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Journal of the Irish Folk Song Society, Volume 6, Issue 27, Page 15

Journal of the Irish Folk Song Society, Volume 6, Issue 27, Page 15
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periodical Publisher
Irish Folk Song Society
periodical Editor
[Periodical]
periodical Title
Journal of the Irish Folk Song Society
volume Number
6
issue Content
1617II. Napoleons on dry land,Says the Shan Van Voght,Napoleons on dry land,Says the Shan Van Voght.Napoleons on dry land,With a sword in his right hand,Hes a gallant Ribbon Man,Says the Shan Van Voght.III. My mother has a heifer,Says the Shan Van Voght,My mother has a heifer,Says the Shan Van Voght.My mother has a heifer,And she sleeps behind the dresser,Yes, and God Almighty bless her,Shes a fine old hag!There it another song in Irish entitled the Seanbhean Bhocht. It is a productof the anti-tithe war, and, as this particular agitation began in 1830 and ended withthe passage of the Act abolishing tithe rent-charge in 1838, the song must have beencomposed during that period. Versions have been printed in the Journal of theFolk-Song Society, vol. VI, pp. 186190 and in our ,Tournal, vol. XX, pp. 812.The name Seanbhean Bhocht is used allegorically for Ireland, this being theonly published Irish folk-song in which this is the case. At the date of its com-position, doubtless the identification of Ireland with the Poor Old Woman had beenachieved by the popularity of the Anglo-Irish song composed some thirty yearsearlier. An interesting point in this connection is the fact that the title of theTithe Song, as we shall call it, is An Seanbhean Bhocht , instead of the gram-matical An tSeanbhean Bhochb. It would seem that people had become so usedto the phrase Says the Seanbhean bhocht that when the Irish words occurredin the other song they treated them as one phrase, and the word sean was notsubjected to the usual mutation. It is also a curious fact that, whereas the noi malMunster pronunciation of seanbhean is shanavan (dactyl), in all theseSeanbhean Bhocht songs it is always pronounced (in Munster at least) asshounvan (rhyming with town manWe are now in a position to examine the various Seanbhean Bhooht airs,bogether with the airs to which they are related. The Tithe War Song is in adi erent metre to the other, and therefore calls for a different type of tune. It isnecessary to make this clear, as the existence of two distinct types with the sametitle has occasionallY puzzled commentators who knew of the 98 song but not ofthe other.First, the airs for the Tithe Song.List No. 1.1. ,Tournal of the Folk-Song Society, vol. VI, p. 186, with a copy of the words(5 verses), both being collected by Mr. A. Martin Freeman in BallyvourneY.2. ,Tournal of the Irish Folk Song Society, vol. XX, p. 8, with another versionof the words (7 verses). The air is related to no. 1, but is more like a hornpipein character.3. Stanford-Petrie, no. 1204. An tSean-bhean Bhocht, as sung in Munster.Distinct from the foregoing.4. Leveys Dance Music of Ireland, vol. II (1873), no. 46. Poor Old Woman.A variant of no. 3, in reel time.5. Joyce (1909), p. 118, no. 244. An Bhean Bbocht. Also a variant of no. 3.6. ditto, p. 283, no. 524. The Old Wuians Hornpipe. Also a variant, inhornpipe time.7. ONeills Music of Ireland (1903), nos. 1590 and 1591. erry DalysHornpipe. This title was given to the tune by Captain ONeill and is therefore notsignificant. It is a variant of no. 4 and he recognises it as such. See his Irish FolkMusic (1910), p. 117,Some of the tunes in the above list exhibit resemblances to some of the tunesof the second type which we are now to consider. All seven of them (exceptpossibly no. 4) are of Munster origin, as are the words of the Tithe Song. Onemight conjecture that, in Munster, one of the airs for the 98 song was altered toa dance tune, as often happens; and that this dance tune was later adapted tosuit the words of the Tithe Song. ______Now as to the tune for the song Oh! the Freiioh are on the sea and allsongs in the same metre, including those printed above.LIST No. .2.1. Oswald s Galedanian Packet Companion, Book V. (c. 1769), p. 23. Dee!take the gair and the Bragrie o it. This is extremely like our no. 90.2. lohnsonS Scots Mulical Museum, vol, I (1787), no. 33, The Blathrie ot.A variant of no. 90.c
issue Number
27
page Number
15
periodical Author
[Periodical]
issue Publication Date
1967-01-01T00:00:00
allowedRoles
anonymous,guest,friend,member

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