Annotation:Lament for Sarsfield (1)

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LAMENT FOR SARSFIELD [1]. AKA - "Marbna Sairseul." Irish, Air (4/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. Patrick Sarsfield was a general in King James' army in the wars against the forces of William of Orange in the very beginning of the 18th century. He led the 'flight of the wild geese' after the defeat of the Irish and French forces, leading 14,000 men into exile on the Continent.

I have two brothers and they are in the army,
The one of them's in Cork and the other's in Killarney
With my ri-fol-de-lay.

Stanford (1902) identifies this particular version as the 'modern' air, while Ó Canainn (1978) notes the original appears in Neale's Collection of the Most Celebrated Irish Tunes (Dublin, 1726), the first real collection of Irish folk music. De Grae finds that "Modern air on the same theme" in Stanford Petrie (1902, No. 312) "is closer to O'Neill's setting, particularly in the second part, but has an irregular structure of five bars in the first part and seven in the second, while O'Neill has the orthodox eight bars on each part."

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 433, p. 76. Stanford/Petrie (Complete Collection), 1905; No. 312, p. 78

Recorded sources:



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