The Luke Donnellan Collection

The following commentary is by fiddle player Darren Mhag Aoidh for Oriel Arts.

On working through the very fine Donnellan collection of music (reproduced in facsimile in A Hidden Ulster pp. 488-507) for the purpose of selecting pieces for the ORIEL ARTS recording, a few things struck me.

The volume of reels in comparison with the other dance types is notable. It’s possible that the tunes played locally for céilí dances were so well known that Donnellan did not feel the same urgency to record those. The sheer variety of tune characteristics across the collection is astonishing. There are tunes in almost every mode as well as diatonic offerings. Some tunes have a truly authentic Irishness to them in their modality and turn of phrase. Others are quite strikingly Scottish, and it’s encouraging to know that the healthy dialogue between these shared traditions, which continues as a feature of the music of this part of the country, was seemingly as strong then as now.

Other tunes are not as popular in Oriel any more, but are associated nowadays with the traditions of Sliabh Luachra, Co Kerry, County Clare or Donegal. ORIEL ARTS gives us an opportunity to reclaim this heritage. Far from being a dead collection of tunes that have faded into obscurity, the collection offers an imprint on the timeline of a living tradition, and gives us an insight into the music that brought comfort and joy into the lives of the people of south Armagh, Louth and further afield.

It is an understatement to note that Donnellan must have had an impressive ear to note the tunes in the collection. The tunes are meticulously noted and seem highly accurate. There are occasions when discretion should be applied – for example where there has been an obvious notational error in pitch or rhythm. I note some examples below.

There are occasions also when musical judgement needs to be applied to the tonality/modality of the tune. As has been a feature in other collections of music, Donnellan seems to have often taken the final note of a tune as the tonic and treating the tune as major diatonic. For instance, there are examples of tunes ending on ‘D’ which have been given 2 sharps; on playing through the tune the intelligent ear will work out that the tune is actually Mixolydian and needs just one sharp, as the second has such a jarring effect. I believe no. 68 ‘Follow my love to Carlow’ is an example of such a tune, where the second sharp is mistaken in the first part, and the second part works well either way.

No. 66 ‘The Black-haired Girl’ is the other way round: this tune is still popular in the tradition, with two sharps and has been recorded by Altan as such. Donnellan has treated the tune as being in A minor, with no sharps or flats. These decisions may have been a result of a classical training in notation and/or the challenges of noting a tune in hurried conditions. A number of the ‘miscellaneous’ tunes deserve special mention. No. 63 ‘The Rose in the Gap’ is a beautiful tune, resurrected by fiddler Dónal O’Connor and piper John McSherry on their fine record ‘Tripswitch’. It has the enduring timeless feel of an ancient clan march.

No. 88 ‘Betty Black’s’ is a quirky number, which has been categorised by some as a Barndance. County Down fiddler, Nigel Boullier includes a different version of the same tune more accurately as a figure dance called ‘Bessie Black’ in his collection ‘Handed Down’, fiddle music from central and east County Down. There are subtle differences in the two settings and the Donnellan setting is slightly more intricate, with more leaps across strings (if it was noted from a fiddler).

No. 98 ‘O’Connell’s March to Tara’ interestingly survives these days as a slide. Rather than straight quavers in 4/4 or 2/2, it is in 12/8 and the quavers of the first bar are played as crotchet-quaver. The first note of the ‘turn’ of the tune is usually an A these days, but the G noted by Donnellan does create an intriguing tension and deserves exploration by the performer.