Annotation:Dawning of the Day (3)
X:1 T:Break of Day, The T:Toriad y Dydd T:Dawning of the Day [3] M:C L:1/8 R:Air Q:"Andante" B:William Bingley - North Wales...delineated from two excursions, vol. 2 (1804). N:From a section entitled "Sixteen Admired Welsh Airs" (p. 4) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:Amin A|AEEc cB zB|AcBA T^G3A|E>FD>E C>DB,>C|A,AB^G A3:| |:e|ecce ed2e|ecce d3e|c>dB>c A>BG>A|cded c3 c/d/| ecde fe3d|cBeA ^G3A|E>FD>E C>DB,>C|A,AB^G A3||
DAWNING OF THE DAY [3] (Fáinne geal an lae). AKA - "Break of Day (The)," "Toriad y Dydd." Welsh, Air (4/4 time). A Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The air is sometimes said to have originated in Wales, although Frank Kidson thought the English country dance tune "Windsor Terrace (1)" was a precursor. Francis O'Neill wrote in his Irish Folk Music: A Fascinating Hobby (1910, p. 154):
"The Dawning of the Day" was also a favorite name for several Irish airs. One of them, obtained from Patrolman William Walsh, a versatile musician and a native of Galway, proved to be a Welsh air of that name. Having read somewhere that O'Carolan was the composer of "The Dawning of the Day", the fine setting which we printed was classified with his compositions in O'Neill's Music of Ireland, but we have since learned that it is one of O'Connalon's productions. A third air under that title in Dr. Joyce's Old Irish Folk Music and Songs is distinct from those just mentioned and from "The Dawning of the Day" printed in his Ancient Irish Music, which was published in 1873 (see Dawning of the Day (2) (The)). That setting differs in the key only from the version obtained by Dr. Petrie in 1854 from Kate Keane and printed in his so-called Complete Collection of Irish Music (see "Dawning of the Day (4) (The)").
An old version of O'Connellon's composition, entitled "The Dawning of the Day. Irish" is to be found in Aird's Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol. 3, c. 1788 (see "Dawning of the Day (1) (The)"). It varies considerably from the modern setting.
