voluntary exertions of several young men of talents who have sympathized in my object, I have been enabled, within these years, to obtain not only a great variety of settings of airs already printed, or in my own collection, but to add to that collection more than four hundred melodies previously unpublished, and unknown to me.
Having premised thus far in reference to the motives and feelings which influenced me in undertaking a work of this nature, I feel it necessary to make a few remarks in reference to the objects which I proposed to myself during the progress of its compilation, and which 1 have kept in view, as far as it was in my power to do so.
Independently, then, of the desire to collect and preserve the hitherto unpublished melodies of Ireland, these objects may, in a general way, be stated as having a common end in view, namely, to fix, as far as practicable, by evidences, the true forms of our melo- dies, whether already published or not ; and to throw all available light upon their past history. By a zealous attention to such points, Mr. Chappell, in his collection of national English airs, has ably, as well as enthusiastically, asserted the claims of his country to the possession of a national music ; and, with an equal zeal and ability, Mr. G. Farquhar Graham has illustrated Scottish music in the valuable Introductory Dissertation and Notes which he has supplied to Wood's work, "The Songs of Scotland." For the illustration of the national music of Ireland, however, but little of this kind has been hitherto attempted, and that little, I regret to say, is not always of much value or authority. Such as it is, however, it is wholly comprised in the remarks upon a few of the times printed in Bunting's first publication, and his remarks upon some fifty of those given in his third and last volume ; and even d
»
xiv INTRODUCTION
these latter remarks, together with the statement of names and dates authenticative of the airs comprised in that volume, were only made at my suggestion and on my earnest solici- tation. But I confess that I found those remarks to be far inferior in copiousness, interest, and value, to what I had hoped for from one who had far greater facilities for gathering the varied knowledge necessary for the illustration of our music than can be obtained now ; and whom I knew to have been possessed of all the oldest printed, as well as many MS., settings of a large number of our airs, together with an extensive collection of the Irish songs sung to them, and other materials now difficult, if not impossible, to procure ; but of which, strange to say, Mr. Bunting made scarcely any use. To the use of all printed autho- rities, or such as could be tested by reference, Mr. Bunting, indeed, appears to have had a rooted aversion ; and, in all cases, he preferred the statement of facts on his own unsup- ported authority to every other. Nor would such authority have been without value if we had every reason to believe it trustworthy. But what reliance can we place on the state- ments of one who, in reference to that strange musical farrago — compounded no doubt of Irish materials — called " the Irish Cry as sung in Ulster," given in his last volume, tells us that it was procured in 1799 " from O'Neill, harper, and from the hired mourners or keeners at Armagh ; and from a MS. above 100 years old" ? — or who gravely acquaints us that he obtained the well-known tune called "Patrick's Day," in 1792, from "Patrick Quin, harper :" as if he could not have gotten as accurate a set of it from any human being in Ireland that could either play, sing, or whistle a tune ; and though he knew that the air had been printed — and more correctly too — in Playford's " Dancing Master," more than a century previous. Thus, in like manner, he refers us to dead harpers as his authorities for all those tunes of Carolan, and many others, which he printed ; nearly all of which had been already given in Neal's, and other publications of the early part of the last century.
The truth is indeed unquestionable, that not only has our music never as yet been pro- perly studied and analyzed, or its history been carefully and conscientiously investigated ; but that our melodies, generally, have never been collected in any other than a careless, desultory, and often unskilful manner. For the most part caught up from the chanting of some one singer, or, as more commonly was the case, from the playing of some one itine- rant harper, fiddler, or piper, settings of them have been given to the world as the most perfect that could be obtained, without a thought of the possibility of getting better versions ; or of testing their accuracy by the acquisition, for the purpose of comparison, of settings from other singers or performers, or from other localities ; and the result has often been most prejudicial to the character of our music.
If indeed we were so simple and inconsiderate as to place any faith in the dogma of the immutability of traditionally preserved melodies, so boldly put forward by Mr. Bunting in the Preface to his last work, it would follow that all such labour of research, investigation,
INTRODUCTION.
xv
and analysis, was wholly unnecessary ; and as we are fairly authorized to conclude that he took no such useless labour upon himself, it will, to a great extent, account for the imper- fections which may be found in many of his settings of even our finest airs.
This strange dogma of Mr. Bunting's is thus stated: " The words of the popular songs of every country vary according to the several provinces and districts in which they art- sung; as, for example, to the popular air of A ileen-a-roon, we here find as many different sets of words as there are counties in one of our provinces. But the case is totally different with music. A strain of music, once impressed on the popular ear, never varies. It may be made the vehicle of many different sets of words, but they are adapted to it, not it to them, and it will no more alter its character on their account than a ship will change the number of its masts on account of an alteration in the nature of its lading. For taste in music is so universal, especially among country people, and in a pastoral age, and airs are so easily, indeed in many instances, so intuitively acquired, that when a melody has once been divulged in any district, a criterion is immediately established in almost ever}7 ear; and this criterion being the more infallible in proportion as it requires less effort in judging, we have thus, in all directions and at all times, a tribunal of the utmost accuracy and of unequalled impartiality (for it is unconscious of the exercise of its own authority) governing the musical traditions of the people, and preserving the native airs and melodies of every country, in their integrity, from the earliest periods." — Ancient Music of Ireland — Preface, pp. 1, 2.
The irrationality and untruthfulness of this dogma, as applied to national melody gene- rally, has been well exposed by Mr. G. Farquhar Graham, in his "Introduction" to "'Wood's Songs of Scotland f and, as applied to the melodies of Ireland, abundant proofs of its unsoundness will be found in the present and succeeding volumes of this work. I shall only, therefore, state here, as the result of my own experience as a collector of our melodies, that I rarely, if ever, obtained two settings of an unpublished air that were strictly the same ; though, in some instances, I have gotten as many as fifty notations of the one melody. In many instances, indeed, I have found the differences between one version of an air and another to have been so great, that it was only by a careful analysis of their structure, aided perhaps by a knowledge of their history and the progress of their mutations, that they could be recognised as being essentially the one air. And thus, from a neglect of, or inca- pacity for, such analysis, Moore, in his Irish Melodies, has given as different airs Aiding an Oighfear, or " The young man's dream," and the modern version of it known as M The groves of Blarney," and " Last rose of summer ;" Sin sios agus suas Hum, or "Down beside me," and the modern version known as "The banks of Banna;" Cailin deas donn, or "The pretty brown-haired girl," and Shield's inaccurate setting of it, noted from the singing of Irish sailors at Wapping. Nor has Bunting himself, from whom more accuracy might have been
xvi
i
INTRODUCTION.
expected, been able to avoid such oversights ; for, in his last volume, he has given us, as different airs: 1. The well-known tune called Bean an fhir ruadh, or, " The red-haired man's wife" — or as he calls it, " 0 Molly dear" — and a barbarized piper's version of it, which he calls Cailin deas ruadh, or "The pretty red-haired girl;" the first of these settings, as he states, having been obtained from Patrick Quin, harper, in 1800, and the second from Thomas Broadwood, Esq. (of London), in 1815. 2. The very common air called "The rambling boy," and a corrupted version of it, with a fictitious second part, which he calls Do bi bean uasal, or "There was a young lady," — obtained, as he states, from R. Stanton, of Westport, in 1802. And 3. The very popular old tune of Ta me mo chodhladh, or "I am asleep," and a modified version of it, which he calls Maidin bog aoibhin, or " Soft mild morning ;" both of which, he tells us, were noted from the playing of Hempson, the harper of Magilligan, the first in 1792, and the second in 1796.
Harpers and other instrumentalists are indeed Bunting's most common authorities for his tunes, whenever he gives any ; but I must say that, except in the case of tunes of a purely instrumental character, I have found such authorities usually the least to be trusted ; and that it was only from the chanting of vocalists, who combined words with the airs, that settings could be made which would have any stamp of purity and authenticity. For our vocal melodies, even when in the hands of those players whose instruments will permit a true rendering of their peculiar tonalities and features of expression, assume a new and unfixed character, varying with the caprices of each unskilled performer, who, unshackled by any of the restraints imposed upon the singer by the rhythm and metre of the words connected with those airs, thinks only of exhibiting, and gaining applause for, his own powers of invention and execution, by the absurd indulgence of barbarous licenses and conventionalities, destructive not only of their simpler and finer song qualities, but often rendering even their essential features undeterminable with any degree of certainty.
It is, in fact, to this careless or mistaken usage of Mr. Bunting and other collectors of our melodies, of noting them from rude musical interpreters, instead of resorting to the native singers — their proper depositories — that we may ascribe the great inaccuracies — often destructive of their beauty, and always of their true expression — which may be found in the published settings of so many of our airs. For those airs are not, like so many modern melodies, mere ad libitum arrangements of a pleasing succession of tones, unshackled by a rigid obedience to metrical laws ; they are arrangements of tones, in a general way expressive of the sentiments of the songs for which they were composed, but always strictly coincident with, and subservient to, the laws of rhythm and metre which govern the con- struction of those songs, and to which they consequently owe their peculiarities of struc- ture. And hence it obviously follows that the entire body of our vocal melodies may be easily divided into, and arranged under, as many classes as there are metrical forms of con-
INTRODUCTION.
xvii
struction in our native lyrics — but no further ; and that any melody that will not naturally fall into some one or other of those classes must be either corrupt or altogether fictitious. Thus, for example, if we take that class of airs in triple time which is the most peculiarly Irish in its structure, namely, that to which I have applied the term " narrative," in the numerous examples given in the present volume, a reference to the words sung to those airs would at once have shown that the bar should be marked at the first crotchet, or dotted quaver, after a start, or introduction, of half a measure, so that the accents throughout the melody would fall on the emphatic words as well as notes ; whereas, by a neglect of such reference, even Mr. Bunting, in his settings of such tunes, has very frequently marked the bar a full crotchet, or two quavers sooner — thus falsifying the accents, and marring the true expression of the melody, through its entirety ; and rendering it incapable of being correctly sung to the original song, or to any other of similar structure that had been, or could be, adapted to it. I should add, moreover, that this rhythmical concordance of the notes of the melody with the words of the song must, to secure a correct notation, be not only attended to in the general structure of the air, but even in the minutest details of its measures. Thus, in Mr. Bunting's setting of the beautiful melody called Droighneann donn, or " The brown thorn," given in his first collection, — and which is one of the class here alluded to, — though the tune throughout is correctly barred, yet, from a neglect of such attention, the rhythm is violated, in the third phrase of the second strain, or section, by the substitution of a minim for a crotchet followed by two quavers ; and this rhythmical imper- fection, trivial as it might be deemed — for the time is still perfect — had the effect of con- straining the poet Moore, in his words to this melody, to make the corresponding phrase in each stanza of his song defective of a metrical foot. As thus: —
" For on thy deck — though dark it be, A female form— I see."
In offering these remarks, which have been necessarily somewhat critical, on the errors of preceding collectors of our music — and which I confess I have made with great reluct- ance as regards the labours of Mr. Bunting, whose zealous exertions for the preservation of our national music should entitle his name to be for ever held in grateful remembrance 1 > \ his country — I must not allow it to be inferred that I consider myself qualified to give to the public a work in which no such imperfections shall be found. Whatever may be the value of the qualifications necessary for doing so which I possess, the means necessary to insure such an end have been, to a great extent, wanting. Like my predecessors, I have been, and am, but a desultory collector, dependent upon accident for the tunes which I have picked up ; not always, as I would have desired, obtaining such acquisitions from the best sources ; but sometimes from pipers, fiddlers, and such other corrupting and uncertain e
INTRODUCTION.
mediums; sometimes from old MS., or printed music books; and often, at second-hand, from voluntary contributors, who had themselves acquired them in a similar manner. And though the airs thus acquired have but rarely borne the stamp of unsullied purity, they have often retained such an approach to beauty as seemed to entitle them to regard, and as would not permit me, willingly, to reject them as worthless.
But I may, perhaps without presumption, claim the merit of an ardent enthusiasm in the prosecution of this undertaking ; and of a reasonable share of industry in endeavouring to qualify myself to accomplish it with, at least, some amount of ability. I have availed myself of every opportunity in my power to obtain the purest settings of the airs, by noting them from the native singers, and more particularly from such of them as resided, or had been reared, in the most purely Irish districts ; and I have sedulously endeavoured to test their accuracy, and free them from the corruptions incidental to local and individual recollections, by seeking for other settings from various localities and persons : and when- ever, as has often happened, I found such different settings exhibit a want of agreement which has made it difficult to decide upon the superior accuracy, and perhaps beauty, of one over others, I have deemed it desirable to preserve such different versions. And as the true rhythm of traditionally preserved airs can often be determined only by a reference to the songs which had been sung to them, or from their strict analogy to airs whose rhythmical structure had been thus determined, I have endeavoured, in all instances, to collect such songs, or even fragments of them ; and though these songs or fragments are not often in themselves valuable, and are even sometimes worthless, I have considered them not unworthy of preservation as evidences of, at least, the general accuracy of the settings of the airs, as well as being illustrative, to some extent, of their history ; and in all cases I have truly stated the sources and localities from which both tunes and words have been obtained. Finally, I have endeavoured carefully to analyze the peculiarities of rhythm and structure found in the airs, as well as in the songs sung to them ; and I have thus, as I con- ceive, been enabled to lay a solid foundation for a future general classification of our melo- dies, which must be free from error, and be of great value in illustrating the origin and progress of our music.
That I have been at all times successful in these efforts, or that the settings of the airs now first published, as well as of those intended to follow them, are always the best that could possibly be obtained, is more than I would venture to arrogate, or perhaps than should be expected. My whole pretensions are limited to the accumulation of a greater and more varied mass of materials for the formation of a comprehensive and standard pub- lication of our national music than has previously existed ; including, as a necessary con- tribution towards the accomplishment of such a desideratum, corrected or varied versions of airs already printed, as well as settings of airs previously unnoticed.
INTRODUCTION. xix
The value of these efforts may, however, be fairly estimated from the volume now pre- sentedto the public; for, should it meet support, and a few years of life be spared me, to enable the Society to bring the work to completion, this volume will be found to be a fair specimen of the materials of which the others shall consist. For though, by a selection of the finest airs in my possession, it would have been easy to have made this volume one of far higher interest and value, I have abstained from doing so; as the consequent deterio- ration in the quality of the matter in the succeeding volumes would create a just cause of complaint, and, indeed, I have been so studious in taking these tunes in such relative pro- portions, as to merit and variety of character, as would afford an average measure of the materials which remained, that I would fain hope, should any difference hereafter be found between them, it will not be unfavourable to the character of the latter.
In like manner, I might have made this volume one of far higher musical pretensions, and, probably, popular interest, by intrusting the harmonizations of the airs to professional musicians of known ability, many of whom I am proud to rank amongst the number of my friends. But I knew of none, at least within the latter circle, who had devoted any parti- cular study to the peculiarities of structure and tonalities wThich so often distinguish our melodies from those of modern times; and I consequently feared that harmonies of a learned and elaborate nature, constructed with a view to the exhibition of scientific know- ledge, as well as the gratification of conventional tastes, might often appear to me unstated to the simple character and peculiar expression of the airs; and require me either to adopt what I might not approve ; or, by the exercise of a veto, which would have the appearance of assumption, involve me in collisions which I should desire to avoid. From such feeling only, and not from any vain desire to exhibit musical knowledge which I am conscious I do not possess, I determined to arrange the melodies as I best could, to satisfy my own musical perceptions of propriety; and this determination I should have carried out through the present volume, and its successors, but that I soon found that my beloved and devoted eldest daughter, possessing a sympathizing musical feeling, and actuated by an ardent desire to lighten my labours by every means in her power, soon qualified herself by study and practice, not merely to give me an occasional assistance, but, as I may say. to take upon herself — subject of course to my approbation — the arrangements of the far greater portion of the airs which the volume contains. In order, however, to secure our arrangements from grammatical errors, or other glaring defects, I have, in most instances, submitted them to the correction of my friend Dr. Smith, Professor of Music in the Uni- versity of Dublin ; and he has given me the aid of his deep scientific musical knowledge, with a zeal and warmth which entitle him to my most grateful acknowledgments.
Yet — as in matters of taste the judgment is usually more influenced by accidental asso- ciations, than by the Eesthetic sense of the intrinsic beauty which may be inherent in the
>
xx INTRODUCTION.
objects subjected to it — I am far from indulging the expectation that the general estimate formed of the worth of the airs in the present volume will be at all as high as my own. The young Subaltern Avill, most probably, consider the last new galop or polka, to which — intoxicated with the charms of his fair partner — he has skipped or cantered round the ball- room, superior in beauty to the finest melodies of Rossini or Mozart. The thoughtless, impulsive Irishman, of a lower social grade, will prefer the airs of "Patrick's day," or " Garryowen," to all the lively melodies of his country. The popular public singer has it in his power to make an air " the tune of the day," which, however high its merits, might have remained unknown but for his patronage. The people of every different race and country will not be persuaded that there is any national music in the Avorld equal to their own ; for it is expressive of their own musical sensations, and is associated with the songs and recollections of their youth. And thus the finest of our Irish melodies have obtained their just appreciation far less from any immediate estimate of their merits, than from their accidental union with the lyrics of Moore and others, which had taken a hold on the popular mind.
The airs presented to the public in this work have no such accidental associations, and no such interpreters of their meanings, to recommend them to general favour : and hence, they will have not only to encounter the prejudices of those who believe that all the Irish melodies worthy of preservation have been already collected, — an opinion fostered in the public mind by Moore and Bunting, — but the still greater danger of disappointing the expectations of those who believe that airs presented to their ears for the first time, and without words, should at once take possession of their feelings, and give as much delight as those which had been embalmed there by various extrinsic associations.
But, though it is only natural to conclude that, as the best melodies of every country would, at least generally, be the most popular, and, therefore, the first to present them- selves to notice, and be appropriated by early collectors, those which remained to reward the industry of subsequent collectors — gleaners on an already reaped field — would be of an inferior quality; yet I cannot but indulge the belief that the airs in this work, will, on the whole, be found to possess as great an amount of variety and excellence as belong to those which have preceded it ; and that, should the support necessary to its completion be awarded to it, it will afford a valuable and enduring contribution to the store of simple pleasures necessary to minds of a refined and sensitive nature, and greatly add to the respect which Ireland has already obtained from the world from the beauty of her national music.
GEORGE PETRIE.
67, Rathmines Road, 1st May, 1855.
INDEX
TO
THE AIRS IN THIS VOLUME,
ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED.
XAME IN ENGLISH. SAME IN IRISH. WHERE, OR FROM WHOM PROCURED.
Page.
Advice, The, Miss Jane Ross, Newtownlimavady (Co. Derry), . 78
All Alive, Ldn béoóa, MS. music-book of the middle of the last century, . 41
Allan's Return, A Dublin street ballad, early in the present century, 80
Along the Mourne Shore, . . . Coir cuam lílugOopna, .... The late Mr. Joseph Hughes (Co. Cavan), ... 42 As a Sailor and a Soldier were
walking one day,
I Mr. Patrick Joyce (Co. Limerick), 192
As I walked out one morning, I j ^ A ^ Enniscorth (Wexford), 149
heard a dismal cry, . . . . j * v '
At the little yellow road, . . . Q5 an m-b6icn1n bui&e, . . . Teige Mac Mahon, a Clare ballad-singer, 1854, . . ~ll Anonymous Airs.
Ballad Tune, A Dublin street ballad singer, about 40 years ago, . 32
Song, . . . Miss Jane Ross, Newtownlimavady (Co. Derry), . 57
Sligo Air, Biddy Monaghan (Sligo), 1837, 61
Air of Curran's "Monks of ) __. „ _ „ r(f
, „ „ } W llham Henry Curran, Esq., 109
the Screw," J J 1
Ballad Tune, A Dublin street singer, above 40 years ago, . . .112
Ballad Tune, A Dublin ballad singer, early in the present century, 123
A slow Tune, Noted early in the present century, 130
Song, Mr. James Fogarty, of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny), 157
Song, MS. book of James Hardiman, Esq. (Gulway), . . 174
Ballad Tune, A Dublin ballad singer, early in the present century. 189
Song, Mr. James Fogarty, of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny), 191
Military air (or Chorus), Mr. James Fogarty. of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny), 66
Military Song, Mr. James Fogarty, of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny ), 7"
A Quick March, Mr. Robert A. Fitzgerald, of Enniscorthy (Wexford), 153
A Lamentation, .... Caoine, Frank Keane, Co. Clare (now of Dublin), .... 187
A Hop Jig, MS. Collection of Dance-tunes, about 1750, . . . 88
A Single Jig, Mr. James Fogarty. of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny). 71
A Double Jig, Patrick Hurst, a fiddler, from the Co. Leitrim. 1852. 127
A Munster Double Jig, Frank Keane, Co. Clare (now of Dublin), 1854, . .163
. ,_ _. , _ e Mr. Patrick Jovce, from Michael Dineen, of Cool-
A Munster Single Jig, I . T. ... 10-0 ....
b °' \ free (Co. Limerick). 18o2, 16«
A Planxty, Mrs. J. S. Close (Co. Galway) 129
[See also Plough Tunes.]
Ballypatrick, baile póxpaic Mr. James Fogarty, Tibroghney. (Co. Kilkenny). . 147
Bellew's March (Sir Patrick), MS. Music-book, about 1750, 96
/
xxii INDEX TO THE AIRS IN THIS VOLUME.
NAME IN ENGLISH. NAME IN IRISH. WHERE, OR FROM WHOM PROCURED.
Page.
Beside the White Rock, ... dp caob na cappaise bdine, 143
(Bunting's setting), 140
Blackbird (The) and the Thrush, (In Ion bub 'pan pmólac, • . • Anne Buckley, at the Claddagh (Galway), 1840, . 148
Blackwater Foot, 87
Blackthorn (The) Cane with the )
Tll J On ctína bpolgeann éille, . . . Biddy Monaghan (Sligo), 1837, 37
Black (The) Slender Boy, ... Qn buacaill caol-bub, .... The late Thomas Davis (Munster setting), ... 22
(Second setting), The late Thomas Davis (Munster setting), ... 22
(Third setting), Paddy Coneely, the piper (Galway), 23
Blow the candle out, Betty Skillin (noted above half a century ago by — ), 63
By the side of the White Eock ) _ . _ , _, _ , _ . , _ _ .. 1BO
i u r 'ri +ii " ^ f Op caob na cappaise btíme, . . The late Sir. Joseph Hughes (Co. Cavan), . . . Ida
(Another setting), The late Wm. Forde, of Cork, . 139
(Another setting), . . . (On curiiam leac an oibce), . . Teige Mac Mahon, a Clare ballad-singer, 1854, . 141
Cailin ban, The (The Fair Girl), . On cailin ban, Paddy Coneely, the piper (Galway), 1839, ... 45
Catholic Boy, The The Right Hon. David R. Pigot (Chief Baron), . . 144
out together, ] céile, j Clare, 1854, 162
Coola Shore (" When I rise in the -v , _,, , T . „ , ,n r\ \ * i
I ( The late Mr. Joseph Hughes (Co. Cavan), taken
morning with my heart full of V -j
Cock (A) and a Hen that went ) Ceapc asup coileac a b'imcig le ) Teige Mac Mahon, a ballad-singer from the Co.
Clare, 1854,
he late Mr. Joseph Hughes (Co. Cavan), taken down about forty years ago, 119
woe, ) )
Cormac Spaineach (otherwise caU- 1 Copmac Spáineac (no an Dpuma- * m James Fogartyi of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny), . 35
ed The Drummer), . . . . j t>óip), /
Cunning Young Man, The, . . On cleapaíóe pip Ó15, .... Mrs. Aspull, Dalkey, 1815, 6
David Foy (or Remember the )
Pease Straw) } ^ Dublin bajlad-singer, about 40 years ago, . . .102
Dear to me the big Jug, and it )
fulI j TP.0 gpd&pa an Jug móp íp é Itín, Paddy Coneely, the piper (Galway), 1839, . . .126
Ding dong didilium (The Smith's 1 Dins bons bibilium, buail peo, ) Mr. Patrick Joyce, from Mary Hackett, of Ardpa-
Song), j péib peo, J trick (Co. Limerick), 1853, 171
Donnel O'Graedh, Domnall o 5pae6, . ... MS. book of James Hardiman, Esq. (Galway), . . 152
Druiminn Donn, The, .... (In bpuimpionn bonn bilip, . . Noted in the Co. Derry, 1837, 115
Fingal, The Return from, ... On Pilleab Ó pine gall, 31
Forlorn Virgin, The, Anne Buckley, in the Claddagh (Galway), 1839, . 82
, ,™ % , . f Rev. M. Walsh, P.P., Sneem (Co. Kerry), and Girl (The) of the great house, . Cailin a age rhoip { m Patrick Joy^ (Co Limerick), 51
GobbyO! The MS. book of Dance Tunes, about 1750, 106
Good night, and joy be with you, Paddy Coneely, the piper (Galway), 1837, ... 80
Groves of Blackpool, The, ■ 110
He's gone, he's gone, .... D'imcig pé 'sup b'imcig pé, . . Taken down at Dungiven (Co. Derry), 1837, . . , 48 Hunt, The (or the Galtee Hunt), Mr. Patrick Joyce (Co. Limerick), 92
I once loved a Boy, Miss Holden (the late Mrs. Joseph Hughes), ... 79
I will drink no more on those ■» Ni olpa mé ní'p mo ap na bóiépe \ Eugene Curry, Esq. (learned by his father about
roads of Sligo, J peo SI1515, i 1760)— Co. Clare, 8
I wish the French would take) „ „ u \ iq?
t^em | Betty Skillin (noted above half a century ago by — ), 137
I wish the Shepherd's Pet were 1 dp cpuag san peaca an rhaoip ) Teige Mac Mahon, a ballad-singer from the Co.
mine, j 05am, ) Clare, 1853, 43
I would put my own child to 1 Do óuippmn-pi pém mo leanab a \ Mr. Patrick Joyce, from Mrs. Cudmore, Ardpatrick
sleep, j coólaó, J (Co. Limerick), MS
I would rather have a Maiden 1 ' , , r • 1 T /n t • :-w> ^9
} b'peapp liompa amnip gan guna, Mr. Patrick Joyce (Co. Limerick;, o_
without a gown, j
„_ , ,, , .„ ( Da s-capcatb bean canapaioe ) Teige Mac Mahon, a ballad-singer from the Co.
If I should meet a tanner s wife, . \ r ~ ,OKi ifii
' i liompa, 1 Clare, 1854, ibL
INDEX TO THE AIRS IN THIS VOLUME.
xxiii
NAME IX ENGLISH. NAME IN IRISH. WHERE, OR FROM WHOM PROCURED.
If I should go to a clown, . . . Od D-céiÓin 50 cóbaó, .... Mr. Robert A.Fitzgerald, Enniscortby (Co. Wexford) 104
(Another setting), 105
I'll be a good boy, and do so no) f The late Mr. Joseph Hughes (Co. Cavan), taken
more, J \ down about forty years ago, 64
1*11 make my love a breast of] DéanpaO Dam' gpd& geal, uóc ) _ __„ , ,
glass, i p5aédin 5lan, J Be"y Shlha (n°ted ab°TC centur>' aK° b>' ~> 88
Irish Hautboy, The, 13«
It was an old Beggarman, weary ) f "William Allingham, Esq., of New Ross (noted by
and wet, J \ him in Co. Donegal), 117
Jenny (0), you have borne away ) _ . „ , . , . _ , . _
the palm J S,néa0 Cu5 có an clú leac> • Taken down in Banagher (Co. Derry), 1836, ... 33
Johnny (0), dearest Johnny, Taken down in the Co. Derry, 1837, 134
King of the Rath, the (or Ree Raw), "Rig an RáéG, Mr. James Fogarty, of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny), 5
Kitty Magee, MS. book of Dance Tunes, about 1750, .... 185
LadyAthenry,PlanxtybyCarolan, . . Burke Thumoth's collection of Carolan, 1720, . . 158
LadyWrixon,Planxtyby Carolan, An old collection of Carolan, about 1721, . ... 39
Lament of Richard Cantillon, Mary Madden, a blind ballad-singer (Limerick, 1854), 182
Lament (The) for Gerald (or Black "I _ ,,. „
,\ f Dr. O'Sulkvan (Co. Kerry), about 1815, .... 91
Cloaks to cover Bobby), . . 1 v 1
Last Saturday night as I lay in ) T _ ,
."- ' f Mr. James M. O Redly (Co. Carlow) 101
my bed, > '
Let us be drinking, drinking, ) , , Í Teige Mac Mahon, a ballad -singer from the Co.
f T DimiD G5 01, 05 01, 05 ol, . . < drinking, J I Clare, 18o4, 131
Loch Allen, Loc aillinne, From a fiddler in the Co. Leitrim, 58
Lullabies.
An ancient Lullaby, . . . "Seohuléo," Mary Madden, a blind ballad-singer (Limerick. 1854), 73
An ancient Lullaby, Miss Jane Ross, N.-T.-Limavady (Co. Derry), . . 118
(And see " I'd put my own child to sleep.")
Lura, lura, no da lura (or Maileo 1 Lúpa, lúpa, no Da lupa (no TT)ai- ) Eugene Curry, Esq., and Teige Mac Mahon, (Co.
lero, is imbo nero), .... J leó lépo ip ímbó népo), . . . J Clare), 1853, 84
Melancholy Martin, TTldpcan Dúbaó, Taken down in Banagher (Co. Derry), 1837, . . . 19
Molly Hewson, Betty Skillin (noted above half a century ago by — ), 40
My Love is upon the river, . . Ca mo gpdo pa ap an abamn, . Mr. James Fogarty, of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny), 38
My Love will ne'er forsake me, . Ni cpeispiDmogptíÓ soDeóiOmé, Mr. P. J. O'Reilly, Westport (Co. Mayo), ... 18
My Lover has gone — my heart is -> O'imcig mo spdo— 'ctí mo cpoi&e "1 _ _ .„ ,.T ^ ,n ■»» %
' V f Mr. P. J. O Reilly, Westport (Co. Mavo), ... 44
sore, I cemn, J ■1
My own young dear, TTlo múipnín 65, Taken down in the Co. Derry, 186
Nancy (0), Nancy, don't you re- 1 ,
member Í Taken down from singing, about I8O0, Ill
Nancy, the pride of the East (or \
" For Erin I would not tell who I (dp epinn ni 'neópainn cé hf), . Mr. James Fogarty, of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny). 99
she is"), )
Never despise an old friend, Taken down in the Co. Derry, 177
„..,—,.,. m Í William Henry Curran, Esq., and Mr. Patrick
Nobleman s W edding, rhe, i ,„ ". .
&* ' I Joyce (Co. Limenck), 1<9
(Another setting), Miss Petrie, 179
(Another setting), Mary Madden, a blind ballad-singer (Limerick, 1854), 179
„ _ - . , . í MS. book of Irish tunes, written bv Mr. Patrick
Nora of the amber hair n6Va an Mil 6mpa, { 0^ Co. Kilkenny, in 1785 Bfl
(Another setting), Mr. James Fogarty, of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny), 90
Och, ochone, it is sickly I am (or \ Uc uó ón, ap bpeóice mipi (no ) „ ,„ n, . ,_,
tt 11 * n. nr • \ t . > Eugene Currv, Esq. (Co. Claret loo
Farewell to the Maige), . . . j v\án coip maige), . . . . / & " 1 v
Oh, rouse yourself, it's cold you've ■» Í Mary Madden, a blind ballad-singer, of Limerick,
got, } I 1854, 133
xxiv INDEX TO THE AIRS IN THIS VOLUME.
NAME IN ENGLISH. NAME IN IRISH. WHERE, OR FROM WHOM PROCURED.
Page.
.... . Í Mr. Patrick Joyce (from Joseph Martin, Ardpatrick,
Oh, thou of the beautiful hair, . d óúl tílamn bear, ...... J Cq Limerick)) 1854> 156
Oro, thou fair loved one, . . . Op6 a cumain 51 1, Teige Mac Malum, a Clare ballad-singer, 1854, . . 124
Oro mór, O Moirin ! . . . . Ópó rhop a móipln, O'Neill's MS. (Co. Kilkenny), 1787, 121
Old woman lamenting her purse, the, Mr. James Fogarty, of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny) 106
One Sunday after Mass, Noted down above forty years ago, 113
Pearl of the Flowing Tresses, The, péapla an óúil cpaobai§, . . . Mr. Patrick Joyce (Co. Limerick), 184
Pearl of the White Breast, The, péapla an bpollaig barn, . . . Eugene Curry, Esq. (Co. Clare), 10
Pipe (The) on the Hob, Mr. Patrick Joyce (Co. Limerick), 114
Planxties.
, „ „ , _ ■ „ Í MS. book of Irish airs by Mr. John Shannon, of Lis-
Planxty by Carolan, . . . piancpcaib, pe 6 Ceapballain, ) A , _ •».,,,,..«.
J / I towel (Co.Kerry),[settmgofRoche,aRerryMdler], 12
PlanxtyO'Flinn (by Carolan), An old collection of Carolan, about 1721, . . . . 150
[and see Lady Athenry, &c]
Plough Tunes.
" Hóbó-bobobo-bó," . . • (bpót> ip buail íp ciomdin), . . Teige Mac Mahon, a Clare ballad-singer, 1854, . 30
A Ploughman's Whistle, . . peab an oipim, Taken down in the King's County, 28
A Ploughman's Whistle, . . peab an oipirii, Mr. Patrick Fogarty, Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny), . 29
A Ploughman's Whistle, . . peab an oipuh, Thomas H. Bridgford, Esq., R. H. A., . . . . 132
Pretty Sally, A Dublin street ballad-singer, above 40 years ago, . 178
Priest ("The) with the Collar, . . Sasapc an bonab, MS. Music-book, about 1750, 190
Red-haired Girl, The, .... On cailfn puab, Noted in Dalkey, 1815, 3
(Cork setting of the same air), 4
Rocky Road, The, Mrs. J. S. Close (Co. Galway), 175
Rose,The fair-skinned, dark-haired, *Joip seal bub, Mr. James Fogarty, Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny), . 95
Sally Whelan (or Phelan), . . . Sabb nf paeldin, Paddy Coneely, the piper (Co. Galway), 1839, . . 122
Scolding Wife, The, O'Neill's MSS., 1787, 188
Scorching is this Love, Rev. M. Walsh, P. P., Sneem (Co. Kerry), ... 69
Sheela,mylove,say will you be mine, A Dublin street ballad-singer, above 40 years ago, . 135
Silken Article, The dn ball pióbarhail, Biddy Monaghan, Sligo, 1837, . 7
Sit here, O Muirnin, sit near me, SU15 annpo a TTluipnin lairii liom, Teige Mac Mahon, a Clare ballad-singer, 1854, . . 56
Spinning-wheel Tune, .... " Sin binn bubbapo," .... Anne Buckley, the Claddagh (Galway), 1839, . . 87
Splashing of the Churn, The . . Jj^'S^ a uiabip, Mr- James Fogarty, Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny), . 81
Spring into the Drink, .... ppeab annpa n-6l, Mr. Patrick J. O'Reilly, Westport (Co. Mayo) . .128
Strawberry Blossom, The, ... 133
Tatter the Road, MS. Music- book, about 1750, 65
The hour I prove false, A Dublin ballad-singer, 40 years ago, ... . . . 181
There was a Lady all skin and bone, A Dublin ballad-singer, 40 years ago, 166
This time twelve months I married, bliabam 'pa caca po 'póp mé, . Teige Mac Mahon, a Clare ballad-singer, 1854, . . 159
"Pis easily known that you never) b'puipip cú aicne na paca cu ■» .
t, ? „ , V Aoted from a street singer m Dublin, about 1825, . 72
saw Rosy, .J TCoipi 'piam, J 0
The Token, The late Mrs. Joseph Hughes (Miss Holden), . . 182
Ulster, The Hags of,. . . . Cailleaca cúigib HlaÓ, . . . . Paddy Coneely, the piper (Co. Galway), 1839, . .123
When she answered me her voice ) c The late Mr. Joseph Hughes (Co. Cavan), about
was low,
Where have you been, mv little 1
• j Cd pabdip anoip a cailin bis ? . Mr. Patrick Joyce (Co. Limerick), 67
Wi nter it is past, The (or The ) ....
Curragh of Kildare) / Betty Skillin (noted above half a century ago by — ), 168
Woman (O) of the house, is not) _ . ,_ _, , , „ _ .
, . . ( O bean an age, naó puaipe epin, Teige Mac Mahon, a Clare ballad-singer, 1854, . . 55
(Another setting), Noted by the late William Forde, of Cork, 1846, . 55
Young Lady, The,
Gn boan 65 uapal,
Mr. Patrick Joyce (Co. Limerick),
154
2iN C2i)gH RU214). Cjje M-Jnnrrir (0irl
The name of this beautiful air will be familiar to all the readers of Gerald Griffin's deeply interesting- tale of "The Collegians". They will remember how in the twenty-third chapter of that work, the author, with admirable fidelity to nature, has depicted Lowry Looby, the low comic Irishman of the story, as amusing- himself — while waiting- for admission to the cottage of the unfortunate Eily — by singing in a low voice, outside the window, a few verses of the odd ballad now united to this melody, — the oddities being made more laughable by giving the words occasionally, not according to their true ortho- graphy, but so as to convey the peculiar pronunciation given to them by the singer. The words of u The Colleen Rue" are, in truth, a fair example of a class of lyrics not, probably, to be found in any country but Ireland. They are the rude attempts of a people not wholly illiterate, to express their thoughts in a language with which they had but an imperfect and recently-acquired acquaintance ; or to translate into it the effusions which had previously given them pleasure, as the exponents of airs they loved, and would not willingly cease to sing. Viewed, therefore, merely as curiosities, — great "curiosities of literature," — they are not unworthy of notice, or perhaps, in some instances, of preser- vation. But they possess other features of interest not less remarkable ; they illustrate, in no small degree, the history of the peasant mind of Ireland during the last two centuries, — in times of peace breathing of love, or sorrow, or conviviality, — in times of war or trouble, of secret treason and longings for revenge. Thus, during the war of the Revolution, and as long after it as hope for the fallen dynasty survived, the sentimental or love songs of the seventeenth century, and of earlier ages, were generally thrown aside to give place to jacobite songs, which expressed the newly-engendered thoughts and wishes of the people : and although, in some instances, and chiefly by the women, the former were preserved in wild and secluded spots, those earlier songs have, in a great measure, been irrecoverably lost. But though the old songs thus perished, the tunes still remained ; and during that comparative lull of the popular feelings which, for a considerable portion of the last century, was only disturbed by agrarian conspiracies and their sad consequences, the jacobite songs were in their turn discarded, and the old melodies of the country Were again applied to their original purpose, as a help to the expression of the better feelings of the human mind. The sentimental airs had new words adapted to them, breathing 0m successful or unhappy results of affection, — the more sorrowful ones gave vent to lamenta- tions for the unfortunate Defender, Whiteboy, or Leveller, — and the livelier airs, and spirit-stirring marches of the old clans, were generally converted to the uses of the damv : and it is to the songs written during this period, that we owe the preservation of so vast I
2 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
mass of our national melody. It is quite true that these songs rarely, if ever, had any pretensions to literary merit, and were, moreover, too often disfigured by dashes of licen- tiousness,— the too common and disgraceful characteristic of the times, and which are never found in the earlier lyrics of the country. Still, however, mere doggerel as they were, they led to results which song-s of a higher order -could never have accomplished ; because they would have been unintelligible to the understandings, and foreign to the tastes, of a then uneducated people. Whether written in Irish, for the counties in which the native language still generally prevailed, or m English, for the counties where that language was becoming general, or, as often happened, in a compound of the two tongues, where both were still spoken, such songs had, to Irish ears, the important merit of a happy adaptation of words that would run concurrently with the notes and rhythm of the airs for which they were intended ; and were, happily, thus the means of preserving the tunes in all their integrity. As an example of this rhythmical adaptation, I am tempted to give a stanza or two — for more than a specimen would scarcely be tolerated — of this characteristic ballad of the last century.
As I roved out on a summer's morning,
A speculating most curiously, To my surprise I soon espied,
A charming fair one approaching me. I stood a while in deep meditation,
Contemplating what I should do, 'Till at length, recruiting all my sensations,
I thus accosted fair Colleen Rue.
This, it must be confessed, is but sad doggerel, but in the following stanza will be more distinctly seen that attempt to transfer to the English language the constantly recurring assonantal or vowel rhymes of the original Irish songs ; and also of the pedantic classical allusions, in which this class of Anglo-Irish ballads so ludicrously abound, and of which so good an imitation has been given by the late Mr. Milliken of Cork, in the popular song of "The Groves of Blarney."
Kind sir, be easy, and do not tease me,
With your false praises most jestingly, Your dissimulation of invocation
Are vaunting praises seducing me. I'm not Aurora or beauteous Flora,
But a rural female to all men's view, That's here condoling my situation,
My appellation is the Colleen Rue.
The circumstances under which I obtained the air of this characteristic Irish love-song had a curious accordance with the sentiment of the song, which may not be unworthy of notice. While residing in the village of Dalkey, during the summer of 1815, 1 was one evening surprised by hearing, from a small neig-hbouring tavern, a strain of melody which appeared to me to be unmistakeably Irish, — not, however, sung, as I had always heard such airs, by a single voice, but by several voices united, so as to produce a very pleasing and not incorrect stream of harmony. So unusual an occurrence naturally excited in my
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
3
mind a strong desire to ascertain the name of a melody not previously known to me, and how it came to he thus sung- in parts ; and having felt assured that I had accuratelv committed the air to memory, I went into the house to question the hostess — the well known and worthy Mrs. Shearman — on these points, and also as to what she knew of her musical guests. Her reply was to the effect that the singers consisted of two respectable country girls from the south, and their sweethearts, two Englishmen, corporals in i regiment then quartered in Dublin, — to whom they were shortly to be married. As, however, she could not give me the more essential information which I desired, I gladly availed myself of her offer to introduce me to the singers, — from whom I learned that the air, which was sung by the girls, was truly Irish, and called "The Colleen Rue;" and that the harmony of tenor and bass combined with it, was the result of musical instruction which the Englishmen had obtained, as singers in the choir of their parish church. I should add that this was the only occasion on Avhich I have ever heard this beautiful and once popular melody.
— Pend. 9 inches.
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4 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
In connexion with the preceding melody and words, it should, perhaps, be observed that, as amongst the Irish, in many instances, innumerable songs have been adapted to a favor- ite tune, so it often happens that a ballad which had become popular, is united to an air different from that for which it was written. In illustration of this usage I have selected the following- melody, which is more commonly known in the county of Cork as "The Colleen Rue," — being the tune sung in that county to the ballad so called ; though to adapt it to the latter, the air must be sung twice to each stanza.
• = Pend. 9 inches.
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K)5 2iM H21Ú21. €jn> ling nf % Until, nr Ere Entn.
This march-tune — together with many other airs of great beauty which will be given in the course of this work— was sent to me by Mr. James Fogarty, a farmer of more than ordinary cultivation of mind, who, previously to the spring of 1852, had resided in the parish of Tibroughney, county of Kilkenny, but, from the depression of the times, was then compelled to emigrate to America. According to his statement, this tune, which was peculiar to his own locality, was believed to be of the greatest antiquity ; and was a vocal war and festive march, which the people of Tibroughney had been accustomed to sing on their way to the May festivals which — so late as the commencement of the last century — were celebrated with great pomp at the spring fair of Fiddown. He also states that, as sung at the period above alluded to, after each performance of the air in marching measure, the movement was suddenly quickened to that of a lively jig, or battle-tune, called High an Hatha, or u King of the Rath"; but which, corrupted to the name Bee Raw, has acquired the meaning* of uproar, confusion, or boisterous merriment. This etymology of a popular phrase now received into the English language, at least in Ireland, is certainly curious, and seems likely to be well founded ; for I find the term similarly applied to other ancient Irish marches of the same antique structure and cha- racter ; and, if correct, it would refer such tunes to that remote time when the clans were still subject to the rule of their chief, or king of the rath. Further, as this is the first example which I have selected of the hitherto unpublished military tunes of the Irish now
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
5
in my possession, I deem it proper to state that all such airs, amongst the Irish, were of a lively or quick-step character, — the slow march of England and other nations being unknown to, or at least unused by, them ; and that all such strains are, of course, in com- mon time, or that compound form of it consisting of two triplets, and known as six-eight measure. I should further state that these ancient tunes appear to me to be still very extensively preserved in Ireland as jig* tunes, of which — when not, as they often are, in triple time — they may be regarded as the parents ; if, indeed, as is most probable, these marches were not originally applied to both purposes.
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
m 01621521)136 fjb ó)3. ${u (toning f rang %m.
This beautiful and highly characteristic melody was taken down, in 1815, from the sing- ing* of a fisherman's wife named Archbold, or Aspull, as the name was locally pronounced, in the then strikingly romantic village of Dalkey, near Dublin. The air was sung with a touching sweetness, for the purpose of soothing the irritability of a sick child ; and, as the singer subsequently informed me, it was from the singing of her mother, under similar circumstances for herself, that she had learnt it in her own childhood. The words which she sang to it were English, and of the ordinary ballad kind ; but the melody belongs to a class, peculiar in character and structure, which, as I have shown in the Dissertation prefixed to this work, there is every reason to believe to be of a very early antiquity.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
7
SIN B2UX S10toSm)SlJl. Cjje f\M MtU.
A SET of this tune, given as a jig-, was first published in 1806, by my friend the late Francis Holden, Mus. Doc., in a valuable collection of Irish melodies to which I was a large contributor, this ah* being" one of the number. It was given to me in early youth b}' a lamented friend, the late Edward Fisher of Merginstown, in the county of Wicklow, by whom it had been taken down from the playing of a fiddler in that county. It is pro- bable, however, that this air, like many other of our jig tunes in triple time, was originallv a vocal one, as the present set was noted down as a song tune united to Irish words of a playful character, and the melody thus sung was extremely pleasing. This version of it was set while on a visit in 1837, at Rathcarrick House, the seat of my friend R. C. Walker, Esq., Q.C., from the singing of a woman named Biddy Monahan, who had been reared in that gentleman's family, and was, from her love for music, a rare depository of the melodies which had been current in her youth in the romantic peninsula of Cuil Iorra. I regret to add that I have forgotten the Irish name by which the melody was known in that district.
MJ OUF21 2t)& Mj'S St)0 21K M21 BÓjtR6 S60 SIJ3J5— 3 ffiill U MXt U tjjDS* DÍ lligr.
For this beautiful and, as it appears to me, very ancient melody, I am indebted to mj friend Mr. Eugene Curry, on whose memory it was fixed in early youth from the singing of his father : and to the latter it had become familiar so far back as about the year 1760, together with words which were then considered ancient, and which the old man treasured in his memory until his death, in the year 1825, at the age of eighty-one. Of tkese words, however, Mr. Curry unfortunately can only remember a small portion ; but this is valuable as indicating the Connaught county to which the melody — though preserved
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
in Clare — most probably belongs, as will be seen from the first line of the following stanza, which is the only perfect one that Mr. Curry remembers: —
M| ólfA tt)§ v'\'x f?ó <vfi da bóiéjte reo SI1315, &3vr cójpA rtjé njo reólcA pA bójio t)<v cA|lle 3lA]fe ; Olf a n)é njo Óóiqt) &]a &ori)T)Ai5 -(f bjAb Aft trifle,
2J)Ajt rv]i ir 3° b-fíA5AiDD-ri f&isIo orr/ txófftíT) Mac^a ^we.
I will drink no more on those roads of Sligo,
And I will raise my sails to the border of the green wood,
( Where) I will drink enough on Sunday, and will be merry,
In hopes that I may get a kiss from my stoirin, the blossom of whiteness.
Standing- alone, it may appear to many that these lines have but little pretension to poetical merit ; but in two lines of another stanza — which are all of it that Mr. Curry can recollect — there are indications of a poetical feeling which might lead to a regret that the whole of this old song has not been preserved. These lines are : —
'Ca au blAc bin) Aft t)A ti)ófTvce A3vf at) pógrrjAjt A3 Filleaó ;
Jr 5é 5VT1 Iaóac Iaó&c at) TiAéb e at) pófAÓ A|* búbAc beóft&c a& pív3 pé roff*e.
The white blossom is on the bogs, and the Autumn is on the return ;
And though marriage is a pretty pretty thing, it is sorrowful and tearful it has left me.
P = Pend. 52 inches.
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND. 0
P&2mi2i HN B21JN. ^íflrl flf tjj* ^Ijilf 9StM5t.
For this beautiful melody and its accompanying" words, I have a great pleasure in acknow- ledging' myself indebted to the kindness of my valued friend, Mr. Eugene Curry, a gentle- man who, to many of the best characteristics of a genuine Irishman, adds — that not unessential one — a love for the " dear old tunes" of his country ; a love so ardent, that it has led him from childhood to gather up, and enabled him to retain in his memory, many ancient and beautiful strains peculiar to, or only remembered in, his native county of Clare, and which, but for that feeling", would, most probably, have been for ever lost to us. The melody is given exactly as noted down from Mr. Curry's singing" of it, and as he had learnt it from the singing- of his father in his native home, upon the ocean-beaten cliffs of the southern extremity of the lands of the Dal Cass. But, as my friend informs me, though the air and words connected with it have been long popular in that wild district, they probably do not owe their origin to it, but rather to some one of the Connaught counties, among which so many melodies of a similar character yet remain. I confess, however, that in my own musical researches in those counties, I have never heard it, nor have I found a set of it in any collection either in print or manuscript. It is true, indeed, that an air bearing the same name is found in the first of the valuable collections given to the world by my friend, the late Mr. Edward Bunting — that published in 1796 ; and this air re-appears under the same appellation, but with some unimportant changes, and united, not very happily, to English words, in the collection of Irish melodies published by the late Mr. George Thompson of Edinburgh, in 1814. And as I have alluded to this collec- tion, I cannot forbear, in passing, to observe that it was deserving of a far higher appre- ciation and a more extensive popularity than — in Ireland, at least — it ever received; being- enriched with symphonies and harmonies which, if not always strictly appropriate, are, at least to a cultivated ear, at all times fascinating-, from the exquisite refinement, the vigorous power, the mystical romanticism, and poetical inspiration which they exhibit, and which their author — the divine Beethoven — could alone display. But to resume : as this air — which, perhaps, would be considered by many as one of greater beauty than that now presented — is, however, of a rhythm, time, and general construction so different, that it could never have been united with the words of the old song, it is very probably misnamed, as many of the airs in Bunting's collections often are ; or, if not so, it must be the melody of a different song having the same name.
As a very general, but most erroneous, impression has been fixed in the public mind, — through the writings of persons having but a limited acquaintance with Irish music, — that the slow tunes of Ireland are all marked by a sorrowful expression, it may not be improper to direct the attention of readers to the character of this air as an evidence of the fallacy of such opinion. " The Pearl of the White Breast" is a melody strongly marked as belonging to the class of airs known among the Irish as sentimental, or love tunes. Its cadences are all expressive of an imploring and impassioned tenderness ; and although they express nothing characteristic of levity or gaiety, they are equally wanting in those expressions of hopeless sadness or wailing sorrow with which the Murines, or elegiac airs, are so deeply stamped. And although it may not have a claim to so high ;i place in Irish melody as some other airs of its class, it is, as I conceive, a melody of no D
»
10 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
ordinary beauty, — perfectly Irish in the artful regularity of its construction, and deeply impressed with those peculiar features which would give it a claim to a very remote, though, like most of our fine airs, an unknown and undeterminable antiquity.
— Pend. 43 inches.
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With respect to the words now sung to this air, it should, however, be observed that they are by no means of so remote an age as the melody itself — though they are older than most of the songs now sung to our finest tunes, which have rarely an antiquity ante- rior to the beginning of the last century. It is the opinion of Mr. Curry that this song- is, probably, at least as old as the early part of the seventeenth age ; and as, for a peasant song, it is not wanting either in naturalness of thought or appropriate simplicity of expression, I have considered it as not unworthy of preservation, as well in its original language, as in a nearly literal versified translation, which I have attempted with a view
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
11
to convey to the reader some idea of a very usual metrical structure in Irish lyrical com- positions. I need scarcely add that it has no pretension to notice but as such an example.
1
21ca CAiljt) bear Att) ctiaó,
\.e bljAÓAiT) A^vr le Ia,
Jr X)} féA&A|tt) a f*a5&il le bftéA5AÓ;
Yi] 'I Ajrbe cl|r le |tíKÓ,
4Dá 3cai)A]& pi ft le n}i)&,
Naji CAfceAtijAift 5 at) cabAcc lej-r* :
Q)o'r) pfiAfijc rjó bo't) SpÁjij,
<t>A bcéjjeAÓ Tt)0 jflAÓ,
3o 1**5*1 W-fl 3*^ ^ b* peACA]tj, Jr tíiati at) bpql re a Tj-bkti •Dvfi^t) at) Aftitiift c]Y]i} reo b'^jAfl, Uc! 21)ac 2t)Y|fie t)a r;-5]tAr b'Aji rAOfiA&. 2
'Sa CA|lfr) cAflce blAc,
Í)á b'cv5Af feAftc ir 3fiA&,
Má cAbAfft-ri sac cfiÁc 8att) éftAb ;
'Sa IfAcc Afrjniri r\))x) aid óeAjj,
Re bvA^b ir ttjaoit) 'tja lÁ]rb,
<Da t)-5AbAtT)AÍr a c'Afc-r| céjle :
P05 ir Wfle Police,
'S bArtftAfóe 3e<xl bo Iait),
2lré 'r)fArirtpqr)i}-ri 30 bft&c it>ati rpf1^6 ^e*c :
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21 PéAjtlA at) BjioIIai5 biviij, Náfi c|5 iDjre rlAir or) tt-aoijac.
1
There 's a colleen fair as May, For a year and for a day
I have sought by ev'ry way, — Her heart to gain. There 's no art of tongue or eye, Fond youths with maidens try,
But I 've tried with ceaseless sigh, — Yet tried in vain.
If to France or far-off Spain,
She 'd cross the wat'ry main,
To see her face again, — The seas I 'd brave.
And if 'tis heav'n's decree,
That mine she may not be,
May the Son of Mary me — In mercy save.
2
Oh, thou blooming milk-white dove,
To whom I 've given true love,
Do not ever thus reprove — My constancy.
There are maidens would be mine,
With wealth in hand and kine,
If my heart would but incline — To turn from thee.
But a kiss, with welcome bland,
And touch of thy fair hand,
Are all that I 'd demand, — Wouldst thou not spurn ;
For if not mine, dear girl,
Oh, Snowy -breasted Pearl !
May I never from the Fair — With life return !
pi2tNCSC2U<b, mo Pié2iK2ic2t ne ó ce2iBB2iii2ijN.— ^lnnittj, nr p Irnrnrn, (DXnmlnu.
For the following- beautiful Planxty, now for the first time published, I am indebted to my friend, Mr. John Kelly, assistant to Mr. Griffith on the Ordnance Valuation of Ireland, by whom it was copied, at Listowel, from a MS. book of Irish tunes written by Mr. John Shannon, or Shanahan, of that town, who obtained it from Roche, a distinguished fiddler of the county of Kerry. The name of the tune, or in other words, the name of the person in whose honour, according' to Carolan's custom, it was composed, yet remains to be discovered; but there can be no uncertainty as to its being a genuine composition of our last distin- guished minstrel ; and, however it may be estimated by others, I confess that it appears to me to be one of the finest examples preserved to us of his peculiar genius in this class of graceful and spirit-stirring* tunes. I may add that, considering how extensively the com- positions of Carolan have been preserved, and particularly those of the sportive or planxty class, it is not a little singular that a tune so full of animation and vigour should have hitherto escaped the notice of the collectors of our music: and I can only attempt to account for it by the supposition, which appears to me a probable one, that it was composed during
»
12
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
Cardan's visit to the south-western counties of Munster, where he was necessarily separated from those who, in his own Connaught region, were taught hy him to commit his composi- tions to memory, and who had the further advantage of hearing them frequently repeated. At all events certain it is, that many of the tunes that Carolan is known to have composed for persons in those south-western counties — as, for example, those for Dean Massey of Limerick and his lady, — have never been identified by names, and, if they have yet escaped oblivion, they must be sought for in the localities in which they had their origin.
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
10
As the preceding* specimen of the class of tunes known by the term Planxty — or Plansty, as it is written in Burke Thumoth's publication of Carolan's compositions — is the first appearing" in this work, and will be followed, during- its progress, by other as yet unpub- lished tunes of the same character, it may be desirable to offer, in this place, a few observations on the characteristics and origin of this class of melodies in Ireland ; and also on the signification and etymology of the name by which such tune3 are, or have been, commonly designated.
The Planxty, then, is a harp-tune of a sportive and animated character, not intended for, or often adaptable to, Avords ; and — with the exception of three or four tunes to which possibly the term has been incorrectly applied — it moves in triplets, with a six-eight measure. In this last characteristic, as to time, it is similar to that most common in the Irish Jig, or Rinnce ; but the Planxt}^ differs from that more ancient class of tunes in its having less rapidity of motion, — thus giving a greater facility for the use of fanciful or playful ornamentation, — and also in its not being bound, as the Jig necessarily is, to an equality in the number of bars or beats in its parts. For the Planxty, though in some instances it presents such an equality, is more usually remarkable for a want of it; the second part being extended to various degrees of length beyond that of the first, so that it would be thus equally unfitted for a dancing movement, as, from the irregularity of its cadences and the unlicensed compass of its scale, it would be unadaptable to a singing one. Indeed this difference, in tunes which have often so many other features in common, appears to have been well understood by Carolan ; for in all those tunes which he has himself called Jigs, though differing in other respects but little from those called Planxties, he has taken care never to violate the law of equality in the length of their parts or movements.
A still closer affinity, however, than that now noticed as connecting the Planxty with the Jig, is found in the characteristics of the Planxty and the Pleraca, — an affinity so close, indeed, that the difference seems to me to be only in names which are convertible, and are so used in a collection of Irish tunes, chiefly of Carolan's composition, which was published in Belfast, by Mr. John Mulholland, in 1810, the term Planxty being there given as the English name, and Pleraca as the Irish one of the same tune. But be this a? it may, the tunes called Planxties, as well as those called Pleracas, owe their origin, if not, as I believe, their names, to Carolan; and are to be regarded as a class of festive harp- tunes composed in honor of his patrons or hospitable entertainers, and, as such, only differing from his other airs composed for the same purpose, in the greater gaiety and playfulness of their movements. It is true, indeed, that the harpers immediately preceding- Carolan — as Eory O'Kane, the two O'Connallons, and, no doubt, others — had already introduced, both in Scotland and in Ireland, the custom of composing, as offerings of gratitude to their patrons, tunes of a purely instrumental character, and which had usually but little of the simplicity and regularity of structure of the vocal and dance-tunes of more remote times; and such compositions were known simply by the names of the persons in whose honor they were composed, — as "Lady Iveagh," "Miss Hamilton," &c — or with the Irish word, Port (which signifies a tune), prefixed to such name, as " Port Athol," u Port Gordon," " Port Lennox," &c : and in the composition of such tunes, therefore, Carolan only trod in the footsteps of his predecessors. But, in the construction of his Planxties and Pleracas, he must be considered as an innovator on the time-established D
14
*
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
features of his country's music ; for I have not heen able to find any example of this class of tunes of an age anterior to his time : and such tunes appear to owe their origin to an ambition on their composer's part to imitate, and perhaps rival, those alleg'ro movements called gigas, which occur in the contemporaneous sonatas of the Italian composers, Corelli, Geminiani, and others, of whose works, then popular in Ireland, Carolan became so ardent an admirer, that in nearly all his compositions the results are more or less apparent. It is, however, in his Planxties that we find the most successful efforts of his imitative genius. Wanting*, as he obviously did, the requisite knowledge of the laws of harmony, so con- spicuous in the works of those great masters, his more ambitious attempts at imitation are often ludicrously rude and abortive; while in his Planxties, which required less scientific ability, he usually trusts more to his fine natural genius for melody. And of these compositions, it may not perhaps be saying too much that, if they want the deep gravity of thought and the scientific progressions of harmony found in the gighe of his renowned originals, such wants are often amply atoned for by a display of imaginative and graceful sportiveness, — touched frequently, too, with sentiment, drawn from his own Irish nature, — which even those great masters might well admire, and would probably have vainly attempted to rival.
As it thus appears that the airs called Planxties and Pleracas owe their origin to Carolan, we should naturally expect that those terms have a no higher antiquit}- than that of the tunes they were intended to designate, — and such appears to be the fact. Neither of these terms are found in Irish writings of an earlier age, nor does the Irish languag'e possess any verbal roots from which either of them could have been formed : and hence, as regards the term Planxty, or Plansty, as I have found it written, I was for some time disposed to believe that it might possibly have been formed from the English word prance, in its sense of springing or bounding motion ; or the word prank, in its sense of a wild flight, in either of which senses the term Prancy, or, by a natural corruption, Planxty, would be very expressive and applicable to the motions of such tunes. But my friend, Mr. Curry, has supplied me with another derivation, equally English, which, if not more satisfactory, has, at least, a contemporary authority to support it, namely that of the bard's own friend and brother poet and harper, Charles MacCabe. It occurs in a Gaelic lampoon, or satirical poem, which the latter addressed to his friend in revenge, not only for a practical joke which Carolan had played upon him, — namely, having- him put into a sack while in a state of helpless intoxication, at the public-house of a man named William Egiis, at Mohill, in the county of Leitrim, where the brother bards had been boozing for a day together, — but, for the additional mortifica- tion which Carolan had inflicted, by writing* some caustic verses in ridicule of MacCabe for taking the matter too seriously. The language of the poem, as Mr. Curry states, is not inferior to that of the best Irish poetical compositions of the seventeenth century ; and a literal translation of it will scarcely fail of amusing* the reader, from the mixture of truth which gives such effect to its satire : —
" There is not a man with two horses, from Galway To Down Patrick,
That you have not put under contribution, And, 0 ****** ! what are the claims for it ?
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
15
The claim is comical, — it is very fortunate — [It is] because you smoke a pipe, And that you prefer not brandy, wine, or ale, To a drink of the Guile.
It matters not which of them, you pledge your faith,
That you are satisfied,
With a capacious cup, full of mash,
With shouts and clamour.
There is not a five-groat man from Ballinrobe To Ballyshannon,
That has not given three pennies into your fist To you for a Flaxsaraidh.
An old gray woman gave you, below in Leitrim, For your Pleraca,
A pair of stockings, and she toothless, — And you were satisfied.
The music is better that you play for a little woman Of sportive habits,
Than for the high blood of the Lord Dillon, For three Moidores."
It can scarcely admit of doubt, that the word Flaxsaraidh — pronounced Flaxaree — in this poem is intended to designate the class of tunes now known by the term Planxt}' ; and, therefore, that it must either be the original form, or a very blundering' corruption by the transcriber, of that generally-adopted word. But, as Mr. Curry remarks to me, there exist strong* objections to the adoption of the latter assumption; as — First, that the manuscript in which this form of the word is found, was written as early as the year 1729 — nine years previous to the death of Carolan — by Hugh O'Mulloy, one of the best Irish scholars and scribes then in or about Dublin, and who, as such, was employed by the celebrated Doctor John O'Fergus to make that fine transcript of the first volume of the " Annals of the Four Masters," which is now preserved in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. Secondly, that as Carolan was known to, and even patronized by, Doctor O'Fergus — a fact proved by the bard's having composed a Planxty in his honour — it is scarcely to be doubted that Carolan was also known to the Doctor's Irish scribe ; and, consequently, that it is in the highest degree improbable that such scribe would, or could, have written in a vulgar or incorrect form a word that must, at the time, have been generally known and understood in most parts of Ireland ; and the more parti- cularly, as we find that in the transcription of the other newly-coined word — Pleraca— his orthography of it was strictly correct. As to the correct transcription of the word Flaxsaraidh, therefore, there can be but little doubt ; but, of its etymological origin, t here yet remains a great difficulty, which Mr. Curry has, with much ingenuity, endeavoured to remove, by the remarks which follow : — a The word Flaxsaraidh," he writes, " will be immediately recognised as implying something relating to flax. Now, in Carolaii's time it was a universal custom — still continued in many districts — when a number of young- women were collected together for the purpose of spinning, either within a house, or, in
16
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
fine weather, at the road-side, if a gentleman, a pedlar, or a musician, approached the place, he was stopped by a thread which the girls drew across it ; or, if he entered the house, by winding it around him, and at the same time greasing his boots, or shoes, with their oily wool, if that were the material in hand. This fragile obstruction it was considered dis- gracefully ungallant and churlish to break 5 and the permission to pass on was only to be obtained by the gift, from a gentleman, of some money, from a pedlar, of some small article of woman's wear — as a ribbon, or brass finger-ring — and, from a musician, of lots of frolicsome dancing tunes, which would set the girls in motion. And as it will be easily understood that Carolan, in his peregrinations, must have frequently — and probably not unwillingly — found himself involved within the inviolable web of the Connaug'ht mirthful spinners, it seems more than possible that it was such occurrences that suggested to him a name, derived from the material of their occupation, for a class of tunes which was so peculiarly expressive of the gaiety and wild extravagancies which so often attended scenes of this kind."
With respect to the word Ple-raca — or Plea-raca — its meaning-, at least, if not its etymology, is better understood. In the rather free translation, by Swift, of the words written to Carolan's Plearaca na Huarcach, by Hugh Mac Gowran, a poet of the county of Leitrim, at the beginning of the last century, it is rendered by the word Feast; but the Irish lexicographer, Edward O'Reilly, in his " Irish Writers," better conveys its meaning by the words revelry, and revel-rout, as "The Revel-rout of O'Rourke;" and by a meto- nymy the term was applied to designate the class of tunes composed for such revels, or in commemoration of them, — as the words "dance" and "march" are applied to designate the tunes fitted to such movements. And an example of this application of the word occurs in Mac Gowran's song, where the words rendered by Swift,
"Come, harper, strike up,
But first by your favour, Boy, give us a cup ;
Ay ! this has some savour,"
should, if translated literally, be given as follows : —
Se]t)x) au PléAjtacA rin, Pftxxp Sr]r>r) r3*MT«> *>W fe15 n&: 2lr1 V°> W cuiftn) com-
Strike up that harp, Play that Pleraca ;
Quick, hand us a bumper of that drink ; Ay — this is the fine ale !
"Wherever" — writes Mr. Curry — "the word Pleraca occurs in any Irish song or rhyme of the last hundred years, it is in the sense of an abandonment to drinking, dancing, singing, or love-making, &c, carried out in all imaginable riotous and reckless gaiety, and was, no doubt, looked upon as the Ball of the times then passing. John O'Huaneen, or Green, a country gentleman who lived near Ennistimon, in the county of Clare, about the year 1760, wrote a comical and sarcastic Irish song on a Pleraca given at Coad, near Corofin, in the same county, by Edward O'Brien and his wife Una, at which the poet was himself a guest ; and from this song it can be clearly seen that the Pleraca was an entertainment given by O'Brien to the neighbouring gentry. And
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
17
thus, too, in a song in praise of "Whiskey, written by Thomas Meehan, a witty poet of the county of Clare, about the year 1770, the word Pleraca is used as designating a dancing contest attended with riotous music and singing ; and he calls the tents at fairs and races, at which such scenes were enacted, Both-Baca, i.e., a llaca-booth, or hut." And with respect to the etymology of this term, Mr. Curry states that, "as the word Baca is not known to be an original, or old Irish word, it is, probably, but a Hibernicised form of the English word Rake, as in like manner the prefix Pic, is but a corrupt form of the English word Play ; and so conjointly giving the sense of a raking- entertainment."
These etymological conjectures of Mr. Curry's I have thought it right to submit to the consideration of the reader 5 although, as regards the compound Ple-raca, the general philologist mig'ht, perhaps, be disposed rather to derive its primary vocable from the ancient Irish word Fleadh, which signifies a " Feast," or u Entertainment :" and it must be con- fessed that such derivation would seem obvious but from the fact that, according to the best Irish authorities, no example has been found of a change of the consonant y into p, while on the contrary, the change of p into f is very common in the grammatical inflec- tions of the language.
H) CRejSFJt» 290 5Ká<b 30 <Deój<b etjé. mill m'n forsakt m.
For this fine air, together with many others of no less beauty, I have to express my grateful acknowledgments to Mr. P. J. O'Reilly, of Westport, in the county of Mayo, by whom they were noted down from the singing of the peasantry in the wild mountain dis- tricts of that picturesque county. I regret, however, to have to add, that Mr. O'Reilly has not increased the value of his gift by some detailed notices of the sources and localities from which the tunes were obtained; and, that though acquainted with the Irish language vernacularly, he did not feel himself competent to take down the songs to which the melodies were sung ; as, in that peculiarly Irish part of Western Ireland, it might be hoped that words of a higher antiquity and deeper interest would be preserved than those current in districts in which, from the commingling of races differing- in origin and lan- guage, the primitive manners and traditions have been obliterated. Without some such knowledge of the character of the ancient songs, we have no clue to the sentiments which the melodies were intended to convey, but that, sometimes — as in the present instance — derived from its name ; for the words " My Love will ne'er forsake me" appear to me most happily expressive of the triumphant and manly tone of feeling which per- vades this air to a degree not often found among-st the melodies of Ireland. So strongly, indeed, does this feeling appear to me to preponderate, and so different from that of our tunes in general is the structure which was necessary to produce it, that, had this air come to me from any questionable authority, I should have been inclined to doubt its Irish origin; or, had it been shown to me as an ancient Gothic or Scandinavian air, such I should have very readily believed it. Such affinities and peculiarities are not, however, very uncommon amongst the multitude of our melodies; and, if we were allowed to indulge in conjecture as to the probable origin of them, we might, perhaps, ascribe it to the long occupation of our island by the Danes and Northmen, or even, not impossibly, to the blending of Teutonic races with the Celtic in ages more remote.
F
18 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
19
^Blanrljnlií #lartin.
This air, which is both a song" and dance tune, was set, in 1837, from the singing- of a peasant in the parish of Banagher, county of Londonderry, and it probably belongs to that county. Though of sufficient merit to deserve preservation, it is not apparently an air of much antiquity, nor one strongly marked with Irish sentiment ; but on the con- trary, as it appears to me, with a sturdy English one, and particularly in its closing cadences. Its structure, in nine-eight time, is, however, peculiarly Irish, as the two or three airs in this time recently claimed as English seem to be much more probably ours ; and the one or two tunes in this time claimed by the Welsh, are better known in Ireland as Irish, than they are known in Wales as Welsh tunes. It would be strange indeed if none of our innumerable airs in this time had never passed into England or Wales, and become naturalized in those countries, as many of our airs in other measures certainly have ; and there being so few of them claimed in either, can only, perhaps, be accounted for by the assumption, that their lively character was alien to the musical sensation of the Teutonic and Cimbric races in those countries.
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91H BU21C21JLL C210MMIB. CjjB IMflllt &\At $or;.
It is a strange circumstance, and one which may strikingly show how imperfectly our melodies have been hitherto collected, that the air commonly called the BuachaiU Caol Dubh has escaped the notice of former collectors, as there is not, perhaps, in the whole range of Irish melody an air more generally known throughout Ireland, or one more admired for its flowing- beauty. I have myself heard it sung in each of the four pro- vinces ; but it is in Munster — to which it properly belongs — that it is best known and most esteemed, being', as my friend Mr. Curry tells me, there ranked as one of the finest tunes they possess, if not the very finest one : and I confess that in this opinion I fa 1
20 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
strongly disposed to concur. Of an air so extensively disseminated, and — as usual in such .cases — sung- to words differing in character in the various localities where it is known, it should naturally be expected that there would be a great diversity in the forms which it would assume ; and such I have found to be the fact. So great indeed are those vari- eties, that, except in the essential notes and general structure, they have often so little else in common, that the native of one province would, probably, iind it difficult to recog- nise this popular melody in the form which it has assumed as sung by the native of another. In such instances, therefore, it will be often difficult to determine which version of a melody is the most correct one ; for, though a knowledge of the structure of Irish tunes, and an acquaintance with the words sung to them, will determine the true rhythm and accents, still their general sentiment, and the choice of their less important notes, can be determined only by the taste and judgment; and hence, the set of a tune which to one will seem the best, will not be deemed so by another.
From these considerations, I have not limited myself to the one set of this melody which appears to me the most pleasing, but have selected, from some forty or fifty settings of the air in my possession, three versions which appear to me to be the best amongst them, and to contain the most marked varieties of cadence which they present, except such as are not obviously of a vulgar and erroneous nature ; so that others can determine for themselves their relative degrees of truthfulness and beauty. Of these sets, the first and second were obtained in Munster, and are, consequently, the most likely to be the best, as they certainly appear to me the most beautiful : and when I state that they were given to me by my lamented friend, the late Thomas Davis, they will, with many, derive an additional interest from that fact. The third set was taken down by myself from the singing of the late Patrick Coneely, the Galway piper; and it may, perhaps, be regarded as the Connaught version of the air, in which province it is generally known by the name of Cassiodech Ban, or "White Cassidy," from a song so called to which it has been united.
It is greatly to be regretted that the old words sung to this beautiful melod}T are lost, or at least have not hitherto been recovered ; as the various songs now sung to it — and they are numerous — are quite unworthy of being associated with such a fine melody. The best of these songs which Mr. Curry has met with is one composed about the year 1760, by John O'Seanachain — or, as the name is now Anglicised, Shannon — a native of Tulla, his ancestral patrimony, in the county of Clare. O'Seanachain had received some education, and was endowed with a rich vein of native humour and plaj'ful fancy; but these qualities were unhappily blended with such an eccentricity of character, as to acquire for him the soubriquet of Seaan Aerach — Airy John — or, in colloquial English, Flighty Jack. Leaving his native county, he crossed the Shannon to Glin, in the county of Limerick, Avhere he became the guest and follower of the hospitable Knig'ht of the Valley, Thomas Fitzgerald, on whom, and on whose children, he composed many pleasing rhymes in his native language, which are still preserved. His words to the Buachaill Caol Dubh are characteristic of the qualities of his mind, and, as we may well suppose, indicative of their effects upon his course of life. Adopting a fancy suggested by the old name of this beautiful love-tune, or perhaps of its original words, he alleg'orizes as the Black Slender Youth, the whiskey-bottle which had been the cause of all his misfortunes, and from which he has not still the power to separate himself. But, as an example of
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
21
the metrical structure of these words, and their agreement with the melody, I shall let the poet speak in a stanza or two, in his own tongue : —
'NvAlfl CéjrT) ATI AOT)AC
21 ceAT)T)AC éAbATj;, )X b]ox)t) at) élftoeir
2Í3ATT) ATT) lA]TT),
S|T)eT)r) cAob liorrj 2lr) bvACAlll CAol-bvó, 'S bO CVIft A CAol CTtob JfCeAC ATT) IaTTT):
3o TT)-bjrr) ATT) e^cojTjr;,
5aU pY1T)T) bATT) Céjll
)X TT)fe Af CeAT)T) AT) clAJft, 21 b|ol T)A T)-&]leATT) <Do b|OT)T) ATT) Céf AÓ,
SeAcc it)] 3AT) léjoe,
'SaT) JTVACC ATT) CTIA&.
<Do cAfAÓ 2loibell,
Na CriAise Léice otiaitjt;,
2l3AbÁil t)a rMse ;
'S bo 5A]b lion) bai3, jr bvbA]Tic bA n-3&illeA6
2lt) bvACAlll CAol-bvb, 5<5 b-CAbATtfA& céb peAti
<t)Ó fVAf ATT) A]C : <Do lAbAITl AT) CA0l-peA|t 3o 30T)CA 5éA]t lé,
)f bYt3Ai|tc T)A CTté|3^eA&
21 CAtftib 5T)Aic ; "5y\i fivbA^l x'e ^l^e Cjt& co]llce Tf ]t&]bci3, te cytt)at)T) cléiBe,
)X 1© feATtc, att) 66*13.
When I go to the fair To buy me some clothes, And I have the earnest
In my hand, Up struts beside me The Black Slender Boy, And puts his slender hand
Within my hand : In a short time after I am a maniac,
Without a particle of my senses,
Over the board, Paying the demands Which ever teaze me, Seven months without a shirt,
And the cold freezing me.
We met Aoibhell,* Of Craig Leith, A going the way ;
And she took my part, And said, if the Black Slender Boy Would resign me,
She would give him an hundred men
Up in my place : Spoke the slender man Cuttingly and sharply to her, And said that he would not forsake
His constant friend ; That he had traversed Erinn Through forests and plains, With heartfelt love
And affection, after me.
This is enough, and, perhaps, too much. The song- called Cassidcch Ban, or u White Cassidy," which is sung to the Buachaill Caol Dubh in the province of Connaught, is still less appropriate to the sentiment of the melody, and is, moreover, of such a nature as will not allow even a specimen of it to be translated.
• Aoibhell of Craig Liath, according to the Munster Legends, was the guardian Fairy Queen, or Bean-sidhe ( Banshee), of Thomond, but more particularly of the O'Brien family. She appeared to Brian Boru on the battle-field of Clontarf, and informed him of the fate of the battle and his death. She appeared also to Dubhlaing O'Hartagain, a famous warrior of the Dalc;i- on the night before the battle, and as she could not dissuade him from going to the fight, where he was destined to meet his death, she gave him an enchanted cloak which, as long as he wore it, would render his person invisible. Dubhlaing, or Dulaing, went to the battle on the next day with the cloak on, and took his usual stand at the back of Morogh, the son of Brian ; and, when the battle raged, Morogh, surprized that he could not see his faithful back-man, soon cried out that he coalJ hear Dulaing's heavy blows, but could not see him. Dulaing, overhearing this, said, that he would never wear any disgui*e that prevented Morogh from witnessing the faithful discharge of his duty towards him. He threw off the cloak, and was shortly after slain by the Danish warriors. Craig Liath, or the Grey Crag, the residence of Aoibhell, is a remarkable rocky hill overhanging the Shannon, about a mile and a half above Kilaloe, on the Clare side — See Battle of Clonhrf, Ir. MS
G
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
23
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24
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IKELAND.
215 21N 2Q-BójtHjM Btrj<be. at tji* f rllnm littl* Ennii.
The following- melody, tog-ether with the Irish words still sung to it, was noted down during the present jTear from the singing- of Teig-e Mac Mahon, a county of Clare pea- sant, now unhappily blind and pauperised, but whose memory is still a rich depository of the fine tunes of his native county. The words have but slender merit ; but, as a peasant composition, they are not wanting- in delicacy of feeling : and though apparently of no great antiquity, yet, as an example of a metrical structure very common in Irish lyrics, they have appeared to me not unworthy of preservation, and I have endeavoured to convey their sense in an English rhythmical translation of similar structure and as closely literal as perhaps the different idioms of the languages will allow.
2I5 At) rrj-bóicriÍT) bvjbe 21cA ]irt) nx> cTtofbe, 'M a lv|Óe Aft leAbAint) 'oa Jj-AOrjAfi ; Ttvfbe ÓÁ blAO], 2t)A|t óji bvjóe Ai) rrjs,
í)0 rCA]peAr AT) &JIVCC bo '0 ^éjt 5IA1-.
"peAjt bo Cbloitrr) Ca]&5 tne, Bbí°r &ív coiti)&eAcc,
'S TT)é A T>5AlATt AT) bAlf bA b-éA3tT»Air I 'S A CVrt)A1T)T) 3eAl A fCOTt,
Ma bjoÓ OTicrA bftór), 2I5 y]x) bvACA]U beAr 05 Ab bftéA5AÓ.
At the yellow boreen
Is my heart's secret queen, Alone on her soft bed a-sleeping ;
Each tress of her hair,
Than the king's gold more fair, The dew from the grass might be sweeping.
I'm a man of Teige's race,
Who has watch' d her fair face, And away from her, ever I'm sighing : —
And oh ! my heart's store,
Be not griev'd evermore, That for you a young man should be dying.
b-^Ai3|nT)-ri rrjo rivti,
<t>0 ÓéATrpAltTT) 6] CYSTIC,
Ba beffe bA 'ft bvbjtAb a t)-B|H|t;t);
J r bo be]c A|ce at) bATift,
Cbojóce 'r 30 bTiAc, O feAftAiB ir ó rt)i)Aib A]t ^§|le.
2t)vft Ar Ab bftollAc 5eAl bAt),
'Ca folvf 5AC I A, Jr t)| Ai|trr)irn-ri cIati 3eAl c'éAOA|ti ;
j[* bA b-fréAbAitrtr a riAÓ
OyV- cvrA rno 3]tAó MjoTt b' eA3Uc rt)é ati 6a]1 At) é*3A.
Should my love with me come,
I would build her a home, The finest e'er told of in Erinn ;
And 'tis then she would shine,
And her fame ne'er decline, For bounty, o'er all the palm bearing.
For in your bosom bright,
Shines the pure sunny light, As in your smooth brow, graceful ever ;
And oh ! — could I say
You're my own, — from this day Death's contest should frighten me never.
With respect to the melody to which these words have been united, I should, perhaps, remark, that it appears to me to be a good example, both in its structure and in its tone of sentiment, of a class of tunes which are very abundant in the county of Qlare, and which, to some extent at'least, may be considered as peculiar to the ancient territory of Thomond. They are usually of that compound structure known as six-eight measure, have an animated movement, and, even when blended with cadences of tenderness or sorrow, breathe a manly buoyancy of spirits, in a high degree characteristic of a vigorous race, and such as it might be expected would emanate from, and be expressive of, the feelings of the great warlike and unconquered tribe of the Dal-Cais.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
2.",
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26 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
rev® m ojKj^t). <&)p flmiglnniufs Bfyfetl*.
Amongst the numerous classes of melodies which a people so music-loving" as the Irish invented, to lighten the labour and beguile the hours devoted to their various occupations, there is, perhaps, no one of higher interest, and certainly no one that I have listened to with a deeper emotion, than that class of simple, wild, and solemn strains, which the ploughman whistles in the field, to soothe or excite the spirits of the toiling animals he guides, as well as to fill his own ear with sounds expressive of peaceful and solemn thoughts. The accompanying songs of the birds are scarcely so pregnant with sentiment, — so touching to a sensitive human soul ; and it would be difficult, if not impossible, for a mind not closed to the sense of beauty, to hear such strains without feeling a glow of admiration for the character of a people amongst whom, whatever may be the faults en- gendered by untoward circumstances, the primeval susceptibility to the impressions of melody was yet, despite of all destructive influences, so generally retained ; and which susceptibility has preserved to us so many indigenous airs, which, in their fitness for the purposes for which they were employed, no mere intellectual art could rival.
Of the airs of this class, however, we have had, unfortunately, but two specimens hitherto preserved, — unfortunately, as I say ; because, from the changes now in pro- gress amongst the agricultural classes in Ireland — in a great degree the consequences of the calamities of recent years — such airs are now rarely or never to be heard ; and, if we would seek for them, it should be in those new-world homes of the Celts, in which, pos- sibly, they may be for a time retained as heart-touching reminiscences of the green fields which their fathers had for so many ages toiled in, and which their sorrows could not make them cease to love.
The first of the two airs to which I have alluded was originally published in 1786, in Mr. Joseph Cooper Walker's " Memoirs of the Irish Bards." It is a plaintive air, of great sweetness and beauty, but very inaccurately noted, as to time, in that work ; and the Editor has neglected to inform us of the locality in which it was procured. In 1821 it was reproduced, with some necessary changes, by our poet Moore, in the eighth number of the Irish Melodies, in which, united to the words u Oh ! ye Dead !" it will be familiar to the reader. And lastly, it has been again published by Mr. Edward Bunting, in that last splendid volume of Irish Melodies which was given to the world in 1840. As arranged, however, by that able musician, the original simple form of the air will hardly be recognized, the time being changed from common to triple j and its refined sen- timent is sadly obscured, if not altogether lost, by an attempt to convey the bird-like kind of warbling, which Mr. Bunting deemed characteristic of the Irish whistler. Had he heard it whistled, and not — as he states in his Index — played by a harper, he would hardly have fallen into an error so egregious.
The second published example of these airs is also given in Mr. Bunting's last volume of Irish music, the melod}' having been communicated to that gentleman by the writer of this work, by whom it was set in the summer of 1821, at Doon, in the King's County, while on a visit to its most estimable proprietor, the late Thomas Enright Mooney, Esq. The whistler was an aged man, who had been from his }-outh a ploughman in the service of that gentleman's family, and who had learned it from the whistling of his father and
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND. 27
/
grandfather, who had been ploughmen on the same estate ; so that it may be properly ranked as the Ploughman's Whistle of that county. In Mr. Buntings arrangement of this air, he has taken the same liberties as with that taken from "Walker's Memoirs — namely, he has endeavoured to imitate what he supposed, but most erroneously, the manner in which it had been whistled ; and he has changed the time from common — that is, two- .fovr, or six-eight — to triple time. In this, however, as in the former instance, the change of time is erroneous ; and, to effect it, he has been obliged to throw into the melody note9 which were not in my setting of it. Had he reflected, that airs of this class should be ranked as a sort of slow-march tunes, he would at once have perceived that, though they might have been suited in triple time to the movement of three-legged animals, they could never have been marched to by animals who were either two or four-legged. And hence, as I conceive, it may be taken as a rule, that all this class of melodies as yet, or hereafter to be, recovered, should be written in common time, or that variety of it having two triplets in a bar, and known as six-eight measure. Further, in connection with these two tunes, it appears to me very desirable to correct some errors into which Mr. Bunting, or his literary assistant, has fallen in the notices given of them. First, in the set of the King's County Whistle, it is called " Queen's County;" and the same error occurs in the index to the English names of the tunes, in which the acknoAvledgment is made that I had given it to him. In the index to the Irish names it is, however, properly named as the " Ploughman's Whistle, King's County." These errors are, indeed, of but little moment ; but those which occur in the literary notices of this, and the other Ploughman's Whistle — though, no doubt, accidental — are of greater consequence, as they are calcu- lated to mislead the reader altogether. He writes : — " xxii. (No. 126 in the collection) ' Feaduidhil an airimh] 'The Ploughman's Whistle.' This curious melody is given in Walker's Memoirs of the Irish Bards ; but, from its being set there in common, instead of triple time, it is difficult to be understood. It is given here as whistled hj the plough- man, and nearly in the acute sounds of the whistler, to imitate which the tune must be played very slowly, and with the utmost expression. The second part bears a strong resemblance to the primitive air sung by the boatmen on the rivers in China, both melo- dies having the same cadence, and the only difference is in the time, the Chinese being in common, and the Irish in triple time. It maybe observed here, that in many instances there is a remarkable coincidence between the Hindostanee airs, published by Bird, and the Irish melodies, proving the strong resemblance which exists amongst the primitive strains of all nations." — p. 96.
Next he writes: — "xxiii. (No. 137 in the collection) 4 Feaduklhil an airimh Condae an High,' 4 Ploughman's Whistle of the King's County/ is of a more plaintive character, having a very melancholy and tender expression. It is considered by the Editor as belonging to the most ancient class of Melodies. It may be performed an octave lower with the best effect ; but as the higher octave, in which it is set, agrees best with the shrill high sound made in whistling, it is arranged accordingly." — lb.
If then, on perusing* these remarks, the curious reader should, as most probably he would, turn to the tunes themselves as directed, he would suppose that the first, No. 12C, was the Ploughman's Whistle as given by Walker, and the second, No. 137, that of the King's County, as given by myself. But this is not the fact, — the air numbered 126 being in reality the Ploughman's Whistle of the King's County, and, vice versa, that
28 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
numbered 137 the one given by Walker. I should also observe that, while I differ wholly with Mr. Bunting1 in some of his observations on these two airs, with others I entirely concur. The coincidence observable between many of the Hindostanee airs and the Irish melodies has often surprised and interested me, and examples of it in the latter will be pointed out to the reader in the course of this work. But I cannot concur in the con- clusion that such coincidences prove "the strong resemblance which exists amongst the primitive strains of all nations." I also agree with Mr. Bunting, that the Ploughman's Whistle of the King's County should be considered as belonging a to the most ancient class of melodies." I believe them to be as ancient as the race of people who introduced into Ireland the use of the plough ; and that their immigration was of a remote era, may be inferred from the fact that plough coulters and socks of stone are not very unfrequently found ; so that, even if such implements should be regarded as but rude imitations, by an uncivilized people, of metallic articles, introduced by a comparatively civilized race, they were, at least, imitations by those who had been the primeval predecessors of the race who had become their instructors. To state all my reasons for this belief would extend this notice to an unreasonable length, and some of them, as resulting from individual feeling, would not, perhaps, be generally understood. Thus, I believe those airs to be of the most remote antiquity, because I perceive and feel in them — in all of them — a like tone of sentiment and perfect similarity of structure to the caoines, or funeral chants, which must, as I believe, have been brought into Ireland by the earliest tribes of people, be they Celtic, as no doubt these were, or Teutonic, as, probably, were some of the later immigrations. And to whichever of these immigrations the introduction of agriculture may be ultimately shown to belong, it must at least have been at a very remote time; and these plough-tunes, as well as the funeral caoines, breathe the very soul of a primitive race, who have been ever remarkable for a singular depth of feeling.
I have been led into these remarks, partly because I wish to incorporate in this work my own notation of the Ploughman's Whistle of the King's County, as I find it written in my note-book, as given below; and partly because I have it in my power to add a few more specimens of the ploughmen's tunes to the two already published.
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
29
The specimen which follows I may call the Ploughman's Whistle of the county of Kil- kenny, as it was from that county it was procured. It was sent to me, tog-ether with mairy other unpublished airs, in the course of the last year, by Mr. James Fog-arty, late of Tibroghney; and it was, as he stated, learnt by him in his boyhood "from the whistling of his grand-uncle, driving* four horses." As an example of this class of melodies, it is remarkable in having* three strains, or periods, of which the last should be played a little faster, and with more animation, than the two others : —
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To the preceding- specimens of the ploug*h tunes I venture to add, in this place, another of perhaps still hig-her interest, as having- been occasionally sung- with words, when the ploughmen and their assistants became somewhat impatient for their call to dinner. The tune annexed, as well as the Irish stanza, was noted down from the whistling of Teige Mac Mahon, a county Clare peasant; and the interesting* notice of the words which follows was given me by Mr. Curry, who had become familiar both with the melody and words in early youth : —
" To understand fully the meaning of these words, a few remarks are necessary. Down even to our OAvn well-grown boyhood, it was usual in Ireland to have three men engaged at the plough with the one set of four or six horses. One man (JomíujAióe) drove the horses, at their head; another, called the Tailsman (2li|te<\Ti)), stood in the fork, to guide and manage the plough; and the third man (C^on^t) vety) leaned on the head of the plough with a crutch — which was called the Third-man's stick — to keep it down ; as the tendency of the short chain of the hinder horses was to pull it up. It was the Tailsman that delivered the above charge to his fellows, — first to the driver, to behave either kindly or unkindly to the horses, as the hospitality or the churlishness of the employer might deserve ; and, secondly, to the Third-man, — as the man who leaned on the crutch was called, — desiring him to take his crutch out of the socket at the head of the plough, to put his foot in its place, and look up to see if their dinner was coming. W hen the house- wife of the emplo}Ter happened to be a careless woman who delayed the dinner and perhaps supplied it scantily, the Third-man gave a very unfavourable account of the prospect of i
»
30
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
the coming- repast, and so at intervals the strain would he thus repeated — the Tailsman singing- and addressing the driver, and the Third-man speaking : —
Bjtob if bvAil if c]ort)&]T),
taiJtÍT) TIYA6 TjA bftOC tT)t)A,
Coy aji at) 5-céAcc, a CbortjAjf,
Jf péAc ad b-p-jl Ari D-oínéri A5 ceAcc. 'T><\ fé 6a brA^T).
Br»o& ir bvA]l ir qornAiri, &c.
'Ca fé 6 a DYaIaÓ.
BflOb 1f bvA^l If C|OtT)A|1}, &C.
'T>'& fé 6a caic6a6.
B|to& if bvAjl ir cioroívir), &c.
'Ca f& 6a ctiva6a6.
BflOfc Jf bvA]l If CjOtTJAlr), &c.
"Civ ré 6a ri)e]lc.
Briob if bvAil if ciort)Airj, &c.
'Cíx fé 6a criiACftA&.
Bft°& If bvAil if cjornAit}, &c
'Ca fé 6a flvi^e.
B[tOO If bYAll If ClOrtJAlT), &c.
fé 6a iitjAiTje. Bfiot) ^ bvAil if qornAit}, &C. 'Ca fé AceACC. l)ób, a if cion^i?,
LAIftít) TIYA0 t)A &eA5-TÍ)T)A, Scvjfi 1)A CApA^U, A "CboTTJAIf, 2Í0O1f 'CA Aft T>-6jr)éTl AC6ACC.
Tails-man. — Goad, and strike, and drive,
The bad woman's little brown mare ; Put your foot on the plough, 0 Thomas, And see if our dinner is coming. Third Man. — It [i.e., the corn/or it] is a-reaping.
Tails-man. — Goad, and strike, and drive, &c.
Third Man. — It is a-threshing.
Tails-man. — Goad, and strike, and drive, &c.
Third Man. — It is a-winnowing.
Tails-man. — Goad, and strike, and drive, &c.
Third Man. — It is a-drying.
Tails-man. — Goad, and strike, and drive, &c.
Third Man. — It is a-grinding.
Tails-man. — Goad, and strike, and drive, &c.
Third Man. — It is a-sifting.
Tails-man. — Goad, and strike, and drive, &c.
Third Man. — It is a-kneading.
Tails-man. — Goad, and strike, and drive, &c.
Third Man. — It is a-baking.
Tails-man. — Goad, and strike, and drive, &c.
Third Man. — It is a-coming.
Tails-man. — Hób, and Héin,* and drive,
The good woman's little brown mare : Unyoke the horses, 0 Thomas,
NoW that our dinner is coming.
K All then repeat, merrily, these last lines, as a chorus in unison."
It should be observed that these words are sung to the latter half of the melody only, beginning at the fifth bar, the words of the preceding half being but a repetition of the words Hóbo, Jióbobobó, applied as an encouragement to the horses.
• — Pend. 21 inches
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* Hób and Hein are expressions of endearment and encouragement addressed by drivers or guides to their horses, but some- times have the meaning of off and on the ridge.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND. 31 m Fjuea<b ó ftm 3snt- Cjie Hrfnra frnm /ingnl.
The following" wild and spirited martial air is one of the many ancient march-tunes still traditionally preserved in Ireland, and which are assumed to belong to the great Munster King, Brian Boru, or to his time. It is the tune known among-st the pipers as tt The Return from Fingal," from being" supposed to be the march played, or sung-, by the Munster troops on their return home from the glorious, but dearly-bought, victory at Clontarf, a.d. 1014, — and as expressive of the mixed feelings of sorrow and triumph which had been excited by the result of that conflict. How far this assumption of the remote antiquity of the tune can be relied on, there cannot now, of course, be any evi- dence to determine ) but, from its structure and character, there can be little doubt, at least, of the antiquity of the strain as an Irish march ; and the tradition connected with it should not, perhaps, be too lightly rejected.
It should, perhaps, be remarked, that the pipers now usually play this air without strictly attending" to the minor mode to which it obviously belongs, and so give it a barbarous character, destructive to the air, and with which it would be impossible to combine any harmony of a correct nature. By playing the first part, however, in the major mode, the similarity of the first section to that of Auber's March in La Muette de Portici will be more immediately recognized.
32
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
^nplnr 36nlltó -tar.
The following" air was taken down, about forty years ago, from the singing* of the Dublin ballad-singers, by whom, at that period, it was very commonly applied to the street ballads of the day. I regret that I have long forgotten the name by which it was best known, and, therefore, cannot now identify it with any of the popular ballads of that time.
0 = Pend. 32 inches
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2i sjNéM) tu5 an ciú teat:. <D Stuny, ijnn Ijnnx hnnu anui[ tjrt ^nlra.
The following* air will probably interest the lovers of our national music, as being the original vocal melody on which the popular reel, or dance-tune, known as " Pease upon a Trencher" has, apparently, been formed or founded, and which, in that form, has been used as a song1 and chorus by O'Keefe, in his musical farce of "The Poor Soldier," and by Moore, as a song* in his Irish Melodies, connected with the playful lyric beginning with the words " The Time I've Lost in Wooing." Such adaptation of the older vocal melodies, in slow or moderate time, to the purposes of dance-music — by such changes in time and cadence as would give them the necessary liveliness — is of frequent occurrence, and may be considered as the cause of the sentimental character which pervades so many of our reel and jig tunes, and which renders them easily reconvertible into song-tunes of a more serious nature.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IKELAND. 33
This — as I conceive — original form of the melody was set in the parish of Bannagher, county of Londonderry, in the year 1836, and has never been hitherto published.
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C0F2t)2ic spájM62ic, Mó, 2iM <t>RU2t)2it)ójR. (Tornutr Ipnittrnrlj, nr, frnnimrr.
This tine air will be familiar to many of my readers as one of the Irish tunes first, as far as I am aware, introduced to the English public b}- O'Keeffe, the dramatist, in his once highly popular musical farce of " The Poor Soldier," in which it is sung- to the silly words u Good Morrow to your Nig-htcap." A different and less correct version of the tune — the accents being wholly changed — has also been given by Dr. Arnold in his musical farce of " Peeping- Tom of Coventry;" and this latter version has been seized on as Scottish pro- perty by Mr. George Thompson, of Edinburgh, in whose collection of Scottish Melodies it has been published as harmonized by Haydn, and with words written expressly for it by the poet James Hogg. As, however, this air has not, that I can find, been hitherto incorporated in any of the published collections of our melodies, nor has its name been preserved, or its Irish origin and antiquity established, I have deemed it desirable — in accordance with the plan of this work in such cases — to give it a place in this collection.
This tune is known by the name )y 3o|tcA Cy-sacta, or, "And Hunger to you" — and perhaps b}T many others — in the province of Connaught ; but it is in Minister, to which it owes its origin, that it is best known, and particularly in the counties of Cork and Kerry.
K
34 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
being-, as Mr. Curry finds reason to believe, the elan march of the princely tribe of the Mac Cartli3's; anciently located in those counties. Of the various songs written to it, the best which Mr. Curry has found, and of which I annex a stanza, is a laudatory and warlike one, written for Cormac Mac Carthy Spaineach, of Carrig-na-var, and Tanist of Muscry, in the county of Cork, by Shane Claragh Mac Donnell, a distinguished Irish Jacobite poet, who was a native of Charleville, in the same county, and — according- to Dr. O'Halloran, the historian — died there in the year 1751.
<t>iA t)a b-£eApe a£> cvrn&AC, 3AT) Bprjcecc, jat) bjtóD, 3AT) rfylleAfc, C^ai) a& ceAp le civ c]pc, a rj-bvccAr At) crínnnr1 ri)ó|p ; 21 b-c|5e|ttjAr cpeab 30 cpv-pAc, le ceAnnbpjre cfieóo 5Ant|TT>e, 'Sa piA]t tia Kaut)a c|vri)A|f clvcAjp, cyriipa, coir Iaó) t)a réol ;
3ll*6A1|te 5Afl&AC, 5P1ADOA 3pAÓtT)Ap, IAÓAITJ, Alvjtjt) ]0t)4X()*\f),
3ai) p]Ai) a pA|6ce piasIa, ]y bpACA^p i>plA BlApoAU 5]le rib; 2t)Ap-e n}ApcjiA|ó 2t)vrcftA]3e, at) CvpAj jatj ceó ApA cpje,
J I* CAfipAlX T)A b-KeAp T)A b-p10T)i;lAO]C, T)A CVtT)&A15eAt)t) A lot).
The God of Power protect you from affliction, grief, or injury,
Long as the renowned stem in the patrimony of the great race,
As the chief of troopful tribes to crush the daring foeman,
And to rule the happy Rinn [Ring-Rone] down by the side of Lee ;
A valiant champion, of sbining parts, generous, by all beloved,
To whom reproach from no one comes — the lord of Blarney's kinsman —
The pride of Muscry's heroes — the Curoi \_Mac Daire] of the race untamed —
And of Carrig-na-var, of the brave men who hoarded not their wealth.
In a satirical song" written to this air by Thomas O'Meehan, a poet of the county of Clare, and preserved in a MS. of the year 1780, as well as in a song' on the battle of Car- thag-ena, written by Thomas O'Gleeson, a poet of the county Limerick, the tune is called "Jack the Drummer," by which name — no doubt derived from some popular ballad of the day — it was, as we may assume, best known at that time in Munster. Of this song", however, I have met with no copy, thoug-h it would appear to have been well known throughout the southern counties. But, with a setting of the melody sent to me by Mr. James Fogarty, late of Tibroghney, in the county of Kilkenny, he gives the following notice of Irish words there sung* to it, which may possibly be a version of those entitled " Jack the Drummer" by the Munster poets. Mr. Fogarty writes thus : — " This is an Irish song', in which is carried on a dialogue, verse for verse, between a big-drummer and a farmer's daughter to whom he paid courtship. The drummer complains of her coldness, and with bitterness expresses a hope that she may become the wife of a rake, who will treat her with unkindness and neglect. But she replies, that her choice shall be a tine hearty fellow, who will carry her to church on horseback, seated on a pillion behind him, whilst his poor girl will have to trudge there through puddle up to her knees, and he before her violently beating his drum." Be this, however, as it may, the two following- stanzas, which have been recently obtained from Teige Mac Mahon, the Clare peasant, are obviously a portion, however varied, of the song sung to this air in Kilkenny, according to Mr. Fogarty : —
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
35
'Sa C4.]l]T) beAf, 1)A 3-COCAt) CA|*, Mac pql rt)óó i)A bAC tja 3|téir>e OjtC, 2it) b-qcp A lion? bo'i? cijt óóeAr,
21 *íéACA|0 fCAl bA'fX T)-3AOlcA.
T/V3 tt)é 5|tív6 '5V|* cA'ctjeATÍ) Óv|c f |Of bo'u c-|*ao3aI bft§A3<\c, 2t)<xjt fv]l '1*30 b-qcpA a bAjle l*ori7, 'S 30 tt)'-be|ceA '5ATtj n)A]t cé]le.
'Sa &btmi)Abói]t CAb cYjcceAji óvjc Mac ReAt)A3Ab 'rAt) qjt cv, 'Sdí b-é fjt) Af tt)éAr \\om,
2lcC T)A peAbAJt Tt)é Cé'ft bjob CV.
<t)o cpoiceAW 3AbAi]i bA 3|teAbA '3AC,
2lf olc At) b" At) bO ri)')AO* &
2I5 ^vbAl tja ro-bóiérie ^AbA teAc, Jr Iacac vjrtrie if -vjobvl.
0 pretty girl of the curling locks,
On whom the colour or hue of the sun is not, Will you come with me to the southern country, To visit for a while our relations ?
1 have given you love and affection Unknown to this false world,
In hope that you would come with me, And that you would be mine as my wife.
And 0, Drummer-man, what think you ! Are you not a Renegade in this country ? And this even is not what I think worst of, But that I know not what family you are of. Your goat-skin, a-beating by you, It is bad feeding for a wife Walking the long road after you, Bemired with mud and puddle.
It should be remarked that the words adapted to this air by Mac Donnell and O'Meehan require a repetition of the firet strain, and also a return to that strain as a conclusion. But such repetitions, by causing* the first strain to be played three times in succession, while the second strain would be played but once, would obviously soon fatigue the ear, and be at variance with the universal usage in, at least, all old march-tunes.
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30 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
2iM chm t>Koj5e2iMM éjue. Cjj* Ularktljiirti €m mitjr a Cjmttg.
The following* air — which appears to be the orig-inal form of the tune called " The Old Head of Denis/' to which Moore wrote his beautiful song on " The Meeting of the Waters" — is one of many sweet melodies which I noted down from the singing of Biddy Monaghan — of whom I have already spoken at page 7 — while on a visit to my friend Mr. R. Chambers Walker, Q.C., in the summer of 1837, at his seat, Rathcarrick, county of Sligo. I regret, however, to add, that I have forgotten the name by which the air was known in that county, and I have therefore given it that by which Mr. Curry tells me it is now generally known throughout Munster, both as a song-tune and as a jig. The song which has given it the above name in Munster was written by Owen Roe O'Sullivan, whom I have already mentioned as a scholar and Irish poet of some eminence, and who died from the effects of reckless dissipation about the 3rear 1785 ; but of this song Mr. Curry only remembers the three following stanzas.
Mí rUicít) B03 bAéc, da 3&A3 bot) cv|let)t) car cyaji,
'éj A3ATTH-A £é|T), ACC 3léAf TOO CYir>31ce fTAf ;
2Co catja &|tó|5eA0r» &lUe, bj ébtTiOTD iweAllcA ctiyai&, <Do 50j&eAÓ óro' CAéb-rA An aodac TMaca nYA'b.
<Do cyj n)*-re at) r3Í")le y& cvjóce óotica, 6Yb, O'n 2tMlAc bot) Scjvjb 'ri)í b]T)T)ri y&\&c i)A ?1\yc : «t)<\ óoitice ad o\bce 'ro'i) Ti-bTiojgeAT) bjoó t-oIyt- A3ATT), 'St)A cTieib^iw ó'x) fA05Al T)Ac rojllre xt)«.\ar)e b|o6 \\oxt).
•Do f |YblA1T)T>fl CO^Uce, TTJAI^Tje, CAC]tACA, 'f CT)U]C,
Ó Catica15 30 h-9i]8ve, 'r 6 LaiJitj 30 «Dait^cat) ati nuiin; 3at) rSltlps Art)' AbA^Ttc, 3AT) T-e]bn) A]t cAiTt]b tja'ti CtjOT), )X le b-eA5U at) &]to]5iT)T), bo 5eibii)t)-ri cottjctiotd it* cup.
In the following versification of these stanzas I have endeavoured to give a correct idea of their metrical structure, without any departure from their literal sense.
'Twas no soft silly switch, nor a twig of knobb'd holly so short, That I myself had, but one that would give me support — My blackthorn cane with a thong, light ready and true, Was stolen from my side at the fair of Tullacha rue.
This ramble I made on a night that was dusky and black, From Mullach to Screeb, without drizzle or dust on my back : Tho' dark was the night, yet my blackthorn gave me such light, That I would not believe the world but 'twas morning bright.
Through ports, plains, and cities, I soon would track out my way, From Cork into Aidhne, from Leinster to Dingle Bay ; Without claim to regard, — or even a groat in my horn, Yet good cheer I'd- receive from fear of my trusty blackthorn.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
37
Many other songs have been written to this air in the South of Ireland, and amongst them one of considerable merit by John Fitzgerald, son of the Knight of Glin, on Mary, the daughter of O'Connor Kerry, about the year 1670.
P zzPend. 32 inches.
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T3\ 2DO S21 21H 21N 2U32UNN.
3$ij ínn is tqnra tjre Hinrr.
This beautiful and, as I believe, most ancient melody, is another of the many fine tunes communicated to me by Mr. James Fogarty, late of Tibroghney, of whom — as a contributor to this work, of many valuable melodies, which, most probably, but for him, would have been for ever lost — I have already more than once had occasion to make mention. Of the Irish song usually sung to it during the last century, Mr. Fogarty, unfortunately, could give me but the following stanza. a It was," as he writes, ee a beautiful love-song for a person crossing the seas," and, as he believed, " it was also political," — that is, in other words, J acobite ; for this guise of a love-song put on to conceal treason — and which has been so skilfully adopted by Moore in some of his finest lyrics — was an ordinary one amongst the Irish, as well as the Scotch, immediately after the Revolution. This stanza is, however, valuable, as, most probably, preserving the original, or at least the more ancient name of the melody; and, also, as preserving' the words of the incongruous chorus tacked to it, no doubt from some other song, and which had obviously suggested to O'Keefe his popular song known as " The Cruiskeen Lawn."
i)o 3|tívó-r^ A|t at) aBaiut), )X é 6a IvAfCAÓ o cow 50 torvti; Ctiadt) 5<\t) bvjlle Af a ce&vv, 1f 3* b'Ail leATt) 5tií\6ír) ati F|AjtAT) at;t).
OUrrJAOjt) at) CTiviT-qt) h]o6 ré Iaij,
ÓIatT)<X01& AT) CflV|T-CÍT> l&T), IAT), IAT),
ÓlATT)AOlb AT) CJlY|fCft),
SlATVCe geAl Tt)0 TT)>1TIT)ÍT), S'Af CYIT)A llOrt? A CVjljT) &vb T)6 b*M)
L
My Love is upon the river,
And lie a rocking from wave to wave ;
A tree without foliage over his head,
And what does my love want a straying there ?
Let us drink the cruiskeen, and let it be full ;
Let us drink the cruiskeen, — full, full, full ! Let us drink the cruiskeen, The bright health of my mimical,
And I care not if her cuilin be black or white.
>
38
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
39
Mtj Wximu .— % ^lanihj (D'Carnlnn.
Among the numerous Planxties of Carolan's still presented, there are many of gTeater playfulness, spirit, and more graceful melody than the following-, but there is scarcely one more thoroughly Irish in its structure and tone of sentiment. In this we have no inequalities in the time of the parts ; and none of the ambitious, wandering, imitations of the Italian gigas, so common in his compositions of this class. From the name of this tune, we may assume that it was composed during Carolan's sojourn in the southern counties — which was apparently before the }'ear 1720 — as I do not find that any of the Wrixon family had property out of the county of Cork, where the name of its repre- sentative has now merged into that of Wrixon Beecher, and has received a more lasting lustre from the genius of the present Lady Wrixon Beecher than any it was in the power of the Irish minstrel to confer upon her distant predecessor. Of Carolan's " Lad}' Wrixon" I have found no account ; but she appears, pretty certainly, to have been the wife of Benjamin Wrixon, Esq., of Ballygibblin, the head of the Wrixon family, and ancestor to Sir W. Wrixon Beecher. This Benjamin Wrixon was the elder of four brothers, and the most considerable personage of the name. He died about 1733.
The tune has been taken from that very rare publication of Carolan's compositions, pub- lished by O'Neill, of Christ Church Yard, Dublin, about thej-ear 1721: and as it has never received a place in any of the subsequent general publications of Irish tunes, I have deemed it desirable to reproduce it in this work in the hope of giving it a permanent existence.
40
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
2t)21)Re M) 2t)2lCe21<t>2i.
My acquisition of the following* melody, as in so many instances already noticed, was the result of an accident, but for which it would most probably have perished, with many others of greater excellence. It is one of many tunes noted down about forty years since, from the singing1 of a now aged lady — a near connexion of my own — those airs having1 been learned in her child-days from the singing of an old woman, who was frequently brought in to assist in washing" in her father's house. And as those tunes had been similarly learned by the washerwoman in her youth, an antiquity of nearly two centuries may fairly be assigned to them, with the probability of a far more remote origin. The singer — who was named Betty Skillin — was one of those characters that would not, perhaps, have been easily discovered out of Ireland. A nearly illiterate peasant girl, but possessed of singular beauty and a very sensitive nature, she had been led from the path of virtue in her youth, and became the mistress of the ancestor of the noble family of Blessington — the celebrated Luke Gardiner, who died at Bath in July, 1753. But, though supported in splendour and treated with a devoted affection, she was not happy ; she sig'hed to be an honest woman, and became so as the wife of one of her own chairmen. She had a fine voice, and was a passionate lover of the airs she had learned in her childhood, and which she never ceased singing while employed at her humble occupation.
Of the song- sung- by her to this air — which was a dogg-rel ballad one — I have only obtained the following half stanza, which was sung- to the second strain of the melody.
Molly's mild, modest, kind, chaste, divine, — a beauteous maid, Humble, meek, soft, discreet, it is by her my heart's betray'd.
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
41
láu béoóa fail 31ÍDB.
This tune — together with many others — was obtained through the kindness of a friend from a neatly written MS. music-book of the middle of the last century, which contained about three hundred of the dance tunes at that period apparently the most popular amongst the higher classes of society in Ireland. In its style it exhibits an affinity to that of the Jigs and Planxties of Carolan, rather than to that of the older and more purely Irish dance music of the country ; and it may fairly, perhaps, be regarded as a composition of that great com- poser's time, if not, as possible, one of his own numerous productions. For it is certain that, amongst the, as yet, unedited melodies of Ireland, there are a great number, and par- ticularly of the lively class of airs, that should obviously be attributed to Carolan's prolific genius ; while, on the other hand, there have been many airs of a tender and sentimental character ascribed to him without reason, as they can be proved to be compositions of a much earlier period.
M
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
COIS CUQ1N TilU$00RNa.
The beautiful shore of the barony of Mourne, in the county of Down, has suggested a theme to more than one peasant English ballad-writer, and, consequently, given a name to several of our melodies to which they have been adapted. Of these melodies, the following — which is, perhaps, one of the most pleasing — was, with many other beautiful airs, noted down from the singing of the late Mr. J oseph Hughes, of the Bank of Ireland, who had learned them while a boy in his native county of Cavan, and preserved them in his memory during life with an undhninishable affection.
Of the ballad words which he sang to it I have retained no recollection ; and the older Irish name of the melody I have never been able to discover.
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as cRua$ son peaca an riiaom ajam. 3 mts{j tju iijfcjiEra's |5rí mm mini.
The following playful melody, with its words, was obtained in the course of the summer of 1853 from the blind county of Clare peasant, Teige MacMahon, already spoken of. The words, though of no high poetic merit, are not without interest, from their natural simpli- city, and as an illustration of the thoughts of Irish peasant life.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
48
Qp qiua$ 3cm peaca 'n riiaoip 05am, Qp cpuag jan peaca 'n riiaoip 050111, Op cpuaj; jan peaca 'n riiaoip 05am,
'Sna caoipe beasa bdna. lp 6 50ipim, soipim cu, lp 5pdó mo cpóióe jan ceils cu, lp 6 goipim, joipim cti,
Qp cu peaca beaj 00 riidcap.
Op cpuag gan bólacc baine 05am, Qp cpuag jan bólacc bame 050111, Qp cpua§ 5an bólacc bame 05am,
lp Cáicín 6 no mdcaip. lp 6 joipitTi, joipim cú, lp 5pdó mo cpfiióe jan ceilj cti, lp 6 joipim, goipim cú,
Qp cu peaca jeal t»o riidcap.
I -wish the shepherd's pet were mine, I wish the shepherd's pet were mine, I wish the shepherd's pet were mine,
And her pretty little white sheep. And oh ! I hail, I hail thee, And the love of my heart for ever thou art, And oh ! I hail, I hail thee,
Thou little pet of thy mother.
I wish that scores of kin e were mine, I wish that scores of kine were mine, I wish that scores of kine were mine,
And Katey from her mother. And oh ! I hail, I hail thee, And the love of my heart for ever thou art, And oh ! I hail, I hail thee,
Thou fair pet of thy mother.
The musical reader will perceive that this melody has very much the character of a reel tune, and, with its time quickened, it is used as such in the county of Clare.
0 ---- Pend. 30 inches
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
O'imcij mo $Ráó— 'cd mo óRoióe ceiNN. My tmt Ijns gnni — mtj 33wirt is mn.
The very pleasing melody which follows is one of those obtained from the county of Mayo, through the kindness of Mr. P. J. O'Reilly, of AVestport, and for which I have already ex- pressed my grateful acknowledgment in connexion with the beautiful air JSfi Threigjidh wo ghradh go deoidh me, or, "My Love will ne'er forsake me," given at page 18. Of the words sung to it I have no remark to offer, as they have not been transmitted to me. But in refe- rence to the melody, it should, perhaps, be observed, that its construction is, like many others from the same locality, somewhat peculiar, particularly in the second strain or part, which commences like a repetition or variation of the corresponding phrase of the first part, but, in the phrase following, surprises the ear by a graceful progression into the relative minor, and then returns, by a skilful transition in the succeeding phrase, to the usual close, as found in the first part.
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
45
an cailÍN bÓM. Cjre /cir tóirl.
This beautiful melody was noted down, in the summer of 1839, from the singing of the late Patrick Coneely, a Galway piper of more than average ability, whose memory was richly stored with the unpublished music of his country, and of whom I gave some account in the "Irish Penny Journal" for the year 1840. Of the words which Coneely sang to it — an Irish love-song — I neglected, unfortunately, at the time, to secure a copy, and I have never since been able to obtain one. It is probable, indeed, that both the song and air, which were learnt by Coneely from the singing of his father and grandfather, were only known amongst the peasantry of the mountain districts of Galway and Mayo, as I have never been able to trace a familiarity with either in any other part of Ireland.
The Cailin Ban may be regarded as a good specimen of a large class of melodies most peculiarly Irish in their construction and general character ; as, with the exception of Harry Carey's air of " Sally in our Alley," I have not found, amongst the old melodies of England, Wales, or lowland Scotland, a single air having similar features. In a general way, these melodies may, perhaps, be described as of a narrative, or excited discoursing character, — animated and energetic in their movement, yet marked with earnest tenderness and impassioned sentiment, — more or less tinged with sadness, yet rarely, if ever, as in the Caoines, sinking into tones of extreme or despairing melancholy. They are, in short, pre-eminently the love melodies of the Irish, giving " a very echo to the seat where love is throned," and bringing before us, more vividly than is done by any other class of our airs, those characteristics of the music of Ireland which excited the admiration of Giraldus Cam- brensis, and of which he has given us so admirable an account.
These melodies are all in triple or three-four time, and consist of two parts, or strains, of eight bars each, and the same number of phrases, divided into two sections. Of these sec- tions the second of the first part is, generally, a repetition — sometimes, however, slightly modified — of the section preceding ; and the second section of the second part is usually a repetition of the second section of the first part — sometimes also modified in the first, or even the first and second phrases — but, as usual in all Irish melodies, always agreeing with it in its closing cadence.
In their expression of sentiment these melodies are similarly marked by an artful sym- metry in design ; the phrases in the whole of the first strain having, usually, a subdued tone, while those in the first section of the second strain rise into impassioned energy, as ir the singer were excited by harrowing recollections, and then returning, as if exhausted, to their preceding quietness, sink gently down to their final close. Of the class of melodies which I have thus, as I fear, feebly attempted to analyze, I have already given examples in the preceding pages — as in the Cailin Ruadh, p. 3 ; the Cleasaidh fir oig, p. 6 ; the Buachaill caol dubh, pp. 22, 23 — and numerous other examples will be given in the pro- gress of this work.
Referring now to the songs sung to a class of melodies so peculiar in their structure, it will be at once apparent that such songs should exhibit a similar peculiarity, and an equally artful regularity in their rhythmical formation ; and indeed it will scarcely admit of doubt, that it is to this peculiarity of rhythmical structure in the songs that the melodies owe their origin. These songs consist of double stanzas of eight lines each, or sixteen in the whole,
N
46
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
to complete the sense, and thus correspond with the two parts of the melody, and the sixteen phrases of which it is composed. Of these lines, every four correspond to a section of the melody, and consist of three quinto-syllabic lines, having a rhyming agreement in the two last syllables, of which the first must be a long, and the second a short one, or in other words a trochee ; and these are followed by a quarto-syllabic line terminating with an Iambic foot, which must rhyme with the corresponding fourth line of the second section. Such a struc- ture of versification would, obviously, appear to be one of great difficulty, and in the English language the difficulty is almost insurmountable — as the rhymes must be consonantal as well as assonantal ; but in the Irish poetry — as in that of many other ancient languages — in which the rhymes are only assonantal, there is no such difficulty, and consequently it became one of very general adoption, particularly for love-songs. Of the few attempts of our educated poets to compose stanzas of this structure for Irish melodies, Milliken's burlesque ballad of " The Groves of Blarney" may be referred to as an example ; but the best is that called the " Deserter," written by the celebrated John Philpot Curran, a specimen of which will serve to illustrate the preceding remarks : —
" If sadly thinking, And spirits sinking, Could more than drinking
My cares compose, A cure for sorrow From sighs I'd borrow, And hope to-morroAV Might end my woes.
But since in wailing There's nought availing, And fate unfailing
Must strike the blow ; Then for that reason, And for a season, We will be merry
Before we go."
Excellent, however, as this adaptation is, and it sings perfectly to the melody, it will be seen that it is not a perfect example of the Irish structure, as the line preceding the last has no corresponding rhyme.
In the lyrics of our national poet, Moore, we find no example of the adaptation of a stanza of this structure to any of the Irish Melodies, with the peculiar structure and senti- ment of which, in truth, he had a far inferior intimacy than that possessed by the great Irish orator. Indeed Moore appears even to have avoided the selection of melodies of this class as subjects for his Muse ; and in the very few of them to be found in his work — however happy in the expression of their sentiment — he has in every instance failed to convey their proper native rhythm. And in one instance, that of his words to " The Groves of Blar- ney," or, properly, " The young Man's Dream," so well known as " The last Rose of Sum- mer," though he had before him the example of the tolerably correct rhythm of Milliken's song to that air, he did not hesitate to change the accents and character of the melody to suit it to words which could not otherwise be sung to it.
D'imtis sé 'sus t)'imci5 sé. jfo's gtmr, jit's gnnf.
The very pleasing and characteristic melody which follows was obtained in the parish of Dungiven, county of Londonderry, in the summer of 1837 ; and it may, perhaps, be consi- dered as one of the many ancient tunes which had their origin, and are now only to be found, amongst the Irish race in that beautiful county. Its original, or at least its old Gaelic, name is, I fear, irrecoverably lost, as the Irish language has ceased to be a spoken one in that county : and the name which I have given to it above is borrowed from the first
48
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
lines of a local English peasant ballad now sung to it, and to which it probably OAves its preservation. These lines run thus : —
" He's gone, he's gone, young Jamie's gone, Will I never see him more."
To the musical reader who has adopted, or may feel disposed to adopt, the strongly asserted theory of Mr. Bunting as to the grand characteristic of Irish melody — a theory to which I have felt it necessary to express a qualified dissent in the Dissertation prefixed to this work — it may be proper to direct his attention to this melody as an example — and by no means a solitary one — of an air essentially Irish in its construction as in its tone of feel- ing, in which such grand characteristic does not appear. I allude to the positive and em- phatic presence of the tone of the Submediant, or Major Sixth ; of which Mr. Bunting thus speaks : — " The feature which, in truth, distinguishes all Irish melody, whether proper to the defective bagpipe, or suited to the perfect harp, is not the negative omission, but the posi- tive and emphatic presence of a particular tone ; and this tone is that of the Submediant, or Major Sixth, — in other words, the tone of E in the scale of G. This it is that stamps the true Scotic character (for we Irish are the original Scoti) on every bar of the air in which it occurs, so that the moment this tone is heard, we exclaim, ' That is an Irish melody.'" That such tone is indeed a characteristic one, both of Irish and Scottish melodies, I by no means deny ; but I cannot concur with Mr. Bunting that it is an essential, or even the most characteristic feature of a true Irish melody.
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Pend. 13 inches. mm |
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
49
oailÍN a ci$e tíioir. Cjj* (0irl nf fire (tot %vm.
This air, which appears to me to be a very characteristic specimen of the true old Irish jig, is a very popular dance-tune in the counties of Cork, Kerry, and Limerick, in all of which it is considered to be very ancient, and to have been originally used as a march. It is known amongst the Irish-speaking population of these counties, as the Cailin a tighe }fhoir, or, literally, the " Girl of the Great House ;" but in English it is called " The Housekeeper." The set of the air here given has been selected as the truest from a variety of versions of it obtained from those southern counties, and of which three have been communicated to me by Mr. Patrick Joyce, and one by the Rev. Father Walsh, the present kind-hearted old parish priest of Iveragh, in Kerry. Amongst these versions of the tune there are, however, no essential or important differences.
As this tune is the first well-marked example which I have selected for publication of the dance-music of Ireland — a large class of our airs which has received from preceding col- lectors but a very small amount of attention, as if such airs were considered of little value, but which I think of equal interest to those of any other class of our melodies — it appears to me to be desirable that I should offer some remarks, not upon the antiquity of this class of music in Ireland, which will be found treated of in the preliminary Dissertation, but upon the various forms or subdivisions under which the innumerable airs of this class may be ar- ranged, and upon the characteristic features by which they are to be distinguished and de- nominated. I shall also, in connexion with a specimen of each subdivision or varied form of these tunes, offer some descriptive remarks upon the mode in which they were danced, — a subject not hitherto, as I believe, in any way illustrated, and which I should be unable to treat of, but for the kindness of Mr. Patrick Joyce, who has communicated to me his know- ledge of the subject, and whose words I shall in every instance use ; for though his obser- vations, which have been formed on his intimacy with the dances of the Munster peasantry, are applied only to them, they are, as I have every reason to believe, equally applicable to the dances of the other provinces of Ireland.
The dance music of Ireland may then be described as of several kinds, of which the principal are, — the common, or "double jig;" the "single jig;" the "hop jig;" the "reel;" the " hornpipe ;" " set dances," of different kinds ; and various " country dances." Of these dances I shall at present only notice the common, or " double jig," of which the tune that follows is an example.
The common, or " double jig," is a dance tune in six-eight time, usually consisting of two parts of eight measures each, each of these measures usually presenting two quaver triplets throughout the tune, and each part being always played twice. In these general features, this most common variety of our dance tunes only differs from the great majority of the old clan marches in the somewhat greater rapidity of time in which they are gene- rally performed ; and I have already expressed my conviction, that very many of these common jigs were originally marches, and were anciently used for both purposes ; but on this point the reader will find more in the preliminary Dissertation.
" The common, or 'double' jig," as Mr. Joyce writes, '4s generally danced by either four or two persons, but the number is not limited. The dance to this, as well as to every other kind of dance-tune, consists of a succession of distinct movements called ' steps,' each o
50
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND
of which is usually continued or repeated during either four or eight bars of the tune. Every step is danced at least twice in succession, first with the right foot, and after with the left. If the step extend to four bars, or measures, only, it is danced twice with each foot, in order to extend it over the whole of one part of the tune played twice. Every 'step' has corres- ponding to it what is called its ' double step,' or ' double,' or ' doubling,' that is, another similar step which extends to double the time of the former ; and in relation to this, the original on which the double is founded is called the ' single step.' After a single step has been danced, it is ' doubled ;' that is, its double step is danced immediately after with right and left foot in succession.
"A movement, or as it is called in Munster, a step, is always danced in one place, — a promenade round the room is never called a step.
"All steps are formed by the combination of certain elementary movements, or opera- tions, which have got various names expressive of their character, such as 'grinding,' ' drumming,' ' battering,' ' shuffling,' ' rising,' ' sinking,' ' heel and toe,' &c. A few of the most important of these may be described.
" The dance of the jig always commences with what is called ' the rising step,' in which first the right foot is raised pretty high from the floor, and thrown forward, — then the left, — and lastly the right ; which three movements correspond with the first three bars of the tune, and the fourth bar is finished by either 'grinding' or 'shuffling.' Grinding is performed by striking the floor quickly and dexterously with the toes of each foot alter- nately, six times during a bar, corresponding with the six notes of the two triplets form- ing the bar, and requires much practice from the learner. Grinding, when performed with nailed shoes, is of all the dance steps by far the most wofully destructive to the floor — espe- cially if an earthen one. Instead of grinding, however, shuffling is often substituted, which latter is a lighter movement, and, as its name imports, is performed by giving each foot alternately a kind of light shuffling motion in front of the other.
" After the rising step follow various other steps of a light and skipping kind, and com- paratively easily performed, until a certain stage of the proceedings, when all the. dancers move round the room, while one part of the tune is played, i. e., during the playing of six- teen bars. This movement is commonly called ' halving' the jig, for it usually occurs about the middle of the dance ; and the steps after it are generally of a very different kind from those used before. After halving comes the really hard work, when battering, drumming, and all the other contrivances for making the greatest possible quantity of noise, come into requisition. Battering is of several kinds, according to the kind of tune. In a jig it is called ' double battering,' or simply ' doubling.' This is done by first leaning the whole weight of the body on one foot ; the dancer then hops very slightly with that foot, and throws for- ward the other, drawing it back instantly again, and striking the floor with the ball of the foot twice, — once while moving it forward, and again when drawing it back. Thus the floor is struck three times, and these strokes must correspond with the three quavers forming one of the two triplets in a bar. Frequently this is done twice with one foot and twice with the other, — which corresponds with two musical bars, — and so on to the end of that part of the tune ; but, generally, battering is intimately blended up with various other evolu- tions, and not continued for any length of time by itself. The term ' doubling' has been applied to this kind of battering from the double stroke given by the foot that is thrown forward ; and from this the jig in six-eight time came to be called the ' double jig.'
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
51
" In grinding and battering, the toes only are used. Drumming is performed by both toes and heels, and is, perhaps, the most noisy of all the operations in dancing. In drum- ming, also, the triplets of the jig are timed, and it is sometimes continued for a considerable time, but is more commonly united with other movements.
"The movements I have described under the above names are only a very few out of the number of those in use, — the rest having either no names at all, or names which I never knew. No description can give an idea of the quickness, the dexterity and gracefulness, with which these various movements are performed by a good dancer ; and notwithstanding their great variety and minute complication, scarcely a note in the music is allowed to pass without its corresponding stroke. There are few movements of the human body that re- quire so much skill, dexterity, and muscular action, all combined ; and, for my part, I must confess that I have never seen any exhibition of manly activity that has given me such a sense of pleasure as a double jig danced by a good Munster dancer."
To the preceding remarks of Mr. Joyce I may add, that the jigs of this class are also popularly known, at least in Munster, by the appellation of Moinin (pron. Moneen) jigs, — a term derived from the word Moin, a bog, grassy sod, or green turf, and which, according to Mr. Curry, is also an ancient name for a sporting place, somewhat in the same sense as the English word " turf" is now applied to a race-course : and hence the application of its diminutive, Moinin, to this kind of jig ; because, at the fairs, races, hurling-matches, and other holiday assemblages, it was always danced on the choicest green spot, or Moinin, that could be selected in the neighbourhood.
f
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52
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
b'pecmrc liomsa cunnir son sum 3 mull ratltfr jjnnt a 3#ftiki tnttlmtit a $nmii.
For the following beautiful air, as well as for the preceding, and many other melodies of equal value, I have to express my very grateful acknowledgments to Mr. Patrick Joyce, formerly of Glenasheen, in the county of Limerick, but now of Dublin, — one of the most zealous and judicious of the collectors of Irish music who have voluntarily given me their aid in the prosecution of this work. Like most of the airs in his collection, this tune was procured in Munster, and it very probably belongs to that still singularly musical province. It was learnt by Mr. Joyce from the singing of his brother, Mr. Michael Joyce of Glena- sheen, who had it from his father. Of the Irish song sung to it, Mr. Joyce says that his brother can now only remember the annexed fragment; but the subject of it was a com- parison drawn by a young man between two women, one of them old and ugly, but very rich, — possessed of large herds of cattle, and to whom he was importuned to get married, — the other, a young and blooming girl, but entirely fortuneless ; and he contrasts the riches and ugliness of the former with the poverty and beauty of the latter, whom he finally de- termines to prefer. The fragment above alluded to is as follows : —
Sedcc picic bó bame, 5cm ariiapup, ******* Da peippeac capal bo cpeabcac, Dá peace picic t»onn Opuimpionn 65; b' peapp liompa ainnip gan gúna Na pmipce 00 peariiap caille cpón.
f = Fend. 20 inches.
Seven score milchers, without doubt,
********
Twice six ploughing horses to plough with,
Twice seven score young dun heifers ;
I would rather have a maiden without a gown
Than a stump of a fat, swarthy woman.
I dim.
Andante.
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
53
In reference to the construction of the preceding air, it should, perhaps, be observed, that it is one which characterizes, and is peculiar to, a large class of Gaelic melodies and which may be described as airs in triple time, consisting of two strains, or parts, in each of which there are two sections, and in each of these, again, two extended or irregular phrases. Such melodies, therefore, when written in three-four time — with a view to enable the per- former to mark the time and accents more readily — as in the example above, will have the seemingly irregular number of twelve bars, or measures, in each part ; whereas, if consi- dered as properly in six-four, or nine-eight time, the parts will consist of but four bars in each part, or eight in all, — as in the example of the well-known air of this class called Cailin deas g-cruidadh na mho, or "The pretty Girl milking the Cow," which has been always so written.
Further, with respect to the rhythm of melodies of this class, I may remark that the two phrases in each of their four sections consist in each of three accented, or emphatic notes, each of which is preceded and followed by an unaccented one, with this exception, that every second phrase closes upon the accented note ; or, using the terms of Grecian rhythm, the first phrase of each section consists of three amphibrachs, and the second of two amphibrachs and an Iambus. Hence it follows that the stanza suited to such melodies should consist of eight lines, corresponding to the eight phrases of the tune, the lines alter- nately containing nine and eight syllables, having their accents in accordance with those of the melody ; and as a very happy example of such metrical adaptation of English words to a melody of this class, I may instance Moore's song, " The Valley lay smiling before me," written for the Irish melody of Cailin deas g-cruidadh na mbo, or " The pretty Girl milking the Cow," as above referred to.
Lastly, I would remark, that it appears to me in the highest degree probable that it is to this class of the ancient Irish or Gaelic vocal melodies we should ascribe the ori°in of that class of our dance-tunes, in nine-eight time, popularly known in Munster by the name of " Hop jigs." Such dance-tunes, — as I have already stated in a preceding notice at page 19, — are certainly very peculiar to Ireland ; though I have found an interesting spe- cimen of a dance-tune, very similar in construction, in the Introduction to Wood's recent valuable work, " The Dance Music of Scotland," where it is given, amongst the examples of the old dance-tunes of continental countries, as a " Song for dancing ; of Sarlat, in the ancient province of Perigord, now in the Department of Dordogne, in the south-west of France." It is written in three-four time ; and as an interesting illustration of the preced- ing remarks, I have taken the liberty of inserting it here.
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54 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
o 'bean cm ci$e, Mac suamc esiN. <D Wmnn nf tip 3te, is nnt tjjat ptarat !
If we were disposed to take the widely spread popularity of an Irish tune as an evidence of its antiquity — and we believe that such an inference would, in most cases, be a correct one — the following air might be considered as of no recent origin ; for it has long been a favourite in most, if not all, parts of Ireland. But, be that as it may, it is a melody of considerable interest, as well on account of its strongly marked Irish character, as of the uses to which it was applied by the peasantry of Ireland in troubled times.
To those who have inconsiderately, if not flippantly, expressed an opinion that the melodies of Ireland are wanting in variety of character, — that they are tiresomely uniform in their expression of an unmanly despondency, — or, in more poetic phrase, that they are " the music of a people who had lost their liberty," and so forth — and such opinions are still very generally expressed — this air, as well as numberless others still preserved, may be cited in proof of the fallacy of such hasty assumption. It is true, indeed, that in this, as well as in most of our old lively tunes, whether vocal or instrumental in character, there is a blending of tones not in themselves mirthful or enlivening ; for, as the poet Moore writes, " Even in their liveliest strains we find some melancholy note intrude, — some minor Third or flat Seventh, — which throws its shade as it passes, and makes even mirth interesting." But such tones are only like the judicious touches of dark colour in a bright picture, which, instead of darkening, serve to increase its brilliancy, while they add to its substance and vigour.
Again. To those who value a national melody on account of the historical associations which may appertain to it, this air will possess an interest, independent of any intrinsic merit it may lay claim to, from the fact that it has been chosen by the Whiteboys, and other illegal combinations of the southern peasantry, as their choral song and night march ; and, to men of their temperament, a very inspiring march and song-tune it must have made. And hence, it naturally followed that this melody should have become the medium for the dissemination of a large amount of excitement to disaffection, in the shape of Irish ballad songs, more remarkable for the daring boldness of the feelings they expressed, than for the display of any metrical skill or poetic merit.
Such rude ballads, however, are not without a certain degree of interest, as expressive of the popular mind during periods of its excitement, and their preservation would not be without value to the historian : but, unfortunately, they are now most diflicult to be pro- cured, and particularly those which are the most worthy of preservation, namely, the bal- lads in the Irish language, which were never committed to print, and rarely even to manu- script,— so that they can now only be sought for in the dim and nearly forgotten traditions of the people. Of the many songs of this class which Mr. Curry heard in his youth, he has been only able to remember a few stanzas, and as they are all very much of the same character, the following one will suffice as an example : —
Do cualapa pjéal a n-iap 'pa n-oeap, 5o paib Copcais ód 065 pá 06 '5cm mob, General Hoche ip a claoioeam cinn 6ip, Q5 péióceac an póiO Oo Bonaparte, — G5UP 6 'bean an cige nac puaipc épin !
I have heard news from the "West and the South, That Cork has been burned twice by the mob, General Hoche, with his gold-hilted sword, And he clearing the road for Bonaparte, — And, O woman of the house, is not that pleasant !
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
55
In a melody so generally known in most parts of Ireland, it might naturally be expected that there would exist a great variety of local forms, from amongst which it might he diffi- cult to select any one as the most pleasing or original, and such I have found to be the case. I have, therefore, chosen, as deserving of publication, two notations of the tune, pro- cured from different provinces of Ireland, which embody the most striking differences the melody assumes, — leaving it to the reader to determine their relative merits. The first of these settings may be regarded as the Munster version of the air, as it was noted from the singing of the Clare peasant, Teige Mac Mahon, and corroborated by that of Mr. Curry.
The setting which follows may be regarded as the Connaught form of the air. It was set in that province by a talented musician, the late Mr. William Ford, of Cork, during a tour — made for the purpose of collecting Irish melodies — in the western counties, in the years 1846-7, and has been kindly communicated to me by my valued friend, Mr. John E. Pigot.
56
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
In connexion with the preceding air, I have yet a remark to offer relative to the pecu- liarity of its construction. This peculiarity — which it shares with a class of airs which may be considered as exceptional in their form, and of which this air is a good example — consists in the odd number of its sections, namely five ; while, in the great mass of our tunes, the number is an even one, or, as usual, four : and I may add that such tunes are usually in common time, or that compound form of it having a six-eight measure. The cause of this peculiarity of structure will be at once obvious, namely, the necessity for a fifth section in airs composed for stanzas having a repetition of their fourth line, or a fifth added as a burden.
Since the preceding notice was placed in the printer's hands, I have accidentally disco- vered another Irish song, or rather fragment of one, which had been obviously written to this air, and which, though modern, I have much pleasure in adding to the other fragment already given, as exhibiting one of the better and abiding traits of the Irish peasant nature, in strong contrast to those partially acquired and temporary ones which had been superin- duced by untoward circumstances, happily not likely again to occur. I found it in an in- teresting little volume, entitled "Irish Popular Songs, with English Metrical Translations," &c., " by [the late] Edward Walsh, Dublin : James McGlashan. 1847." I give his own metrical version of the song, which very well preserves the rhythm of the original.
Gip maioin a nae poim gpéin 50 moc, Do beapcap an béic ba niauiiba cpuc; Sneacca agup caop bi 05 caipmipc 'na pgéitft 'S a peanja-copp péim map géip aip ppuc; 'S a cuiplemo cpoibe! cpéat> fn gpuaim pin opc?
bub bmne 5UÉ caom a béil le pule
nd Oppeup Do léij 50 paon na coipe; —
ÓÍ a pamap-pops péib map epiopcal na mbpaon
Gip peamaip-glaip péip poirii gpéin 50 moc;
'S a cuiple mo cpoibe! cpéaoí an gpuaim pin opc?
Before the sun rose at y ester-dawn,
I met a fair maid adown the lawn;
The berry and snow to her cheek gave its glow,
And her bosom was fair as the sailing swan —
Then, pulse of my heart ! what gloom is thine ?
Her beautiful voice more hearts hath won Than Orpheus' lyre of old had done ; Her ripe eyes of blue were crystals of dew, On the grass of the lawn before the sun — And, pidse of my heart ! what gloom is thine ?
SU15 ciNNSo a múiRNÍN lanh liom.
lit Ijrrr, <D y&mm, nrar inr.
The following air is an example of a large class of old Irish melodies which, having but one strain, have not hitherto been deemed by collectors as worthy of notice. They are, how- ever, the only airs suited to the ancient Irish short ballad quatrain ; and although, when in triple time, they usually present but four phrases in so many bars or measures, yet they often exhibit the characteristics of Irish melody quite as much as airs of greater length and variety. This tune was noted from the singing of Teige MacMahon — but the words are unfit for publication. The air should be repeated with greater force as a chorus.
|
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
57
Innie nuknnran.
For the following beautiful air I have to express my very grateful acknowledgment to Miss J. Ross, of N.-T.-Limavady, in the county of Londonderry — a lady who has made a large collection of the popular unpublished melodies of that county, which she has very kindly placed at my disposal, and which has added very considerably to the stock of tunes which I had previously acquired from that still very Irish county. I say still very Irish ; for though it has been planted for more than two centuries by English and Scottish settlers, the old Irish race still forms the great majority of its peasant inhabitants ; and there are few, if any, counties in which, with less foreign admixture, the ancient melodies of the country have been so extensively preserved. The name of the tune unfortunately was not ascertained by Miss Ross, who sent it to me with the simple remark that it was " very old," in the cor- rectness of which statement I have no hesitation in expressing my perfect concurrence.
P = Pend. 24 inches. s~ a —
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58
«
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
loc ailliMMe.
Inngji ailrn.
The following air — which is one of the class known by the name of reel — has been a very popular dance-tune in the county of Leitrim, in which, as may be inferred from its name, it most probably had its origin ; and it was obtained, with other dance-tunes, from an itine- rant fiddler of that county.
r
= Pend. 15 inches.
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The reel-tune, as the national dance-music of Scotland, must be so familiar to the reader that any description of it may, perhaps, be deemed unnecessary ; the features of the tune in Ireland being identical with those of the sister country. In both, the reel is a tune in com- mon time, consisting of two parts, of eight bars each, or — to speak more accurately — of four bars, which are twice played, but, usually, with some change in the melody on the repeti- tion, in the second part, of the two concluding measures: and in the reel of both countries, the bars usually present the same uniform succession of eight quavers — or semiquavers, if
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
written in two-four measure — in each bar throughout the tune. There is, however, as it ap- pears to me, this difference between the reel-tunes of Scotland and of Ireland, that while the former are, perhaps, more marked by a sunshine of mirthfulness, the latter have usually more melody and expression of sentiment. I may further state, that the Scottish variety of the reel, known by the name of Strathspey, the distinguishing peculiarity of which is the succession of long and short, or short and long notes, or, as it has been termed by Dr. Bur- ney, " the check" — a peculiarity which, as I have been informed by intelligent Scottish gen- tlemen, was introduced into the Highlands by Gipsy fiddlers, and which has, unfortu- nately, as I conceive, been very generally extended to the lowland song-tunes — has not as yet found acceptance in Ireland; and I trust that our melodies may never be subjected to its corrupting influence. Further, it may be worthy of remark, that the reel, though now, and for a long time, regarded as the national dance of Scotland proper, was anciently known only to the Irish, and Hiberno-Scotic, or Highland people, and that it does not appear to have ever been common to, or adopted by, the Anglo-Saxon people