Annotation:Two William Davises

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X: 1 T:Two William Davises C:O'Carolan B:CWTO.203 F:file ID carolan/252twd Z:Gilb/Brennan/Black Q:100 M:C L:1/8 K:G Q:"moderato" Bc|d3g edcB|dBdg edcB|cBAB GABc|d3c B2d2| "5"e2eg e2de|gfga b2ab|gfed g2B2|A4 G2|| ga|"9"b2b2 b2ag|a>gab a2ga|b>age dgBc|d3c B2d2| "13"e2eg e2de|gfga b2ab|gfed g2B2|A4 G2|]



TWO WILLIAM DAVISES. AKA - "Ta dha Uilliam Dáibhis Annsan áitse/There are two William Davis's in this place." Irish, Air (whole time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. While the words to this song have been attributed to Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738), the tune was historically not considered his work, although Carolan is often listed nowadays as the composer. As O'Sullivan (1958) points out, however, the tune is a variant of the Scottish air "Killicrankie", dating to the late 17th century soon after the famous battle of that name (fought in July, 1689). Hardiman attributed the tune, called "Planxty Davis", since known as "The Battle of Killiecrankie," to an earlier harper, Thomas Connellan[1], and O'Sullivan believes this may be correct (although he says Hardiman errs in stating that the 'Davis' title preceded the 'Killiecrankie' one).


Additional notes
Source for notated version : - A ms. lent to P.W. Joyce around the year 1873, "from near Lough Conn, County Mayo" [Joyce].

Printed sources : - P.W. Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Songs), 1909; p. 144 (as "Ta dha Uilliam Dáibhis Annsan áitse/There are two William Davis's in this place"). Donal O'Sullivan (Carolan: The Life, Times and Music of an Irish Harper), 1958; No. 203.






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  1. Connellan was originally from County Sligo, but he is known to have lived in Scotland. The earliest manuscript version of the tune is in the Atkinson ms. (1694) where it appears as "The Irish Gillycranky", suggesting that Connellan was the composer.