Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 11 hours ago
Notes on the selections in this video:
00:00 (Untitled) Air: an "air" was originally an Elizabethan art song but then came to mean simply a melody. This one is without lyrics.
01:26 The Lovely Sweet Banks of the Suir: this song was a ballad with a certain circulation, but, apart from the first line, the lyrics seem to have been lost.
03:30 The Dirge of Carolan: the lyrics to this song were written by Robert Tannahill and commemorate the blind Irish harper Turlough Carolan. Each stanza concludes with the line "The soul of sweet music now sleeps in his urn."
04:56 I Would Rather Than Ireland (Be Free): the singer in this song addresses a thrush, which he asks to sing to his love to soften her heart towards him since he is (literally or figuratively) a captive and envies the bird's freedom. Perhaps the title can be interpreted to mean that he would sacrifice his freedom as an Irishman in exchange for the freedom to pursue his love.
06:28 Dermott (Take Back the Virgin Page): Thomas Moore set to this melody lyrics written on the occasion of receiving a blank book as a gift and reflecting on the contrast between the blank "virgin" page and his fiery passions, which, he hopes, shall someday be subdued.
07:58 The Shanavest and the Caravat: the former were wealthy farmers and land owners and the latter laborers and small tenant farmers, and the two often clashed violently. This piece is an example of a "faction song."
09:00 The Pleasant Rocks: I have not been able to find lyrics for his song.
10:08 Fr. Quin (Whene'er I See Those Smiling Eyes): the lyrics by Thomas Moore lament the loss of youth, love, and happiness.
11:17 'Tis Not Your Gold Would Me Entice: only one verse survives of this song, stating that wealth is not a sufficient reason for marriage.
12:28 Slán Beo Farewell: the first two words mean "Goodbye" in Irish. P. W. Joyce, who wrote down the melody, did not pass on the lyrics.
Notes on the selections in this video:
00:00 (Untitled) Air: an "air" was originally an Elizabethan art song but then came to mean simply a melody. This one is without lyrics.
01:26 The Lovely Sweet Banks of the Suir: this song was a ballad with a certain circulation, but, apart from the first line, the lyrics seem to have been lost.
03:30 The Dirge of Carolan: the lyrics to this song were written by Robert Tannahill and commemorate the blind Irish harper Turlough Carolan. Each stanza concludes with the line "The soul of sweet music now sleeps in his urn."
04:56 I Would Rather Than Ireland (Be Free): the singer in this song addresses a thrush, which he asks to sing to his love to soften her heart towards him since he is (literally or figuratively) a captive and envies the bird's freedom. Perhaps the title can be interpreted to mean that he would sacrifice his freedom as an Irishman in exchange for the freedom to pursue his love.
06:28 Dermott (Take Back the Virgin Page): Thomas Moore set to this melody lyrics written on the occasion of receiving a blank book as a gift and reflecting on the contrast between the blank "virgin" page and his fiery passions, which, he hopes, shall someday be subdued.
07:58 The Shanavest and the Caravat: the former were wealthy farmers and land owners and the latter laborers and small tenant farmers, and the two often clashed violently. This piece is an example of a "faction song."
09:00 The Pleasant Rocks: I have not been able to find lyrics for his song.
10:08 Fr. Quin (Whene'er I See Those Smiling Eyes): the lyrics by Thomas Moore lament the loss of youth, love, and happiness.
11:17 'Tis Not Your Gold Would Me Entice: only one verse survives of this song, stating that wealth is not a sufficient reason for marriage.
12:28 Slán Beo Farewell: the first two words mean "Goodbye" in Irish. P. W. Joyce, who wrote down the melody, did not pass on the lyrics.
