h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Planxty - A87840822
Author: Recumbentman - U208656

Here's a thought. I was asked to write the notes for a collection of Irish tunes arranged for ukulele, recently published by Colin Tribe (Schott World Music series, no. ED 13577) and I ventured the solution given in this Entry for the meaning of the word Planxty. What do you think?

You don't mention the sláinte theory

I find this interesting, because one of the first pieces I learned to play on a tin whistle was Planxty Irwin

I hadn't heard of the sláinte theory, but it doesn't sound very plausible. The collector Bunting surmised that it might be an equivalent of pléaráca (one of Carolan's songs is Pléaráca na Ruarcach, translated as O'Rourke's Feast) but Donal O'Sullivan pours cold water on that.

The theory is that sláinte written in old Irish letters looks like planxty in Roman letters. Not a lot, but a bit. Sean O'Riada certainly thought planxty might be a corruption of sláinte although he didn't say anything about the letters.

A very interesting read about a term I had not been familiar with.
I am sure you would like to add a link to A636888

I find this a bit unsettling;

>>This tradition was of unknown antiquity, but it came to an end with Carolan;
he was one of the last of the itinerant harpers and the last one to compose music.

'it came to an end with' and 'one of the last' seem a bit bit contradictory, was he the absolute last, or only one of the last?

'It came to an end shortly after Carolan's death might be a better wording allowing that other contemporaries might have continued after his death, even if they were not also composers.

>>Carolan was on friendly terms with Dean Swift, whom he met on the few times he ventured into the capital.

Could you give us a footnote about who Dean Sift was?

Might it also be worth while to add a few of the other contrived definitions that can be found on the web, with a note about why they are not probable; ie

>some suggest ultimate derivation from Latin plangere "to strike, beat"

Just a suggestion I agree with your conclusion.

I always hate when somebody suggests 'what I wish you had written about'; but I notice we do not have an Entry about Irish Harpers in general. I would like to know why they were usually blind etc. This might be a good companion piece if you are so inclined.

F S

Thanks Florida Sailor! Yes, A636888 deserves a link!

Jonathan Swift, Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral Dublin from 1713 to 1745, best known as the author of Gulliver's Travels, was a social reformer, exerting his influence through pamphlets, satirical verses and direct action. Gulliver's Travels, far from being a nursery book, is a biting satire on the politics of the time.

St Patrick's was and still is in the (Anglican) Church of Ireland, then the official church of the ruling class, but both Swift and his friend Bishop Berkeley A3472986 were concerned for the rights of the Catholic majority, which they championed in that period of oppressive anti-Catohlicism in Britain.

The phrase 'came to an end' is an 'in-or-around' thing. The harpers were officially harrassed (Queen Elizabeth two centuries earlier had put out an edict 'Hang the harpers wherever found') and by Carolan's time the tradition was waning, the skill and originality inexorably going down.

Gnomon, I wouldn't hang a lot of credence on Seán Ó Riada's opinion. The old long S in Irish looks like a pi or a P (sort of, though less than the long R does) but the x and y in Planxty are harder to project on the word sláinte. To my mind the verse by Carolan settles its position as a n'once-word in English.

I've done all (I think) of the things requested by FS, except online links to other theories of the meaning of 'planxty'. I don't think they are that urgent, being (to me) unconvincing.

Though plangere > 'strike, beat' is relevant all right. I'll work that in later.

It's probably worth mentioning that the harps had metal strings and quite a different sound to a modern harp.

no-one wanted to have a bad reputation with a harper

-- I take that harpers could write songs pouring scorn on people they didn't like. Are there any examples of such songs?


Typo alert: Catherdal

Irish harpers, apart from the disinterest in visual representation of the blind, were generally unenthusiastic about their tunes being notated.

-- I don't understand this sentence. Do you mean that blind people have no interest in writing things down?

That's a good question. I must look into it.

Thanks.

In pre-braille days their disinterest would have been probable ... I really mean to say that they weren't interested in amateurs playing their tunes. I'll rephrase it. The same goes for pipers; the only 16th Century harp and pipe notations from Scotland were done by lutenists, I think.

This was a really good read. Thanks, I enjoyed learning more about Carolan.

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Yee har