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Tune properties and standard notation
FANNY POWER ("Fanny Poer" or "Fannuidh Power"). AKA and see "Fanny Poer," "Madame Trench," "Mrs. Trench (of Garbally)," "Planxty Fanny Powers." Irish, Air or Planxty (6/8 or 3/4 time). G Major (Complete Collection, O Canainn, O'Neill, Sullivan, Vallely): A Major (O'Sullivan/Bunting). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Vallely): AABB (most versions). Composed before 1728 by blind Irish harper Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738) in praise of Frances, the daughter and heiress of patrons David and Elizabeth Power of Coorheen, Loughrea, Co. Galway. O'Carolan called her "the Swan of the Shore" from the fact that her father's residence was situated on the edge of Lough Riadh (Rea). When Fanny married in March, 1732, one Richard Trench of Garbally she became the "Mrs. Trench (of Garbally)" or "Madame Trench" by which title the air sometimes appears (although the song was probably composed prior to the union, as in the second verse Carolan says he hopes that he'll live to dance at her wedding). She was long-lived and provident, surviving to 1793, the mother of a future Lady (Clancarty), and Baron, Viscount and Earl (William Power Keating Trench, born in 1741 and created Baron Kilconnel in 1797) {Flood, 1906; O'Sullivan, 1983}. John McCutcheon (1981) states the tune was very popular in its day, and was written in the Italian Baroque style.
Harper Rose Mooney (1740-1798) played it at the Belfast Harp Festival in 1792. Mooney, originally from County Meath and one of the few female harpers of her day, was, like many other musicians, blind, and was lead by a female servant whose name was Mary. The pair fatefully happened to be in Killala, County Mayo, in 1798, just at the time the French were landing at the spot in support of the Rising. The British troops took flight and this was the cause for furious celebrating among the townspeople, which Mooney was caught up in. Unfortunately, as the story goes, she became overly celebratory and literally drank herself to death on the occasion (Heymann, 1992).
It has been reported that Seamus Begley has been playing "Fanny Power" in a set with Marty Robbins' "El Paso" for waltzes!
Source for notated version: Edward Bunting collected the tune either from Charles Byrne or Arthur O'Neill (in 1800), both harpers of the late 18th century and whom he credits singly and respectively in his MS and the index to his 1840 collection Ancient Irish Music.
Printed sources: Complete Collection of Carolan's Irish Tunes, 1984; No. 155, p. 106. Heymann (Legacy of the 1792 Belfast Harp Festival), 1992; pp. 26-27. Ó Canainn (Traditional Slow Airs), 1995; No. 63, p. 56. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; pg. 238. O’Sullivan (Carolan: The Life, Times and Music of an Irish Harper), 1958; No. 155, p. 184. O'Sullivan/Bunting, 1983; No. 67, pp. 104-105. Sullivan (Session Tunes), vol. 2; No. 48, p. 20. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, Book Two), 1999; p. 42. Vallely (Learn to Play the Fiddle with Armagh Pipers Club), 197?; p. 21.
Recorded sources: Front Hall FHR-021, John McCutcheon - "Barefoot Boy wiith Boots On" (1981). RCA 5798-2-RC, "James Galway and the Chieftains in Ireland" (1986). Shanachie 79013, Derek Bell - "Carolan's Receipt" (1987).