AUTHENTICITY
The authenticity of this notation has been questioned, perhaps chiefly because of a high
element of movement in thirds and sixths between treble and bass, along with a
corresponding lack of magadising. However, this element is interwoven in the notation with
other features such as the swapping of the melody between treble and bass, the use of
octave bass chords and probably the repeat of tonic triads. Taken together, these features
relate the piece to Hampsey's style, to Scottish lute arrangements of harp music and to the
keyboard settings of the Joly collection book fragment where harmonisation by thirds and
sixths is a particular feature.
The choice of chords in Banks of Claudy is recognisable today as typical of standard
Western European harmony. Apart from the tonic major chord, the setting uses the chord
of the dominant major (as does Táim i mo Chodladh) and the chord of the subdominant
major (as does the Fairy Queen). These chords are not unfamiliar from the repertoires of
Lyons and Carolan but, in this piece at least, they have raised questions concerning
selective damping (the stopping of certain strings after they are plucked).
It is tempting for some to imagine a flourishing Gaelic musical style largely uninfluenced by
and alien to the mainstream European musical fashions from before the time of Gerald de
Barri (1146-1223) until the Flight of the Earls in 1607. De Barri, on the other hand, only
remarks on the tempo of Irish harp music as being different to that in England and Wales
and comments on no other features foreign to him. Indeed, the technique he mentions of
harmonising at the fourth and fifth had been extremely widespread in Europe for a long time
previous to his own, and for just how long is impossible to say.
My view is that diatonic Gaelic music is part of Western diatonic musical culture and that
people from outside the Western diatonic tradition more readily recognise it as such. The
evidence historically points to Gaelic culture absorbing certain musical developments which
take place in the other cultures it has contacts with. The triangular harp, bagpipes and
violin themselves are evidence of this musical connection: it is generally assumed that all of
them arrived in Gaeldom from elsewhere in Europe at various dates, making their
respective impact.
Turlough O' Carolan is not the sole representative of a Gaelic harp culture which interacted
with general European harmonic styles. The Gaelic harp is of course a polyphonic
instrument and Cormac MacDermott (d.1618) composed polyphonic dances for
instrumental ensemble, some of which survive. Carolan's son was evidently capable of
arranging his father's tunes on keyboard for publication and it is possible that the Joly
collection book fragment is that publication. Cornelius Lyons, a contemporary of Carolan,
produced variation sets of popular tunes in the style of his time, some of which were
preserved by Bunting. Dominic Mungan, a contemporary of Charles Byrne, used to perform
from the repertoires of Handel, Corelli and Geminiani and was, like Carolan, fond of sacred
music.
Eachlann Ó Catháin (Echline O' Kane) was also a contemporary of Charles Byrne but
played with his nails as did Denis O' Hampsey. Like other Irish harpers such as Ruaidhrí
Dall Ó Catháin (Blind Rory O' Kane) and the Connellan brothers, Echline spent many years
in Scotland but he is also typical of those such as John Murphy who travelled through
Western Europe playing for the aristocracy. Echline apparently played the treble and bass
of many of Corelli's courantes in concert with other instruments.
Arthur O' Neill states in his memoirs that 'there is a great deal of ancient Irish music lost in
consequence of the attachment harpers latterly have for modern tunes, and which is what is
now chiefly in vogue: the national tunes and airs being confined only, I may say, to a few
gentlemen in the different provinces I have travelled through'. In my view, it seems no more
doubtful that a piece of harp music of O' Neill's time should make more frequent use of
parallel thirds and sixths, than the fact that Gaelic harpers once built chromatic harps, that
Gaelic poets once composed ballads called lays, or that Gaelic fiddlers played jigs, minuets,
waltzes or mazurkas. One need not ascribe too much unnecessarily to Bunting's invention.
Banks of Claudy
Authenticity