Annotation:Carolan's Ramble to Cashel

Back to 

 CAROLAN'S RAMBLE TO CASHEL. Irish, (Moderate or slow) Air (3/4 time). E Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. Composed by blind Irish harper Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738). The Rocks of Cashel was the site of an ancient Irish fortress upon which was later built a large cathedral to which many made pilgrimage. O'Sullivan (1958) points out, however, that there are a score of places in Ireland named Cashel, including one in County Roscommon that must have been locally familiar to O'Carolan. Source for notated version: the Pigot manuscript [O'Sullivan]. The tune is in 6/8 time in Pigot's original ms. Inferior versions are to be found in the manuscripts of cleric James Goodman and in Joyce's 1909 volume. Printed sources: Complete Collection of Carolan's Irish Tunes, 1984; No. 191, p. 131. Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Songs), 1909; No. 245, pp. 118-119. O'Sullivan (Carolan: The Life, Times and Music of an Irish Harper), 1958; No. 191, p. 209. Recorded sources: Shanachie 79013, Derek Bell - "Carolan's Receipt" (1987).

Back to