Bruce Peden Says:
Sunday, October 22, 2017 @6:29:06 AM

This is inspirational. Thanks for sharing it.

mike gregory Says:
Sunday, October 22, 2017 @7:25:52 AM

Being only familiar with mortals' method of settling "ferocious" disputes, I would have expected a militant march and a lot of bloody discord.

Nice to know the faeries have a prettier way of working it out, OR that, even if it was horrific (at the time), the musicians came up with such a beautiful, peaceful way of memorializing it in the tune.

You mere mortals did a FINE job of rendering it.

By the way: Which mound DID have the remains of the late Mr. McC?

Bob Frost Says:
Sunday, October 22, 2017 @9:47:21 AM

Thanks, SimonSlick and mike gregory.

Mike, the King of the Faeries, the story goes, showed up and put an end to the bickering saying it didn't matter, Finn McCool, "was ONLY an Irish king."

Since that recording, we've come to play the tune a bit faster, more emphatically, and snappy to represent an argument and it has lyrics in Irish. The time signature in O'Sullivan's Carolan, the Life and Times of an Irish Harper, is 6/4 which lends itself to faster tempos. However, like many O'Carolan tunes, it's pretty much safe at any speed.

JanetB Says:
Tuesday, October 24, 2017 @8:04:57 PM

Love it, so rich, especially the bass! Did you hear of Joeme Wilson's fictionalized story of O'Carolan's childhood on a CD called Young Turlough and his Harp, describing how he may have come to write the tune? Even if it's pure fiction, it's a wonderful story for the child in us and is based on what is known about his life. The hammered dulcimer and harp music is fantastic. Joeme has recorded several CDs with O'Carolan's music.

Bob Frost Says:
Tuesday, October 24, 2017 @8:59:14 PM

I haven't heard JW's story, directly, anyway. The story we used was that young Turlough was told by Squire George Reynolds , "You'd make a better hand of your tongue than of your fingers," or something to that effect. It was Squire Reynolds who suggested the story about the faerie hosts of neighboring hills that had the disagreement. O'Sullivan uses the word, "battle."

What is JW's story? Keep in mind, Carolan did not write anything because he was blind. He did have a kind of short-hand for composing using his fingers on the buttons of his coat. Early digital recording?

JedMarum Says:
Wednesday, October 25, 2017 @6:17:48 AM

I love this tune. Beautiful job!!

Bob Frost Says:
Wednesday, October 25, 2017 @10:12:35 AM

Thanks, JedMarum.