Tara's harp

Subject: Tara's harp
From: Teru
Date: 05 May 99 - 08:36 AM

Hello. I am still alive.

Does anyone know the background story of this song (The harp that once through Tara's hall....) by Thomas Moore?

Regards

Teru

Subject: RE: Tara's harp
From: Helen
Date: 05 May 99 - 08:58 AM

Hi Teru,

I don't know any *facts* about it but what I have heard, and vaguely remember, is that Tara was known as "The Seat of Kings", that is it was the royal court for Irish kings, and then the Irish royalty or social structure surrounding that was broken down (presumably by English invasions etc) and so Tara Castle and the surrounding settlements went to ruin.

So the song is a sad lament for the loss of the old culture, society, way of life and Irish independence/autonomy.

Please, someone else, correct me if I'm wrong.

Truly a beautiful tune and words. I learnt to sing & play it in primary (elementary) school.

Helen, in Oz

Subject: RE: Tara's harp
From: emily rain
Date: 05 May 99 - 09:35 PM

also, i'm told the english outlawed the playing of harps because the bards were singing too many revolutionary songs. in that sense, the song is a lament for the harp itself.

Subject: RE: Tara's harp
From: Helen
Date: 06 May 99 - 03:46 AM

Thanks, Emily, I never thought of that.

Helen

Subject: RE: Tara's harp
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 06 May 99 - 12:47 PM

The tune, by the way, was borrowed by Moore from an older Scottish one "Will Ye Go To Flanders?"

Subject: RE: Tara's harp
From: Bruce O.
Date: 06 May 99 - 03:45 PM

The tune for Moore's song is "Gramachree Molly" from a song by George Ogle, published in the London Magazine, Sept. 1774. Strangely enough, the recent 'Sources of Irish Traditional Music', 1998, didn't recognize that "Will ye Go to Flanders" (their #1055) and "Gramachree" (their #1818, and many later copies) were variants of the same tune. [That's not the only identification they missed.]

Subject: RE: Tara's harp
From: Teru
Date: 11 May 99 - 08:40 AM

Thank you very much all.

I knew Tara is a special place of Ireland. I was not sure the harp was sung as a symbol of something else, or the song is a song of a harp. Now, it is clear.

Dick, Irish borrow everything from Scotland as Bobby O'Brien wrote before in this forum!

With my best wishes

Teru of Japan