Simon,

Further to what's been said about Cumha Iarla Wigton, the note bb is
really significant in that tune, and not only in that tune. It is a
transposition of the archetypal keening final A which, transposed or
otherwise, appears in connection with large leaps to higher notes in
Cumha Easbaig Earra-Gháidheal and Is Eagal Leam am Bàs, in one
version of Port Gordon and in Cumha Peathar Ruaidhrì, Port Jean
Lindsay etc. This is very reminiscent of the leaps at the end of
vocal keenings.

This focus on modal A explains why the leap pattern of aaa-aa gg-g ff-
a apears instead of aaa-aa gg-g ff-f. The pitch aa is that of the
Greek mese, the first string tuned on the lyre. These harp tunes
might indicate that Gaelic modal and harp culture featured the aa
string as the central string of the harp-vocal gamut rather than the
g string. This is very interesting considering the pre-eminence of G
sisters latterly. I find G sisters harmonically rather clumsy when
playing the above tunes in all natural tuning.

Further in relation to my 'téad na feola' for the benefit of non-
Gaelic speakers.

The word 'ceólchaire' (music making) exists derived from 'ceól/ceul'
(instrument/music/singing). In one instance, 'ceól' takes the
genitive singular form 'céola'. This word is related
to 'cétal/cétul/cétol' (singing), the verbal noun of 'canaid' (sing).

It is of course hardly rocket science to propose that,
if 'ceólchaire' can derive from 'ceól' and have a genitive singular
form of 'céola', 'eólchaire' could derive from the element 'éol'
having a related meaning and perhaps a genitive singular of 'éola'.
DIL itself suggests this possibility.

The adding and dropping of initial F is a significant linguistic
feature in the development of the Gaelic language. To paraphrase
DIL, a number of words in Old Irish began with a vowel but today
begin with an F. In the intervening period both forms were in use.

Compare 'fétar' (be able) with Old Irish 'étir', or 'fúaigid' (sew)
with 'úaigid'.

Compare also ancient 'éle' (prayer, charm, incantation) and
ancient 'fel/fele/féle' (poetry) and the possible link to the modern
word 'fèile' (charm/incantation). Had the dictionaries not
recorded 'féile' as meaning charm, should we have dismissed the
possibility that it meant charm and not poetry just because of the F?

A word of unknown meaning, 'elbas', may itself represent 'felbas'
(enchantment). The word 'ethemlagas' (etymology) is also very
similar to words of uncertain meaning used in connection with poetry,
ie, 'fethamlachas' (expert knowledge?) and 'fethemlacht'.

So what I'm saying is that even though we have only one modern
rescension of the term 'feola/féola', it could well derive from the
Old Irish word 'éol' which looks just like the first element
of 'eólchaire' (lamentation) and looks as if it might mean the same.

This may be based on a rare word which is no longer used but this
etymology is linguistically much more satisfactory and meaningful
than the very contrived 'téad na bhféith-eolach' (string of the sinew-
learned / string of the sinew-guides).

Beannachdan,



Alasdair

--- In clairseach@..., simon@... wrote:
>
> Super thanks.
>
>
>
>
>
> On 28 Oct 2008, at 02:08, Alasdair Codona wrote:
>
> > Simon, a charaid,
> >
> >> How about feith as waiting?
> >
> > To avoid me completely boring this group, check out this webpage
of
> > mine for that element:-
> > http://www.calumcille.com/modhan/gleusan/3DA.html
> >
> >> Your string of lamentation sounds fun but looks contrived. Also
> > would it be reasonable for the modal base to have that name? I'm
> > thinking a note that is obsessively returned to even if its not
the
> > modal base (like Ann uses E in cumh Iarla Wigton, in G) Please
> > explain what you mean by 'Plagal' in one sentence for noggins <
> >
> > If the main dyad is perceived to be D but the tune doesn't end on
> > an 'authentic' D pitch but on another 'side-pitch' like A, as the
> > archetypal keening melody (F E D C A) does, then the tune can
> > justifiably be described as being 'plagal' (if we want to use that
> > term).
> >
> > I'm sure it's just as reasonable for the authentic modal final D
to
> > have that name as the plagal modal final A. Or the sad note that
> > falls down by a semitone (eg F to E). Or any transposition of
these
> > or others! The archetypal keening melody constantly heads
towards D
> > and A at the end of phrases.
> >
> >> Also arent you going to tackle freagrach and dofreagrach? Or did
I
> > miss that one? <
> >
> > Check out this webpage of mine for that:-
> > http://www.calumcille.com/modhan/gleusan/4C.html
> >
> > In Ann's rendering of Cumha Iarla Wigton, the keening melody is
> > translated from F E D C A to G F# E D B. Her E tonal centre is a
> > transposition of the D and through this she shows a clear
sensitivity
> > towards of one of the harmonic implications of the lament nature
of
> > the piece.
> >
> > Is that meaningful?
> >
> > Beannachdan,
> >
> >
> >
> > Alasdair
> >
> >
> > --- In clairseach@..., simon@ wrote:
> >>
> >> How about feith as waiting?
> >>
> >> Your string of lamentation sounds fun but looks contrived. Also
> > would
> >> it be reasonable for the modal base to have that name? I'm
thinking
> > a
> >> note that is obsessively returned to even if its not the modal
> > base
> >> (like Ann uses E in cumh Iarla Wigton, in G)
> >>
> >> Please explain what you mean by 'Plagal' in one sentence for
noggins
> >>
> >> Also arent you going to tackle freagrach and dofreagrach? Or did
I
> >> miss that one?
> >>
> >> Simon
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On 27 Oct 2008, at 20:27, Alasdair Codona wrote:
> >>
> >>> A chàirdean,
> >>>
> >>> The last of my etymological musings for a while.
> >>>
> >>> The name of the D string above the sisters is given by Bunting
> >>> as 'ted na féola' (p36) and as 'tead na feitheolach' and 'tead
na
> >>> feithe-o-lach' (pp21/22). The first spelling seems to indicate
a
> >>> long E vowel; the last spelling seems to indicate a long O
> > vowel. It
> >>> is interpreted in p21 as 'the string of the leading sinews' (or
> >>> strings). It is translated in pp21/22 as the 'leading sinews'
and
> > in
> >>> p36 as 'leading sinews or strings' in a perhaps awkward plural.
> >>>
> >>> The possible link of féola to the word 'féith' (muscle, vein,
> > sinew)
> >>> would be interesting from an organologist's point of view as the
> >>> Gaelic harp does not have gut strings. The word 'eolach' has
been
> >>> variously spelled in the past, sometimes with the fada mark over
> > the
> >>> E, sometimes over the O. 'Téad na bhféith-eolach' (the string
of
> > the
> >>> sinew-knowing ones) is a possible interpretation of the string
> > name.
> >>> This interpretation is not exactly appropriate on a harp using
> > wire,
> >>> although the word 'string' is used in English for wires on
musical
> >>> instruments. It may be that whoever collected this word
recorded
> > it
> >>> in the form 'féola' and personally interpreted it as 'féith-
> > eolach'.
> >>> However, this exact hyphenation never appears in Bunting.
> >>>
> >>> The masculine word 'eól' (knowledge) is the origin of the
> > word 'iúl'
> >>> (guidance) while the Irish phrase 'déanamh an eolais'
> > means 'leading
> >>> the way'. This may be the concept which lies behind Bunting's
> >>> term 'leading sinews' but the word 'eolach' cannot be used here
to
> >>> mean 'leading/guiding'. Only if the word 'éola', an obsolete
and
> >>> debatable genitive singular of 'eól', was used could 'téad na
> > bhféith
> >>> eola' be produced (ie téad na bhféith iúil) which would
translate
> >>> as 'the string of the guiding strings', a strange term.
> >>>
> >>> Another possibility is the word 'eol' which appears in the
> > Dictionary
> >>> of the Irish Language. It may be the element which appears in
the
> >>> feminine word 'éolchaire' (lamentation). If 'eol' was feminine
> > too,
> >>> then it would be perfectly natural for the word to accrue an
> > initial
> >>> F in Gaelic, leading to a modern 'téad na feola' (string of
> >>> lamentation). This would be an extremely appropriate name for
a D
> >>> string: the D scale forms the basis of most of Carolan's laments
> > and,
> >>> with plagal final, of the archetypical keening tunes.
> >>>
> >>> Beannachdan,
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Alasdair
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> ------------------------------------
> >>>
> >>> Yahoo! Groups Links
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
>