The Irish standard., 1901-05-25
The Earliest English Treatise on Music
Was Published in 1884 by
Learned Jesuit
The Destruction of the Irish Parliament
Checked the Cultivation of
the Native Art.

If ever il nation should be proud of
its musical history, then, indeed, Ire
lands claim to prc-emincncc is beyond
compare 1t is not my intention to
touch on the glorics of musical Erin
from the fourth century to the death
of O'Carolnn--slch Il task would be too
great; but shall ut once plunge into
the subject matter which ! have So
lcctcd for my theme, says William ii.
Grnttan Flood in the Dublin Weekly
Freeman. Our title to Il musical ma
ton does not depend on general assrr-
tiOnS, nor vet on the efforts of Il few
wcll-known natives like I.oni Morning
ton. Tom Moore Halfc and Wallace.
No. AS far back us the ninth century
the Irish music school of st. Calls,
Switzerland, was "thr wonder and de-
light of Europe" Let our English
musicians never forget that our Irish
missionaries naugnrntcl Il plain chant
at Lindisfarnc. Durham. Lichticld.
Malmcsbury, Suffolk, Cornwall, and
Glastonbury; that the old Englisl,
''crowd' WAS derived from the Irish
'cruit;" that the Irish invented discant,
or 0rgnnum, the sonata form, the pedal
point and the lett motif: that an Irish
Jesuit, Father William Rathc. pub
liShed, in 1884, the earliest English
Treatise on music: that Queen EliZn-
beth was passionntcly fond of Irish
music, and retained in her service an
Irish harper named Donal; that Shake
speare introduced half a dozen Irish
songs into his plays: that Ben JonsoIl
appropriated several Irish airs; that
the oldest Catch Club in the Kingdom
was founded in 1850, at Dublin; that
Purcell was Of Irish descent; that
Charles COifcy. an Irishman, as early
as 1923 wrote charming ballad Ope
rns; that some of the best airs in the
"Beggars' Opera" are Irish; that Field,
II, <x>.1
turnr;;' that Richard Pockrich invented
the musical glasses; that God Save
the King" was composed by an Irish
man. Henry Carey; and "in short
as Mr.. Micawber would say-that some
of the best living English musicians
(cxc,lse the "bull') are Irish-nced
only mention the illustrious names Of
DR.. Villiers Stanford, DIR. Charles
Wood, Rev. DR.. Torrance, Madame
Augusta Holmes, Mrs. Ncedham, Mrs.
Milligan Fox, Doctor Annie Patterson,
Miss Hope Temple Arthur O'Leary, J.
L. Molloy. Mackay Glover, Piccolomini,
and others.
am no laudator temporis acti, but
still the conclusion is inevitably forced
Oh me that we of the present day are
not as musical in Ireland as were those
of the eighteenth century. Compare
sens are proverbially unpleasant, yet
when we view the status of music
from 100 TO 1900. and behold in paIlO-
ramic array the giants of those days
Comedian. OCarolan, Mooney, Heffer-
nan, Lyons, Hcmpson, O'Neill, Dun
can. Tanning, MacCabc, Jackson, Stir
ling. O'Cahan, Duigcnan, OwensOn.
MOngan. O'IIara. O'Farrcll, MacDOn-
nell, Lord Morningt0n, BrOwnlow,
Carter. Southwcll, Reynolds, Cherry,
Oglc, Claggit, Coffcy, pockrch, Bick-
erstaffc Grogan, Gansey, Cogan, Cliff
ton, De Ii Main. Bunwortl. Young.
Talbot. Corey. ROscingravc, Ousely,
Ashe, Lee. etc. we must ccde the palm
to our worthy ancestors. All the same
the nineteenth century was productive
of good musicians, as the sequel will
show.
The advent of Handel, Dubourg,
Castrucci, Geminiani Tcnducci Pas
scrini. Giordani Barthclemon, and
other distinguished foreign musicians
to ireland developed Il keen taste for