Fanny Dillon
| TYPE | 3 - Complex Melody |
| TOPIC | Praise |
| TUNE STRUCTURE | A15 B12 |
| VERSE STRUCTURE | 4v 4l |
| TIME SIGNATURE | C |
| KEY SIGNATURE | ♭ |
| TONAL CENTRE | G |
| INCIPIT | GB♭C'C'B♭GFE♭E♭FE♭F |
| GENRE | Amhrán Mór |
| TEXT SOURCE | Royal Irish Academy MS 23 A 1: 3 |
| TUNE SOURCE | A Collection of the Most Celebrated Irish Tunes (Dublin: John and William Neal, 1724), p.28 |
| FIRST LINE | Má fhíoruighear dhíon cia rachad, trialaigh mé go Manainn |
| NOTATED INCIPIT | |
| In the Bunting manuscripts, the harper Paddy Quin attributes this song to Carolan. Carolan’s biographer, Donal O’Sullivan, traces the subject to the daughter of Gerard Dillon of Mannin, Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo and sets the melody to 3:4 time in order, as Nicholas Carolan notes, ‘to resolve the rhythmical difficulties here’. See Nicholas Carolan, ed. Celebrated Irish Tunes (1986; 2010 revised ed.), p.100. | |
Fanny DillonMá fhíoruighear dhíom cia rachad, trialaigh mé go Manainn,Féuchaint an starraidhe is aoibhne cáil,Mur tá ‘n réagun sin Fainnigh, innighin deise Ghearailt,Planda is binne ghrinne is is dílse do mhnáibh.‘S é ‘shíleas gach barrún tíre is tallaidh,Trá nach mbím dá ngar go bhfuigheadh said san bás;Arís, trá bhidhim na dtathaidh éirighidh a gcraoidhe ‘s a n-eagnadh,Is deir said liom do phreib go mbíon said slán.‘S í phoenix na finne, an phéarla brádh leinibh,Is féuchadh gach duine an cás mar is cóir; Gur ionn a héadan tá a’ lille geimreadh na gille,Is tá gach ní ‘breith buille is ‘breith barr air an rós.Féuchaid mé mo ghliocas léir mar tá m’eideas,Éirighim as is ní abraim ní acht an chóir;Líontar suas na cannaidh súd fá thuairim Fainnigh,Sláinte Chaiptín Gearailt a chaoidhche do bhéim ‘ól.RIA MS 23 A 1; 3, where it is mistitled ‘Captain Fitzgerald’ in error for ‘Captain Gerald [Dillon]’, father of Fanny Dillon (suggested in Nicholas Carolan, 2010, p.100)
Fanny DillonIf you ask where I am going, I am journeying to Manann [Co Mayo] To see the entertaining talker of the finest reputation, Where there is that princess Fanny, the fine daughter of Gerald, The plant that is the most melodious and the most intelligent and the most loyal of women. Every baron of territory and of land thinks, When I am not near them, that they will die; Again, when I am in their company, their hearts and spirits rise up, And they tell me in an instant that they are well. She is the phoenix of beauty, she is the find child-like pearl, And let everyone see the situation as is just; That in her brow is the winter [?] lily of brightness, And every aspect [of her] seizes the upper hand and victory from the rose. I will test my cleverness in accordance with my rearing, I give it up, and I say nothing but what is just; Fill up those cans in honour of Fanny, the health of Captain Gerald will be continually drinking.(Translated in Nicholas Carolan, 2010, p.100)