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Bunting - The Ancient Music of Ireland, Volume 1, Issue 1, Page 113

Bunting - The Ancient Music of Ireland, Volume 1, Issue 1, Page 113
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periodical Publisher
Hodges & Smith, Dublin, 1840
periodical Editor
Edward Bunting
periodical Title
Bunting - The Ancient Music of Ireland
volume Number
1
issue Content
98 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.must be admitted to be no more than an arrangement of this more ancient and not lesscharacteristic melody.XXIX. (No. 43 in the Collection.) Bruach an Claudae. Banks of Claudy._Interesting for its peculiar bass accompaniment, which was taken down from the harper nearlyas it is here given.XXX. (No. 11 in the Collection.) Conchobhar Mac Areibhe. Connor Mac Areavy,known also by the name of Galleena bhacka su Seorse, Girls, have you seen George ?The melody is extremely ancient, and the variations by Lyons (Lord Antrims harper) areexcellent. The modern musician will be surprised to find such an admirable arrangementby a person ignorant (as it is presumed all the Irish harpers at the beginning of the eighteenthcentury were) of modern musical science.XXXI. (No. 38 in the Collection.) Sin, Sios agus suas horn. Down beside me.Is the original of Shepherds, I have lost my Love. It is set here as taken from the per-formance of Dominic Mungan, the celebrated harper, the father of Bishop Warburton.XXXII. (No. 50 in the Collection.) Gad fath nach n-deun-fadh na boic/ite. Whyshould not poor Folk ?Was noted down by the Editor, in the year 1792, from the per-formance of an old man, well known by the soubriquet of Poor Folk, who formerlyperambulated the northern counties, playing on a tin fiddle.XXXIII. (No. 146 in the Collection.) Gearrfhiad san narbhar. The Hare in theCorn.An ancient tune for the pipes, in which there is an imitation of a hunt, includingthe sound of the huntsmens horns, the crying of the dogs, and. finally, the distress and deathof the hare. This performance can only be given on the pipes, the chanter or principal tubeof which, when pressed with its lower end against the leather guard on the performers knee,can be made to yield a smothered, sobbing tone, very appropriate to the dying cry of the hare,but difficult to imitate or describe in musical notation.XXXIV. (No. 132 in the Collection.) Blath dubh is blzan. The Black and WhiteGarland, is allied to that peculiar class of airs called Lunigs in Scotland, and Loobeens inIreland, of which three other specimens are noticed below. It has been a favourite at thefestive meetings of the peasantry from time immemorial. It is first sung by one person, andthen repeated in chorus by the whole assembly. The setting given here, which is that ofthe air as popularly sung, seems irregular, in the transposition of the first four bars, whichought to occupy the place of the second four, and vice versa, to make the arrangement cor-respond with the model on which Irish melodies are generally constructed.XXXV. (Nos. 134, 135, and 136, in the Collection.) Three Loobeens.The Loobeenis a peculiar species of chaunt, having a very well marked time, and a frequently recurringchorus or catch-word. it is sung at merry-makings and assemblages of the young women,when they meet at spinnings or quiltings, and is accompanied by extemporaneousverses, of which each singer successively furnishes a line. The intervention of the chorusafter each line gives time for the preparation of the succeeding one by the next singer, andthus the Loobeen goes round, until the chain of song is completed. Hence its name, signi-
issue Number
1
page Number
113
periodical Author
Edward Bunting
issue Publication Date
1840-01-01T00:00:00
allowedRoles
anonymous,guest,friend,member

Bunting - The Ancient Music of Ireland

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