The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-07-07

the dramatist, gave an amusing account OF
an Irish piper, named M'Donnell, who
kept borses and grooms aud had his pipes
tipped with silver. On one occasion be
was sent for to private mansion 60 play
| while the company were at dinner. he
obeyed the summons, and on entering
found outside the diningroom table with
o bottle of wine placed on 1t for him. he
poured out gloss Of the wine, and advanc-
ing o few stops into the diningroom aud
addressing the host, said, "I drink to you
and your company" and then throwing
half q crown on the table, said to ser.
want, tThere are two sbillings for my bot.
tie Of wine, and sixpence for yourself."
Then he mounted his horse and ga'loped
of. Carolan was also proud, and declined
to play directly for hire. They were all
familiar with the tones of the modern
harp, which had catgut strings. The tones
of the Irish harp were more melancholy.
The latter instrument had compass OF
about four Octsves from viOloncello G to
d. It was tuned to the key Of msjor,
and, when used In the keys Of d, A, or E,
yielded the peculiar minor scales which
were Characteristic of certain melodies.
At the request of the lecturer, Mrs. Mackey
played on the Irish harp the airs "The
Coolin," and "Weep on" 10 illustration of
those scales. All that We know of ancient
Irish music and harpists would have been
lost but for Bunting, who, with all his
nationality, was the son of an Eoglish
father and mother, and justified what had
been often said Of English settlers, that
they became "more Irish than the Irish
themselves" The harp of Carolan had
been kindly lent for that lecture by The
O'Conor Don, member Of Parliament for
Roscommon. Carolsn was not the last or
the most skilful Of the Irish hsrpists, but
he was better known than any of them.
He was descended from an ancient family
of the county of Meath, where there was
still place called Carolan's Town. At
sixteen years of age he lost his sight by
email pox: He owed his education to
Madame MDermott Roe, who had him
taught music, and at twenty years of age
be became an itinerant minstrel. Towards
the close of his life he became addicted to
drink, and it was related of him that after
having refrained from it for q long time,
he asked leave merely to smell glass of
whiskey, but was unable to resist the
more, and, under the influence of that in
spiration, composed his tune called the
"Receipt for Drinking Whiskey." The
lecturer played the tune on the piano, and
proceeded to say that stories we're told of
Carolan's playing difficult pieces of Italian
Carolau's power of extemporising music
and wOrds was, however, undonbted. He
died in March, 1898, in the sixty eight
year of his age, at Alderford House, where
the big chair in which be used to sit was
still preserved. His grave was amongst
those of the M'Dermott Roe family. His
skull was stolen from it, and was after
wards preserved In q museum at Castle
Caldwell, the residence of Sir John Cald-
we'll. Strange to say, similar thing hap
pened to Hay ydo, whose skull was stolen
from his grave at Vienna, by an absurd
chronological fanatic. The Irish pipes
were originally blown, not by bellows,
k.-k k~xv 81 tha ntn nf
the the irish % piper before them % was
copied accurately from two old pictures,
in one of which piper was represented
accompanying q hand of Rspparees, and
in the other of which the piper appeared
lying dead. These pictures showed the
long thick bair then worn by the Irish
kerne, and which was capable of resisting
q blow of q stick or a sword. The old Irish
pipes had the clarion-like tone of the
Scotch pipes, but by this addition Of tenor
harmony and drone bass had been made a
more perfect instrument. MIR. Kingston, of
Trinity College, here exhibited the powers
of the Irish and Scotch pipes respectively.
The tune on the Scotch pipes was warmly
applauded. The lecturer said their patri
otism was not 80 strong as he had expected,
judging by the way in which they had
applaudea the strangers' pipes (laughter).
The harpers and pipers OF the last century
used to travel through the country and
BbAy CuiShy dL LuO lOu6oo VI OIU lhmlll0S
who bad been ruined in the civil wars, but
not unfrequently also at the mansions of
Protestant families. After the accession
of the Hanoverian dynasty italian must
cians were brought to London, and in spite
of the sarcasms of Addison the Italian
opera soon became the rage there. A
newspaper of the day complained of &c 600
having been expended in one of those en-
tertainments con a parcel of equeaking,
caperiug, fiddling bnffoons." The music
cf Italy found it's way here, and Irish mu-
sical taste became Italianized, and the
music of the country went out of fashion,
and remained 30 until it was restored to
favor again by the poet Moore. Various
foreign musicians visited Ireland, and some
of them settled here. The cathedral choirs
endowed by Charles and Charles II pro-
duced several distinguished musicians;
and from a score of the messiah" dated
1898, it appeared that when that great
work was produced in Dublin the bass and
tenor singers were respectively Richard
Rosingrave and John Church. In Hande'e