TÁIM I MO CHODLADH
I AM ASLEEP
A setting based on harp versions of the tune of Táim i mo Chodladh appears in Edward
Bunting's 1840 volume of The Ancient Music of Ireland. In the index to the English names
of the airs, he notes it as having been obtained from Dennis a Hempson (Donnchadh Ó
hAmhsaigh) at Magilligan in 1792. There are seven notations of the tune in the Bunting
MSS and some have different ascriptions:
● MS29 f13v/p28
"from Hugh Higgins in 1792" [rough notation]
● MS29 f14r/p29
[a neat edition of the previous notation]
● MS29 (1792 ↔ 1805) f86r/p171
[rough notation of the Hampsey part of the next edition]
● MS20 (1792 ↔ 1795 or after) ff8v-9r
"1.2.3.4.5 from Hempson and * from O Neil"
● MS 33 book III (1796? ↔ 1798) f28v-29r/pp56-57
"This setting is exactly copied from Hempson – both Bass & Treble"
● MS13 (1821 or after ↔ before1840) ff17v-18r
● MS27 (1825 or after ↔ before 1840) ff28v-29r/pp58-59
"from Dennis a Hempson at Magilligan in 1796"
We have Bunting's rough notations of this tune from Dennis O' Hampsey and Hugh
Higgins but the published version of it can be seen as a derivation from the MS20 notation
sourced from Hampsey and Arthur O' Neill. This article will examine the Hampsey sections
of that notation along with the version in MS33 bk III, as both settings are quite similar and
because Bunting states that the bass and treble in MS33 are "exactly copied from
Hempson".
Táim i mo Chodladh