HarpSinger Celtic Music: Carolan's Quarrel with the Landlady

Image of Turloch O’Carolan playing a Celtic harp.
Portrait of Turloch O'Carolan
From a portrait in the National Gallery of Ireland
Painted from Life; Artist Unknown

Note: The mp3 files will take about a minute to load. Please be patient.

Return to Music Page

Return to Home Page

Carolan's Quarrel with the Landlady

A blind itenerant harpist, Carolan was fond of his Irish whiskey, and extremely quarrelsome when the whiskey was withheld. In this case, his ire was directed at his landlady who was controlling the flow of his whiskey (probably due to his lack of funds).

Carolan was said to have had a biting wit, and the lyrics to this song were probably quite amusing. Unfortunately there are no surviving lyrics for this song. In any case, they would have been in Irish Gaelic, and the wit would possibly have been lost in translation.

My harp teacher once mentioned that brides often select this upbeat piece to be played as the wedding recessional. When I commented on the irony of ending the ceremony with a song about a quarrel over booze, she shrugged and said that she doesn't tell the bridal party the name of the piece unless they ask, and no one has asked.

I arranged this for soprano recorder and harp in the hopes of performing with someone who plays the soprano recorder and who had suggested a collaboration.