Narrative Singing in Ireland is a definitive account of Irish traditions of singing as a storytelling art. Of interest to scholars and general readers, this book examines the varied associations of song and story in Ireland and why people sing as they do. It ranges from ballads in English, through Irish Heroic songs - of Fionn mac Cumhaill, Deirdre, the Big Fool and others, sung from earliest times to the present - to ballads of European tradition with the lyric songs of Irish. Written in a lively and entertaining style, it includes chapters on: Irish narrative singing in general, lays, ballads - old and new, the lyric songs of Irish and their stories, singers and songmakers, traditional singing and the media, and narrative singing today.

Narrative Singing in Ireland is a definitive account of Irish traditions of singing as a storytelling art. Of interest to scholars and general readers, this book examines the varied associations of song and story in Ireland and why people sing as they do. It ranges from ballads in English, through Irish Heroic songs - of Fionn mac Cumhaill, Deirdre, the Big Fool and others, sung from earliest times to the present - to ballads of European tradition with the lyric songs of Irish. Written in a lively and entertaining style, it includes chapters on: Irish narrative singing in general, Lays, Ballads - old and new, the lyric songs of Irish and their stories, Singers and songmakers, Traditional singing and the media and Narrative singing today.

Focusing on several distinct genres of eighteenth-century Irish song, Henigan demonstrates in each case that the interaction between the elite and vernacular, the written and oral, is pervasive and characteristic of the Irish song tradition to the present day.

Bright Star of the West examines the life, repertoire, and influence of Ireland's greatest sean-nos (old-style) singer, Joe Heaney (1919-1984). Best known for popularing this form of Gaelic a cappella folk song in the United States, authors Sean Williams and Lillis ? Laoire reveal the ways in which Heaney's life story demonstrates the intertwining of music with political memory and cultural understanding.

1. Social Change and the Storytelling Tradition. Modernization and Economic Change. Factors Effecting the Decline of Traditional Storytelling. Technological Innovations. Dance Halls and Public Houses. The Introduction of the Automobile. The Modernization of Homes. Education, Literacy, and the Decline of the Language. The "Death" of the Tradition 2. Folklore Collectors and the Irish Storytelling Tradition. The Pivotal Role of the Collectors. Collecting in the Past. Folklore Collecting Today. Self-Consciousness and the Storytelling Tradition. County Clare: A Symbiosis of Music and Storytelling.The Influence of Eamon Kelly. Limitations in the Documentation of the Tradition 3. The Current Status of the Two Language Traditions. Developments in the Study of Traditional Narrative. Aesthetic Considerations in Traditional Storytelling. The Preeminence of the Irish Language Tradition. The English Language Tradition: Narrating and Narrators of Scealaiocht. The English Language Tradition: Narrating and Narrators of Seanchas. Final Considerations and Portents of Change App. I: QuestionnaireApp. II: Ar Cuairt and Related TermsApp. III: Glossary of Gaelic TermsApp. IV: Selected Tales The Quarryman's SonThe Mac a hAon FionnAbove and Beyond the End of the EarthThe Gentlemen's Agreement.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1910 edition. Excerpt: ... FOREWORD Erin's bardic poems, ballads and folk-songs carry her story back to the Christian dawn and even earlier. They are history with the added charm of a personal note, a thrill of actuality, not to be found in annals and chronicles. They sing the hopes and fears of the people in epic moments of their national life. When we read the story of Clontarf, we sympathize in a faroff way with the issues there decided. But who among us feels the loss of Brian as did his friend Mac Liag, the poet? He wrote of the dead monarch as an aide de camp might have written of Washington, as Rudyard Kipling has written of Lord Roberts. This poetic narrative of battles fought and won is a golden commentary extending throughout the whole course of Irish history. In many cases the poets were participants of the scenes they described; for it was the bard's duty to accompany his prince on the field of battle and incite him to deeds of valor. The songs about Hugh O'Donnell and Patrick Sarsfield were sung by men whose fortunes were bound up with those of their leaders. Music was made to serve the selfsame end, and the twofold tradition is as vivid as it is intimate. This tradition enables us to appreciate the true inwardness of Irish history in a way that the tomes of the annalist utterly fail to do. From the cradle to the grave the Irishman's life is set to music. It begins with the lullabies of infancy; keening ends it, when the spirit leaves the body. Work has its songs as well as play; there are lovesongs and dances, and never are the songs so beautiful as when the lover is poet. Devqtion turns to song instinctively; so do joy and sorrow, longing and despair. Nothing so great, nothing so small but the Irishman may put it into verse and enrich it wi