Preface - Songs of Old Ireland

From "Songs of Old Ireland" by Alfred Perceval Graves and Charles Villiers Stanford

1882

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THE Fifty Irish Melodies comprised in this collection may be described as new to English ears. They have been chosen to represent as far as possible the various characteristics of the people, from which they have sprung. Thus, glimpses into the lives of the Irish peasant, fisherman, and mechanic are given through the Lullabies, the Love Songs, the Lays of Sport and Occupation, and the Lamentations for the Dead; while the romantic Historical subjects of the remote past have not been neglected. The airs are in the main selected from the Petrie Collection. For a few other airs we are indebted to Mr. Bunting's and Dr. Joyce's collections. The words, where not entirely new, are founded upon Celtic or Anglo-Irish originals, any actual obligation being in each instance acknowledged.

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