PREFACE.

When we consider his work, we cannot help but be astonished at the extraordinary original: "prodigious" powers of his mind. He occasionally tried almost every style in music: the mournful original: "elegiac", the festive, the romantic, and the sacred. He excelled so much in each that we scarcely know which of them his genius was best suited for. His first composition was romantic and plaintive, titled "Bridget Cruise," addressed to a lady to whom he was tenderly attached without any hope of success. He is said to have dedicated fifteen different pieces to her, none of which are included in this collection. The first was either originally imperfect, or the copy obtained was so corrupted that a bass part could not be adapted to it. His last tune was inscribed to his physician, Dr. Stafford. He composed the Fairy Queen, Rose Dillon, and others of his serious pieces early in life; but after establishing a reputation and becoming too fond of social drinking original: "addicted himself too much to festive company and the bottle", he dedicated his time to the composition of his Planxties lively Irish harp tunes, often rhythmic and dedicated to a patron, which required no intense labor or steady effort. We may form some idea of the fertility of his genius from this circumstance: one harper who attended the Belfast Meeting The Belfast Harp Festival of 1792, where Bunting collected many of these tunes.—who had never met Carolan, nor been taught by anyone who had copied from him—had learned over a hundred of his tunes. This harper said those hundred tunes constituted only a very small part of the actual number Carolan composed.

As Carolan never taught any traveling original: "itinerant" pupils except his own son (who had no musical talent), and as we have never heard that any of his pieces were committed to writing until several years after his death—when the younger Carolan, under the patronage of Dr. Delany, edited a small volume—we should not wonder if nine-tenths of his entire work is now irreparably lost.

In Carolan's Concerto (No. 42) and in his Madam Cole (No. 16), the musician will perceive clear imitations of Corelli Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713), a famous Italian Baroque composer and violinist., in which the vivid imagination of that admired composer is successfully copied. In the ancient air Love in Secret original: "Gradh gan fios" (No. 14), the listener will be charmed by one of the most pleasing melodies any country has ever produced; it is so old that no trace could be found of the century in which it was written.

The lyrics of The Girl with the Fair Hair original: "Coolin" were still in existence during the reign of Henry VIII—a very modern period when compared to the age of the music itself. The Parting of Friends original: "Scarfuint na Gompanach" (No. 25) is considered very ancient. It is often played by harpers when the audience is about to leave, and it is a popular opinion that it was composed while the Irish suffered under the oppression of the Danes Refers to the Viking Age in Ireland, roughly 8th to 11th centuries. and were forced to hide themselves in caves and secluded places.

The tune called We brought the summer with us original: "Thugamar fein a Sambra lin" (No. 61) is likely extremely ancient. It was sung by the group of young women who went out from Dublin to welcome the Duke of Ormond when he landed in Ireland. The ancient air The summer is coming original: "Ta an samradh teacht" (No. 7) is used at the beginning of summer in different parts of the country. Strange as it may appear, this proves to be the same song in essence—both in poetry and music—as the one Dr. Burney Charles Burney (1726–1814), a prominent English music historian. published and wrote a lengthy critique on, claiming it as the first piece of music ever set in a musical score in Great Britain. The