Murray,

From memory (I haven't read the Bunting book properly, and even then I haven't looked at if for some years) Edward Bunting transcribed the harp tunes he heard at a gathering of what was considered to be the last remaining harpers in Ireland. Bunting realised that if the tunes weren't transcribed then the harping tradition could very easily die out and the tunes would be lost. In fact the real harping revival didn't occur significantly until this century, so we Celtic harp players owe a great debt to Bunting for keeping the tunes alive.

I believe that they were transcribed for piano rather than for harp. I don't think that Bunting played the harp at all.

Lesley

It's great to see you here at Mudcat. I've told you this before, via an e-mail to your site, that I think your site is one of the best sites I know of on the 'net. I always enjoy surfing around on it. You have a wonderful collection of tunes, not just O'Carolan's tunes, and some really interesting information. So, thank you very much for your fine work. (I'm the one who told you that I think you have the wrong tune for O'Carolan's Farewell. Not a criticism, believe me, just a constructive comment.)

Helen