PEDIGREES
Burns' March is as old as pipe ceòl mór. Bunting's observation above his initial
jottings of Hampsey's set in MS29 that it is 'very old' could well have come from
Hampsey, a man born during the main period of pipe ceòl mór composition.
From Bunting we know that 'Denis a Hampsy' learned his first tunes on the harp from a
Co. Derry woman called Bríd O' Catháin. He used his nails to play, a traditional
method but apparently rare by Bunting's time. He was widely travelled in Ireland and
Scotland and along his way had met Carolan and the young Pretender, Charles
Edward Stuart. He appears to have joined in playing together with other musicians, in
this instance, Scottish fiddlers. Sadly, he encountered only one Scottish clan chief
who possessed a harp.
Patrick Quinn's harp is of an older design than Hampsey's. Quinn's musical pedigree
may be as old as his instrument's design. He learned to play from Pádraig Mac Giolla
Fhiondáin (Patrick Linden), the harper poet who failed to come to the Belfast Harp
Festival and who was probably the son of the famous harper poet of the same name
(and from the same town of Lisleitrim in Co. Armagh). The latter was referred to as
Pádraig 'na gCláirsighe' (of the harp) or Pádraig 'na gCláirseach' (of the harps - just
like the modern harp summer school held in Kilkenny).
During the period of the Penal Laws, Pádraig na gCláirsighe's house was a gathering
point for poets and musicians, including Carolan. He composed the tunes for Séamas
Dall Mac Cuarta's songs. Peadar Ó Doirnín, who made a version of Uileacán Dubh Ó,
is known to have sung to his harp playing. Pádraig was also responsible for the 'scoil
filíochta' (bardic school) at Cnoc Céin mhic Cáinte which Art Mac Cumhaigh seems to
have attended as a student.
Burns' March
Pedigrees