Annotation:Morgiana in Ireland
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MORGIANA IN IRELAND. Irish, Set Dance; English, Jig. A Major (O'Neill, Raven, Roche): B Flat Major (Kershaw): G Major (O'Farrell, Sumner). Standard tuning (fiddle). One part (Raven, Sumner): AABB (Roche): AABBCC (Kershaw, O'Farrell). This was apparently the original Morgiana tune, thought to have derived from Richard Sheridan's The Forty Thieves: A Grand Melo-Dramatic Romance (1806), music by Michael Kelly. Other Morgiana titles seem to be imitations of this one. In addition to Kershaw and Gibbons (referenced below) the melody can also be found in the music manuscripts of John Clare (Helpston, Northants, 1820), Rev. Robert Harrison (Brampton, Cumbria, 1820), Miss Best (unknown, c. 1850), C.J. Surtees (Northumberland, 1819), Thomas Shoosmith (Arlington, Sussex, early 19th c.), and Edward Russell (Monmouth, Wales, 1812). In print it appears in J. Balls' Gentleman's Amusement book 3 (London, c. 1815, reprinted c. 1830), Firth & Hall's Newly Improved Instuctor for the Clarinet (New York, 1832), Paff's Gentleman's Amusement No. 2 (New York, c. 1812), and Riley's Flute Melodies, vol. 3 (New York, c. 1820). In the latter volume it appears as "Morgiana" with the alternate title "Capt'n Muligan."
Sources for notated versions: copied from O'Farrell's Pocket Companion (1804-10) [O'Neill]; contained in the Joseph Kershaw manuscript-Kershaw was a fiddler who lived in Slackcote, Saddleworth, North West England, in the 19th century, and his manuscript dates from around 1820 onwards [Kershaw]; the 1823-26 music mss of papermaker and musician Joshua Gibbons (1778-1871, of Tealby, near Market Rasen, Lincolnshire Wolds) [Sumner].
Printed sources: Knowles (The Joseph Kershaw Manuscript), 1993; No. 28. O'Farrell (Pocket Companion, vol. III), c. 1808; p. 7. O'Neill (Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody), 1922; No. 86. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 128. Roche (Collection of Traditional Irish Music, vol. 2), 1912; No. 283, p. 34. Sumner (Lincolnshire Collections, vol. 1: The Joshua Gibbons Manuscript), 1997; p. 69 (originally set in the key of 'C' major).
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