Annotation:John Peyton

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JOHN PEYTON. AKA - "Johnny Peyton." Irish, Planxty (2/4 time). G Major: G Mixlydian (Joyce). Standard tuning (fiddle). One part. The tune is attributed to blind Irish harper Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738), although Donal O'Sullivan, in his definitive 1958 work on the bard could find no incontrovertable evidence of its origin, concluding only "There is nothing in its style which renders Carolan's authorship of it impossible." The melody may have been composed for one of the children of Tobias Peyton, notes O'Sullivan, who (among other children) had a son named John and a daughter named Jane (who is a possibility, as the the Piggot manuscripts give the title as "Juny Peyton").

Source for notated version: Irish collector William Forde's manuscript collection [Joyce, O'Sullivan]. Forde noted the tune from Hugh O'Beirne, a professional fiddler from Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim, 1846.

Printed sources: Complete Collection of Carolan's Irish Tunes, 1984; No. 149, p. 103. Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Songs), 1909; No. 618, p. 317 (appears as "Johnny Peyton"). O'Sullivan (Carolan: The Life, Times and Music of an Irish Harper), 1958; No. 149, p. 181

Recorded sources:

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