Annotation:Im Bó agus Um Bó
X: 1 T: Im Bo 'gus Um Bo M: 3/4 L: 1/8 R: Air N:Medium tempo Z:http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/1513 K: Emin B|B3cd2|e4e2|e2d2c2|B4B2| c3dc2|c2B2A2|A2G2B2|d4B2| e2d2B2|B2A2G2|A2G2E2|E6||
IM BÓ AGUS UM BÓ. AKA and see "Burn's March," "Huggad de gadda freed a mony" ("Chugad a'gadaidhe fríd a'mónaidh"), "Pretty Peggy (4)," "Steal a Cow and Eat a Cow." Irish, Air (4/4 time). The Gaelic title is a nonsense refrain. Ann Heymann (1988) states it was common to many songs with various tunes, "and was popular enough in the 17th century to be used by a poet from County Kerry in a composition about a favorite dog which had choked to death on a mouse." At the beginning of the 19th century the ancient harper Denis Hempson gave the collector Bunting a translation of two verses he knew of one song which used the refrain about a celebrated harper he said lived "250 years ago:"
Here lies Lappin, harpers' king,
Whose fingers deserve a golden string.
His body lies here, his soul flies high,
Serenading David in the sky.
Siombo agus uambo
Here we spend our days
Giving Kate and Lappin praise
Now we quit and bid adieu
To Royal Kate and Lappin too.
Is iombo is uambo
Regarding the alternate title "Burns March," the title employed by Edward Bunting, researcher Karen Loomis finds there is no information on the source of the “Burn’s March” title to this air anywhere in Bunting’s published work or surviving manuscripts. The annotation in Bunting's 1806 edition at the top of p. 6 of the page with “Burn’s March” read “one of the first tunes taught to the young Harpers and one of the 1st in which grace notes appear”, and “From Hempson”. The comment, “This is one of the first tunes taught young Irish Harpers” appears in Bunting’s archived manuscripts associated with this air[1]. A further annotation in the bottom margin of p. 6 of Bunting (1809), underneath the notated music for "Burns March" reads:
This melody is very ancient being composed without the intervals of 4th and 7th many different sets of the air are current in Ireland. It is said to have been composed for the Burns’s who were Lords of the marshes or papes near Newry in the 13th century [see the peerage and get an anecdote of them] many songs were adapted to this tune one of which is ‘Did you see the black rogue’ [2]
