Annotation:Thy fair bosom

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X:1 T:Thy Fairy Bosom M:3/4 L:1/8 R:Air Q:"With solemnity" B:J. Clinton – Gems of Ireland:200 Airs (1841, No. 76, p. 38) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Gmin (d=e/^f/|g>).g .g2 (3gab|(a>^f) (_e2 d).c|(B>c) (d2 c>)A|G>G G2 zd| .g>.g .g2 (3gab|(a>^f)| (_e2 d).c|(B>c) d2 {d}c>A|G>G Gz (.G.A.| B2)_ z.A (A>c)|{def}e4 {fe}d.c|.B>.d (g2 ^f>).g|(a>^f) .g2 (d>c)| (B>d) g2 (3gab|(a>^f) (_e2 d).c|(.B>.c) .d2-{d}(c>A)|.G>.G !fermata!.G2||



THY FAIR BOSOM (Do ucd geal). AKA and see "Night closed around", "After the Battle". Irish, Air (3/4 time, "with feeling"). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The two alternate titles come from Thomas Moore's song set to the air of "Thy Fair Bosom" (the first line: "Night closed around the conqueror's way"). Researcher Nicholas Carolan unearthed a version of the melody in the c. 1787 music manuscript collection of Patrick O'Neill (1765-1832) under the title "Fairhaired Boy (1) (The)/Buachaill bán (An)"[1]. Francis O'Neill wrote in his Irish Folk Music: A Fascinating Hobby (1910, p. 132) that the air was a variant of "O Aranmore Loved Aranmore," but Paul de Grae does not find the relationship to be that close[2].


Additional notes



Printed sources : - Clinton (Gems of Ireland: 200 Airs), 1841; No. 76, p. 38. P.M. Haverty (One Hundred Irish Airs vol. 3), 1859; No. 204, p. 97. Smollet Holden (Collection of favourite Irish Airs), London, c. 1841; p. 11. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 205, p. 36.






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  1. Nicholas Carolan, "The Music Manuscripts of Patrick O'Neill (1765-1832). A Preliminary Note," An Piobaire, vol. 5, no. 5, Dec. 2009, p. 18-22.
  2. Paul de Grae, “Notes on Sources of Tunes in the O’Neill Collections”, 2017 [1].