Annotation:John O'Reilly the Active

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JOHN O'REILLY THE ACTIVE (Sean Ua Ragallaig Clisteac). AKA - "John O'Reilly (2)." AKA and see "Oh! Think not my spirits are always as light." Irish, Air or Planxty (6/8 time). G Major ('A' part) & G Mixolydian ('B' part). Standard tuning (fiddle). ABA (O'Flannagan): AAB (O'Neill/Krassen): AABB (Levey, O'Neill/1850). Composed by blind Irish harper Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738), according to Chicago flute player and collector Francis O'Neill, apparently relying on the assertion of Hardiman, who maintained that it had been composed by the bard for members of 'the great Cavan family' of O'Reilly. O'Sullivan (1958) included the air in his seminal work on O'Carolan, but concluded that there was no significant evidence that it had been composed by the harper. Collector Edward Bunting (1773-1843), who is the sole printed source, collected the tune from ancient harper Arthur O'Neill, but does not attribute the melody to anyone.

Thomas Moore used the melody as the vehicle for his song "Oh! Think not my spirits are always as light," published in Irish Melodies, vol. 1 (1808).

Oh! think not my spirits are always as light,
And as free from a pang as they seem to you now,
Nor expect that the heart-beaming smile of to-night,
Will return with to-morrow to brighten my brow.
No; life is a waste of wearisome hours
Which seldom the rose of enjoyment adorns;
And the heart that is soonest awake to the flowers,
Is always the first to be touch'd by the thorns.
But send round the bowl, and be happy a while,
May we never meet worse, in our pilgrimage here,
Than the tear that enjoyment may gild with a smile,
And the smile that compassion can turn to a tear.

Arthur O'Neill

Source for notated version: Irish collector Edward Bunting's manuscript collection [O'Sullivan]. Bunting noted the tune from harper Arthur O'Neill.

Printed sources: Bunting (General Collection of Ancient Music of Ireland), 1796; No. 49, p. 27. Clinton (Gems of Ireland), 1841; No. 45, p. 23. Complete Collection of Carolan's Irish Tunes, 1984; No. 141, p. 99. P.M. Haverty (One Hundred Irish Airs vol. 2), 1858; No. 164, p. 74. Levey (Dance Music of Ireland, 2nd Collection), 1873; No. 3, p. 2. O'Flannagan (The Hibernia Collection), 1860; p. 29. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; p. 232. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 645, p. 116. O'Sullivan (Carolan: The Life, Times and Music of an Irish Harper), 1958; No. 141, p. 177.

Recorded sources: Poodle Records Cassette PRC 001, The Dougals Gunn Ensemble - "Irish & Italian Music: Carolan and Corelli."

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