Annotation:Black Eyed Susan (1)

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BLACK EYED SUSAN [1] (Suban na sul dub). Irish, Slow Air (6/8 or 3/4 time). G Minor (O'Neill, 1st Setting): C Minor/Dorian (O'Neill, 2nd Setting): D Dorian (Darley & McCall). Standard tuning (fiddle). One part (Darley & McCall): AB (O'Neill). The County Cork collector William Forde (c. 1759-1850) noted:-- (Source Hugh) "O'Beirne swears that this is Irish." There is some similarity, however, to a song called "Black-Eyed Susan" by the English stage composer Leveridge, which goes:


X:1
T:Black-Eyed Susan
M:3/4
L:1/8
R:Air
B:Moffat - Minstrelsy of Ireland (1897, p. 339)
Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion
K:Gmin
DGA|B3 A/G/ ^FG|D3 GFE|D3 B, C>C|D3 DGA|B3 FBc|
d3d c/B/A/G/|F3B cA|B4 dc/B/|cB/A/ BA/G/ ^FG|
D3 CB,D|F2 DDGA|B2d2 c/B/A/G/|D4 ^F2|G3||

Additional notes
Source for notated version : - piper Hugh O'Beirne^[1] , 1846 (Mohill, Co. Leitrim) [Darley & McCall]; Chicago Police Sergeant James O'Neill, a fiddler originally from County Down and Francis O'Neill's collaborator [O'Neill].

Printed sources : - Darley & McCall (Feis Ceol Collection of Traditional Irish Music), 1914; No. 52, p. 23. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 53, p. 10 and No. 54, p. 10.

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↑ P.W. Joyce concluded that O'Beirne had been a fiddler in his Old Irish Folk Music and Songs (1909, p. 296). However, William Forde, the only collector who had direct contact with O'Beirne, wrote in a letter to John Windele of Cork, dated Sept. 21, 1846, that he had obtained over 150 airs from a piper, Huge Beirne. Forde was seeking to supplement his collection with music from Connaught and the north, and was glad to make the musician's acquaintance, staying on in Ballinamore longer than he originally planned. He also found O'Beirne in poor health in the time of Great Famine, writing "Stirabout and bad potatoes were working fatally on a sinking frame," and aided the piper by improving his diet ("but a mutton chop twice a day has changed Hugh's face wonderfully").

[1] P.W. Joyce concluded that O'Beirne had been a fiddler in his Old Irish Folk Music and Songs (1909, p. 296). However, William Forde, the only collector who had direct contact with O'Beirne, wrote in a letter to John Windele of Cork, dated Sept. 21, 1846, that he had obtained over 150 airs from a piper, Huge Beirne. Forde was seeking to supplement his collection with music from Connaught and the north, and was glad to make the musician's acquaintance, staying on in Ballinamore longer than he originally planned. He also found O'Beirne in poor health in the time of Great Famine, writing "Stirabout and bad potatoes were working fatally on a sinking frame," and aided the piper by improving his diet ("but a mutton chop twice a day has changed Hugh's face wonderfully").

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