An Cualan
"An Cualan" is a much-loved air, or lament, known throughout Ireland and performed by pipers, tin-whistle players and fiddlers alike. Its mood of sadness and melancholy, like most laments, evokes the long-standing misery of the Irish people. It dates back to the reign of King Henry VIII of England (1509-1547), during which was passed an act by which Irish persons were "restrained from being shorn or shaven above the ears, and from wearing glibs or 'coulins' (long locks) on their heads, or hair on their upper lip, called crommeal. On this occasion a song was written in which an Irish virgin is made to give preference to her dear coulin, or youth with flowing locks, to all strangers by which the English were meant, or those who wore their habit." (Nancy Calthorpe). The air has been performed by legendary Irish pipers Seamus Ennis, Sean O'Riada and Willie Clancy, and in the 1996 Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann (Irish MusicFair) by Máire Cogan, whose rendering of the classic won her the World Championship for Uilleann Pipes in the Slow Airs Over-18 category. (Courtesy Irish Music Archive, Merrion Square, Dublin.) |