tthc musk of the ~tring8 ur Uw .s~ng of the cuckoo. Anc.1 u~ie pod. havi1ng said 1all that and much more besides, admits that he has described onl1y a ·sixty-fourth part of her (we presume 100 !Per cent; physical grace and mental chatnm. (Part of ,this description is taken from Henry Morris's resume of the love-song themes). 3. The Goltraighe was the name gi·VEin to the songs of sorrrow. Thes1e 1would include Laments, say, for someone who met ra sudden deat4 by drowning or other aocident. They were very common in Donegal. A Kilcar song entittled "Nora Nie Giolla Che1arr'' is said to have bee~ 1written in 1798, a:nd it ltells of the tra,gic death of Nora Carr who was killed by a boulder which roUed over a cliff on to the Tocks where she wras sitting. Another song, ''Barrai na hArdai" is the tale of a dreadfiul drowning tragedy at Ards about 1790 in which a number ·Of people lost their liv·es. The GoHraighe type ralso includes the famous "keien'' or wailing song 1cha1nted by 1relatives at wakes and funerals. This keening 1can sti11 be heard in districts of Donegal. It has no set form of words but i·s improvised by the mourn€1:rs to suit a 1particular case. . 4. Th.~ Su1antraighe or Lulliaby.~It is said that no oither natio!l is as rich a•s ·ours in this \type of 1music. The lullaby is not so .common in Donegal as it is in other parts or Ireland, but numbers of lulllabies have been found and recorded h 1the county. A famous and (1probably ·ancient) melody, found in Connaught, is sung to the words "1Sectthin, seotho'', the Gaelic 1equiv.al€nt of "Hush". An old tradition says th1a1t this most beautiful ·and hauntitng air was the one used by the Divine Mothe1r to lull her Infant Child to sleep. 5. Fairy Songs and songs rf1lati1ng to preternaitural happenings .are frequer:.tly to be found in Donegal. The fairies we,re thought to be very .acii.ve. Who has not heard -0f the wail of the Banshee (F1airy-woman), seLt to warn someone of an impending calamity? The :fairies 1went so fair 1ais to abduct people. An incident of the kind is relwted in a .song called "Bhain iSe1achran-Sidhe da.mh me i dtus na hOiche" whkh was recorded in G~aiseach Be·ag, Glenfiinn. 6. Danta. Tir-Ghtiadha or iP,atriotic Songs were naturally numerous. The local example that mast readily comes to min::I is our famous 1rallying song "O'Da~nell Abu". In 1a ilect.ure given in Letterkenny during Ci1vic Week by Mr. Eamon 0 Gallchobhair, the 1r.oted Dublin musilrian, he drew special attention to 1a Dc1negal marching tune "The iMarch of the O'Dannells" which he rega.rded as one of the finest ·COmposiiJti.ons of i'ts kind. Amhrain ,Molt.a (Songs of Prtaise) were composed about practically everything and anybody ,-peop~-e, places, aniimals, boats, ete. A good e:xiample 1comc\s from Teelin and was recorded by Sean 0 hE>'.)chaidh. It is called "Cuach 's Anna", evidently the names of two boats, 1whose crews of looa1l fisherme.n receive their due meed of praise. Another 1very 1well-known of this kind is "Sean Dun na nGall" which was composed by ·Mr. Boyce of Fanad. It eulogises Donegal in ·no uncertain terms. 8. Songs of local happenings are to be found in abundance. Even up to _very recently this type of co:npositi0in appealed jmmens299
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