Annotation:Comhra Donn (An)
COMHRA DONN, AN. AKA and see "Cófra Donn (An)," "Brown Casket (The)," "Ó Murchú's Hornpipe," "O'Connor Donn's (2)," "Star of Bethlehem (The)." Irish; Hornpipe or Barn Dance. Ireland, County Donegal. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The first strain of "An Comhra Donn" is structurally and melodically similar to the Scottish "Caledonian March (1)" and the American "Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine (1)," though the second parts are different. Whether the Irish tune is derivative of the Scottish one is undetermined, though one may have been 'informed' by the other. "An Comhra Donn" is usually classified as a hornpipe, but in County Donegal it is considered a German or Barn Dance. The title harbors a similar distortion: according to the site Donegal Fiddle Music [1] there is no real translation of the name "An Comhra Donn", though it is often given to mean "Brown Casket," "Brown Casked" or "Brown Chest" which in Irish is "An Cófra Donn". The Donegal title for the tune is "Comhrá na dTonn (An)", which refers to the phenomenon of the Atlantic storm surge and waves, which can be heard far inland. "An Comhrá na dTonn" literally translates as "conversation (i.e. sound) of the waves."
The alternate title "O'Connor Donn's" is a corruption (a 'Mondegreen') of the Gaelic title. See also the melodically similar (in the 'A' part) "Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine (1)," "Centenary March (The)," "Caledonian March," as well as the English "Durham Rangers" family of tunes.
The Chieftains have recorded tune twice, first as "An Comhra Donn" on their eponymous 1963 album, and again in 1991 under the title "Ó Murchú's Hornpipe."
