Gol na mBan san Ár - lyrics

[MarcoWarm]

Hi folks,

I'm desperately looking for the lyrics of the gaelic tune "Gol na mBan
san Ár" (The weeping of the women in the slaughter) aka "Eagle's
Whistle".

I don't know whether there is an English text to this tune also... If
there is, I would also be interested in that.

Thank you very much in advance.
Best regards

Marco Warm

[urs boegli]

MarcoWarm schrieb:

Marco,

I have not found any lyrics, but some infromation
from the ceolas fiddler's companion
http://www.ceolas.org/cgi-bin/ht2/ht2-fc2/file=/tunes/fc2/fc.html&style=&refer=&abstract=&ftpstyle=&grab=&linemode=&max=250?Bag

GOL NA mBAN SAN ÁR (Lament of the Women in Battle). Irish, Slow
Air (3/4 time). G Major. Standard. One part. The title is variously
translated as "The Lament of the Women in Battle" or "The Crying of the
Women in the Slaughter." The title has been thought to have been
inspired by a number of different battles; some think it refers to the
Battle of Aughrim in 1691, between the Jacobite forces and the British
troops and their allies under the Dutch general Ginkel. Breathnach
(1997) says the piece relates to the victory of Lord Inchequin at
Knockinnoss, County Cork, in 1647 (see note for "Macalisdrum's March"
for another tune connected with this battle). The last of the old Kerry
pipers, Michael O'Sullivan (who admittedly had some extremely
idiosyncratic and 'eccentric' notions), maintained it was about the
battle of Cnoc an Áir, in which Fionn Mac Umhaill defeated
Meargach and his hosts with great slaughter. A piping piece, it
programmatically simulates the march of the troops to battle, the
struggle itself, and the women lamenting the slain in the aftermath. It
appears in the appendix to Walker's Historical Memoirs of the Irish
Bards (1786) and Thompson's Hibernian Muse (1786), although in the
latter collection in appears under the title "An Irish Dump" (dump
meaning here a lament or sad tune). According to music historian Gearóid
Ó hAllmhuráin (1998), a cylinder recording still exists from the 1890's
of blind Micí Chúmba Ó Súilleabháin/Micheal O'Sullivan playing the
piece. Breathnach (1997) expands on this to explain that O'Sullivan
competed in the Feis Ceoil held in Dublin in 1899, in which he tied for
second place. He also was an entrant in the competition for unpublished
airs, which could either be submitted by manuscript or could be played
into an Edison phonograph. Those thought worthwhile would be notated and
the cylinders scraped for further use, however, by some bit of luck or
twist of fate, the 1899 cylinders were retained and survived to the
present day. Moreover, an account of O'Sullivan playing at the Feis
appeared in the Irish-American journal Gael (New York) in July 1899:
***
Michael O'Sullivan is also blind, and is named in his own country Micahel
Dall. He is the last of a long line of pipers and has a great store of
airs. The
impatience of the audience however, prevented his being asked very
minutely regarding them before the other competitions commenced.
He however, played Gol na mBan san Ár. This was an important
contribution.
It is the Lamentation of the Women amidst the Slaughter. There are five
lamentations, one for each province.
***
Good Luck!
Urs
http://www.slainte.ch

[MarcoWarm]

Hi Urs,

thank you very much for your information. I suppose the original does
not have
any lyrics. I think "The Eagle's Whistle" by Margie Butler is only
utilizing the
melody and she invented her own lyrics for the song.

Thank you for your help

Regards
Marco