CONCLUSION
Review of harmonic features
If we take all the pieces examined in these articles so far as being originally in the key of
G, the most common hypothetical chords we have encountered so far are A, G, E and D.
The Fairy Queen also presents us with C & B chords. Port Priest shows clear vertical
occurences of A dyad & G triad, Féachain Gléis has vertical A dyad, G triad & E triad,
(possibly obscuring a D dyad), Cumha Bharúin Loch Mór has a vertical G dyad, E dyad &
D incomplete triad and Táim i mo Chodladh has a vertical G triad & D dyad.
The settings of Táim i mo Chodladh examined here both contain the following features
identified in the Joly collection book fragment version of Fairy Queen (FQ), in the Straloch
Port Priest (PP), in Bunting's earliest notations of Cumha Bharúin Loch Mór (CBLM29) and
the version of it published in the Introduction to his 1840 volume of The Ancient Music of
Ireland (CBLM1840), in the Féachain Gléis (FG) and in the notation of the Féileacán in
Bunting MS12 f33r (F):-
• tendency of the 3rd to appear between the main bass and treble notes when
the melody note is the third note of a triad
FQ, PP, CBLM29/1840, FG & F
• staggered octaves in the bass
FQ, CBLM29/1840, FG & perhaps PP
• predominance of magadising in providing bass harmony
(particularly in the MS33 setting)
FQ, PP & CBLM29/1840
• occasional octave doubling in the bass (glas?: +,3 or ladhar?: 1,3)
FQ, CBLM1840, FG & perhaps in PP
• tendency of the 5th to appear between main bass and treble notes
FQ, CBLM29 p158 & FG
• occasional swapping of melody notes between bass and treble
PP, CBLM29/1840, FG & F
• octaves staggered between bass and treble (note usually first struck in the treble)
CBLM29/1840 & perhaps PP
The settings demonstrate the following chords in one hand which are perceivable in
previous pieces examined here:-
• 5th in the bass
CBLM1840, F & perhaps PP.
• 4th & 5th in the bass (MS 33 setting only)
FG & perhaps PP
• 3rd in the treble (boilsgean?: 1,2) (MS20 setting only)
CBLM29/1840 & perhaps PP
• tonic triad in the treble (MS20 setting only)
CBLM1840
In addition, the two settings provide instances of:
• tonic triad in the bass
These settings of Táim i mo Chodladh provide no evidence of:
• occasional 4th in the treble (glas?: 1,3)
CBLM29/1840 & perhaps PP
• bass arpeggio chords at the end of phrases or sections
including that of the 3rd, 4th & 5th in the bass (lán chrobh: +,1,2,3 arpeggio)
CBLM29/1840 & FG
• occasional 4th in the bass
CBLM1840
• melody note in the bass being repeated as the top note of a chord in the treble
CBLM29
• 3rd in the bass (ladhar láir?: 1,2)
CBLM1840
Táim i mo Chodladh
Conclusion