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O'Neill - The Dance Music of Ireland, Volume 1, Issue 1, Page 5

O'Neill - The Dance Music of Ireland, Volume 1, Issue 1, Page 5
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periodical Publisher
Regan Publishing, Chicago
periodical Editor
O'Neill, Capt. Francis
periodical Title
O'Neill - The Dance Music of Ireland
volume Number
1
issue Content
INTRODUCTIONthird collection of Ancient Irish music. That sprightlyjig the Rogaire dhuv or the Black rogue No. :302,Dr. fletrie tells us was formed from an 01(1 Munster air,Bridget of the fair hair. Johnny McGill, a Dumfriesfiddler, gave it publicity in Scotland early in the eighteenthcentury, and by whose name it came to he known in thatcountry. After Macneill wrote the song, Come under myplaic ldie, to the catchy tune, it was claimed by our cannycousins. Its true origin is admitted by R. A. Smith whoprinted it in the Irish Minstrel, published in 1825 atEdinburgh. A well known writer on Irish music and anenthusiastic advocate of an Irish Ireland, Rev. RichardHenebry, Ph. D. in discussing Irish music with thewriter, adverted to the traditional beauties of the Firstof May hornpipe with its characteristic Bias. Whenshown that it was merely an adaptation in commontime from the old classic melody Fagamaoid s d niarata se he reluctantly admitted that a new light haddawned on him concerning the origin of much of ourdance mnsic. An old time jig named Well all takea coach and trip it away, printed in OFarrellsNational Irish Music, 1797-1800, has been developedfrom a simple two-part jig into its present setting,the Old Grey Goose, No. 214 in this book. Thefirst and third parts only, were played by John Hicks, anexcellent Irish piper and a native of Kildare, while inChicago in 1880. James Kennedy, a native of Leitrim,played the first and second parts of the present tune, beinga version that he learned from his father many yearsbefore, and which very closely fo1lo ved OFarrellssetting. While James ONeill, our scribe, was notiugdown the three parts mentioned from my dictation, hismemory was aroused to the fact that lie had a setting ofthis strain among his fathers manuscripts. A slight re-arrangement resulted in a harmonious six-part whole,which will compare favorably with any double jig inexistence. The old favorite jig, The top of Cork road,rendered still more famous by Mr. Graves as FatherOFlynn, found its way into five English collections ofcountry dances by different authors in the years 1770 to1781, being named the Yorkshire lasses in four ofthem. Many excellent Irish tunes, now forgotten or un-known in Ireland, have been preserved in old collectionsprinted in England and Scotland. Denis Delaney (No. 7)is a good specimen of an Irish jig with three parts, for-gotten in Ireland, yet preserved in Crosbys Irish MusicalRepository, published in London in the year 1810. Num-bers 168, 190 and 198 were found in the extreniely rareRepository of Scots and Irish Music, printed in Edin-burgh in 1799. Number 982 was found in the volu me ofcountry dances of 1798 before mentioned, while num-bers 354, 355, 356 and 357 were discovered in theHibernian Muse, published in the year 1797.We must not omit calling attention to the evolution ofour international favorite, Miss Mc(louds (or MacLeods) reel. A comparison will show that it is unques-m ionably an adaptation in common or two-four time fromthe Caiupbells are coming or rather the older Irish tune,The burnt ol d man (Seandhuine dhota) three settingsof which are printed in C )Neills Music of Ireland.Perhaps nothing better illustrates the incompletenessof the work of collecting the folk music of Ireland thanthe existence of unrecorded tunes among the peasantrywithin twenty niiles of Limerick City. It was a real pleas-ure and a relief to hear such delightful specimens of tra-ditional reels at Nos. 774, 775, and 7 6 and the hornpipeNo. 951, as played by modest peasants in a farm houseat Clashmore near Feakle, County Clare, (luring a visitto Ireland last year after listening to Miss McCloudsreel, and but little else except that threadbare tune at thecenters of population in Ireland day after day.Two unique unpublished tunes, Nos. 364 and 449, anda rare setting of another, No. 450, were found among themanuscripts of my boyhood friend, Mr. Timothy Down-ing, a gentleman farmer hut an accomplished musician,His death left a musical void in West Carherry.Doubtless some over zealous champion of Irish musicwill criticise the inclusion of No. 739 in this collection.It must be admitted that Turkeys in the Straw tinderthe title Old Zip Coon is best known as an Americantune. However, convincing evidence of its Irish ante-cedents came to hand a few years ago in a roll of age-browned manuscript music belonging to the O?dahonysof Dunmanway, County Cork. Our setting is a verysuperior one, being the version played by Dan Emmett,a celebrated Irish-American minstrel of the last gen-eration.During the eighteenth century, a taste for elaborationand florid settings was developed both In the Scotch andIrish. A spirit of emulation and rivalry among the moreskillful musicians resulted in many embellishments andvariations being added to most of the popular tunes, suchas Nora Chreena, Paddy ORafferty, Garryowen,etc., and to such an extent was this fancy- carried, tha ione long dance noted down by l)r. Petrie contained no lessthan twentyfour parts. According to Bunting, Lyons.harper to the Earl of P mtrim, in the year IS O composeda number of variations to the Coolin. which are printedin his third volume. Many examples of this characterjigs, reels and hornpipestoo numerous to mention ordiscuss in the necessarily limited space available, are included in this collection. The reader in studying themwill bear in mind, that some of our oldest airs have l)utone strain. Few, if any, had more than two parts beforethe beginning of the eighteenth century. Assuming thatthe first and second parts comprised the original tune, alladditional parts may be regarded as variations.Being not unmindful of the fact that the perfect bookhas yet to be printed, we would bespeak for this endeavorto supply a recognized want, such generous considerationas may reasonably be expected for an earnest and un-selfish effort undertaken for the promotion of a patrioticpurpose.
issue Number
1
page Number
5
periodical Author
O'Neill, Capt. Francis
issue Publication Date
2006-01-01T00:00:00
allowedRoles
anonymous,guest,friend,member

O'Neill - The Dance Music of Ireland

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