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Sleeve Notes
PLANXTY BUNTING — Celebrating the harp music collection of Edward Bunting of Belfast (1792-1992)
MacAttistrum's March-Mdirseail Alasdroim reflects the rich cross-fertilisation between Irish and Scottish harpers and pipers. At the battle of Knockinoss in the south of Ireland in 1647, a party of Scottish Highlanders under Alasdair (Colkitto) MacAllistrum which fought on the Irish side was butchered by English Parliamentary forces under Lord Inchiquinn. Colkitto's funeral march was headed by a band of pipers playing what has since been called Máirseail Alasdroim.
In Tribute to Bunting we have several of the best harp tunes he collected arranged in a classical structure. Beginning with music given to Bunting by Hempson, the last of the very old brass-strung harpers at the time of the 1792 Belfast Festival, we have Feaghan Gealeash ("try if it is in tune") followed by the oldest extant piece of Irish music, Deirdre's Lament for the Sons of Usneach, and a portion of Scott's Lamentation. Two march-like airs follow: The Battle of Argan More and Ossianic Air. The uilleann pipes introduce Blackheaded Deary, a lovely old modal air in the Mixolydian mode, and then there is a soft harp lullaby, Open the Door Softly, as played by the harper Arthur O'Neill. This salute to Bunting ends with a strange tune (suitable to skip to) called Chorus Jig although it is certainly not a jig, and the reel Peter Street is thrown in for badness since it does not appear in Bunting's collection!
The Parting of Friends is considered to be very ancient It is often played by harpers when the audience is about to depart, and it is popular opinion that it was composed while the Irish groaned under the oppression of the Danes and were forced to conceal themselves in caverns and other sequestered places. The air is followed by a dance tune, Kerry Fling.
Planxty Bunting was especially composed by Paddy Moloney for the Chieftains and the Belfast Harp Orchestra to celebrate the Bunting anniversary. The term "planxty", as used by Carolan [Turlough O'Carolan, (1670-1738), the last of the great itinerant harper-composers], is thought to be based on Latin and its exact meaning has mystified the scholars, some of whom think, it to be a form of salute.
Madame Cole: Carolan is believed to have composed tills air for the wedding of Jean Cole which took place in County Fermanagh in the year 1719. "Striking Jean is my type of woman: pleasant, agreeable, joyful each day, the flower of happiness" is how Carolan described the bride, for whom he composed the tune.
The Blackbird is a very fine air, for which some Jacobite words were written during the war of 1688-90. This has become a famous set-dance tune, although the air itself bears marks of a much higher antiquity.
Táimse 'im Chodladh ("I am asleep and don't waken me") is an ancient and beautiful air unwarrantably appropriated by the Scots.
Sonny Brogan's Mazurkas are named after the well-known Dublin accordion player.
The Wild Geese was composed as a farewell to the gallant remnant of the Irish army who, upon the capitulation of Limerick in 1691, preferred an honorable exile to remaining in the country when their cause was lost. They sustained the national reputation afterwards under the name of the Irish Brigade in wars on the Continent It is commonly believed that the air was sung by the women assembled on the shore at the time of the embarkation of the troops. The stow air evokes the image of sails dwindling in the distance off Ireland's shores and the defeat of the chieftains of Gaelic Ireland and their followers, who were, however, to Become a strand in the history of Napoleon in the form of the "Wild Geese".
The Green Fields of America (also known as "The Green Fields of Canada") is surely one of the finest songs of emigration in our tradition and many versions of it abound. The earliest published version was in a collection by S. A. Such of London from the 19th century. Although generally accepted to be an Ulster song, at least one earlier version has the emigrant bidding farewell to County Wicklow. Kevin's version is more or less from the singing of Paddy Tunney of County Fermanagh. This is not to be found in the Bunting Collection. (Information courtesy of the Irish Traditional Music Archive)
Carolan's Concerto is considered to be Turlough O'Carolan's most famous composition.
The Lament for Limerick: Otherwise known as "Limericks Lamentation", this strikingly beautiful melody is believed to have been composed by either Myles O'Reilly or Connellon, both esteemed harpers. The piece, which is to be found in the Bunting Collection, was written after the Breaking of the Treaty of Limerick of 1691.
In the year 1792, Edward Bunting brought together ten of the foremost Irish harpers for a festival in Belfast This was at the request of the Belfast Harpers Society who wished to preserve the music they feared might decline. The musicians competed as part of the festival and there were three winners. All three harpers were awarded a yearly stipend of 10 pounds by the Society. Edward Bunting subsequently visited each harper in turn to collate all of the available contemporary harp music, which he continued to publish in books until well after 1800.
The Chieftains mark the occasion of the Festival's bi-centenary with this recording, celebrating the music of the Edward Bunting collection. On the 12th of May, 1992, the Chieftains performed at a gala concert in the Ulster Halt, Belfast, with the Belfast Harp Orchestra as their special guests. Following this, four tracks were recorded with the orchestra at concerts in the National Concert Hall, Dublin, and the Barbican Hall, London. A visit to the home and studio of friend Frank Zappa in Los Angeles also resulted in a number of items Being recorded and included on the album.
Paddy Moloney