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tity of ftone remarkably well wrought, was difcovered here, and on removing an heap of rubbish, the collection of many centuries, two clusters of columns were found, with curious emblematic decorations, which had fupported a great fretted arch, compofed of the before mentioned ftones, which lead to the discovery.

"THE IVY CHURCH, is fituated fomewhat to the weftward, and has large breaches in its walls long fince overgrown with ivy; nothing worthy of remark can be found in this building, which is entirely unroofed.

"TEAMPULL-NA SKELLIG, fituated in the recefs of the fouth mountain, was the ancient Priory of the Rock, and was alfo called the Temple of the Defert, both expreffive of the Irifh appella

tion.

"The celebrated bed of St. Keivin, on the fouth fide of the lough is a cave, hewn in the folid rock, on the fide of the mountain, exceeding difficult in afcent, and terrible in profpect, for it hangs perpendicular over the lake, at an alarming height above the furface of the water; at a small diftance from this bed, on the fame fide of the mountain, are to be feen, the ruins of a fmall ftone building, ca led St. Keivin's cell.

"We fhall now bid adieu to

this illuftrious feminary, which (in the language of a late eminent writer,)" was once the luminary of the western world, whence favage fepts and roving barbarians derived the benefits of knowledge and the bleffings of religion."

"The romantic shape of the furrounding mountains, many of which are covered with a fresh fpring of wood, and others, though of a furprifing height, retaining the liveliest verdure almost throughout the year; thefe, added to the winding form of a very fertile valley, which terminates in a lake of confiderable extent, increase our ve neration; in a word, on a review of fuch a fcene, "to abstract the mind from all local emotion would be impoffible if it were endeavoured, and would be foolish if it were poffible. Whatever withdraws us from the power of our fenfes whatever makes the past, the diftant, or the future, predominate over the prefent, advances us in the dignity of thinking beings. Far from us and from our friends be fuch frigid philofophy as may conduct us indifferent and unmoved over any ground which has been dignified by wisdom or by virtue That man is little to be envied, whofe piety will not grow warmer as he treads the ruins of Glendalogh!"

s;

STYLE of the ANCIENT IRISH MUSIC.

[In a Letter from the Rev. EDWARD LEDWICH, LL. B. in the APPENDIX to WALKER'S HISTORICAL MEMOIRS of the IRISH BARDS.]

66

With my reading or know

"I ledge enabled me to affift your ingenious enquiries, or elucidate

the curious fubject which fo laud

ably engages your attention. Your patriotifm is eminent in recovering

from

from oblivion the veftiges and fragments of our ancient mufical art; and the valuable fpecimens you have exhibited of it, no lefs demonstrate your taste and judg

ment.

"In treating of the hiftory of the church of Ireland in the 12th century, it was neceffary to examine and refute an affertion of St. Ber nard, that antecedent to the primacy of Malachy, we were ignorant of pfalmody and church mufic: they gave rife to the following notices and conjectures.

"How plain foever it may appear, that mufic exifted in the Chriftian church from its foundation, yet fome industry is requifite to difcover it in England and in Ireland. Bishop Stillingfleet has been able to collect but few mufical traits of the Gallican or British offices, as contra-distinguished from the Gregorian or Roman: the paucity of records, and the bare hints of writers forming very uncertain data from whence to deduce pofitive conclufions. The fame obfcurity clouds the remote periods of mufical history in Ire land. This must be an apology for the imperfection of the hints now offered on this topic, which however lies open to future im. provement from fuperior abilities and more extenfive erudition.

"It was in the year 1134, that Malachy O'Morgan afcended the archiepifcopal chair of Armagh, He was the beloved friend of St. Bernard, after whofe decease, the latter, in a high ftrain of paregyric, compofed his life. Among other particulars there recorded, he informs us, that the Irish, through the primate's zeal, were brought to a conformity with the Apoftolic Conflitutions and the decrees of the fathers, but especially with the

cuftoms of the holy church of Rome. They then began to chaunt and fing the canonical hours, as in other places, which before was not done even in the metropolitical city of Armagh; Malachy had learned fong in his youth, and enjoined finging in his own monastery, when as yet it was unknown, or not practifed in the city or diocefe. Thus far St. Bernard.

"This citation suggests two facts; the first incredible, and certainly far from truth, that the Irish church had fubfifted for seven hundred years without mufic or pfal. mody: the other more probable, that Malachy exerted the influence of his ftation to oblige the Irish to relinquish their old ritual, and adopt the Roman manner of celebrating divine offices. His efforts were in vain, even allowing a temporary acquiefcence; for, in thirty years after we find the council of Cafhel decreeing an uniformity of public worship, according to the model of the English church. The Irish received, very reluctantly, innovations in doctrine and discipline; nor was it before their princes were expatriated and the people reduced to extreme mifery, that they embraced foreign fuperftition, and obeyed the dictates of the fovercign pontiff.

"That the Chriftian fathers adapted their pfalms and hymns to the Greek notation and modes, admits of the fulleft proof. Accustomed from infancy to the choral fervice of Paganism, the convert naturally retained his former mufical ideas, but applied them to more fanctified compofitions, and a purer object. Though it is impoffible to determine of what kind the ecclefiaftical modes were, or what the difcipline of the fingers, I cannot believe the whole fervice of the

primitive

primitive church was irregular; or that the people fang as their inclination led them, with fcarcely any other restriction than that it fhould be to the praife of God. For early in the third century, Origen informs us, the Chritians fang in rhyme, that is, with pice regard to the length and fhortnefs of the fyllables of the poetry, and in good tune and harmony. The terms he uses are taken from the Greek mufic, and evince that Chriftians, in their church performances, were fcientific and correct. The definition of a pfalm by Gregory Nazienzen, by St. Bafil and Chryfoftom, in the 4th century, is an additional proof of what is advanced. I have infifted on this point the more, in order to fubvert the groundless affertion of St. Bernard; and to demontrate, that finging made a part of the Christian fervice, wherever the gospel was established.

"About the year 386, pfalms and hymns were ordered to be fung after the Eallern manner; and about 384, the Ambrofian chant was formed of the Dorian, Lydian, Mixolydian, and Phrygian tones, which were called authentic modes, and to which pope Gregory, in 599, added four plagal. Western Europe had been evangelized antecedent to Gregory's pontificate, and the Ambrofian chant admitted into many principal churches: I fay principal, becaufe there is reafon to believe, many bishops and diocefes preferved the Curfus, that is, the offices and finging introduced by the first miffionaries, and which more closely adhered to the Eastern, that is, the ancient Greek mufic, than the chant of the cathedral of Milan. And this feems countenanced by a very curious M S. fuppofed to have been written 1786.

by an Irish fcholar about 901, and printed by fir Henry Spelman. In this it is faid, that the Curfus of the Scots (for fuch was the appellation of the Irish in thofe days)' was compofed by St. Mark, and ufed by St. Gregory Naz, St. Batil, St. Patrick, and communicated to the continent by Columbanus. No notice is taken of St. Ambrofe and. pope Gregory but just mentioned. Now, as the monattic rule of our countryman Columbanus has been publifhed, and as this rule made part of the Irish Curfus, we fhail fee how great a part of it was made up of pfalmody and anthems, or alternate finging.

"The monks are to affemble thrice every night, and as often in the day, to pray and fing. In each office of the day, they were to use prayers and fing three pfalms. In each office of the night, from October to February, they are to fing thirty-fix pfalms and twelve anthems, at three feveral times; in the rest of the year, twentyone pfalms and eight anthems; but on Saturday and Sunday nights, twenty-five pfalms and twenty-five anthems. Here was a perpetual pfalmody or laus perennis, like that practifed in Pfalmody Ifle in the diocele of Nifmes, founded by Corbilla, a Syrian monk, about the end of the 14th century. These may be added to the other numerous inftances of the orientalism of our church, and its fymbolizing with the eastern in moft articles of faith and practice, and which created fo much uneafinefs to Rome and her emiffaries for many ages; the feduct ons of flattery and the thunders of the Vatican were equally ineffectual to flake our principles; the mellifluous eloquence of St. Bernard might calumniate, but was unable to fubL

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ject us to the domination of the Roman fee.

and Caradoc of Lhancarvan agrees
with him. They confine their
praife to fecular performances, and
fpeak nothing of ecclefiaftical. Such
excellence was not attainable by
any fudden or fashionable applica-
tion; it must have been the effect
of long practice and habit. Per-
haps the following obfervations
may elucidate this point.

"The canons afcribed to St. Patrick, Auxilius, and Iferninus, extant in Corpus Chrifti College, Cambridge, were tranfcribed, according to an excellent antiquary, in the 10th century; Dachery fuppofes they were made in the 8th, and I have elsewhere fhewn this to Caradoc, without any of that be probable. The fecond directs the readers to remain in the church illiberal partiality fo common with in which they are appointed to national writers, affures us, the fing; this feems to be the meaning, Irish devited all the inftruments, but whatever it is, it teaches us tunes, and meafures in ufe among that the reader and finger hat the the Welfh. Cambrenfis is even more fame office. Many of our primates, copious in his praife, when he peas may be feen in Ware's Bithops, remptorily declares, that the Irish, and most of our lea ned men, above any other nation, is incomamong other literary diftinétions, parably skilled in fymphonal mufic. are called readers. On this it is Such unequivocal teftimony of our remarked-That the name, lector, fuperior tate and improvement in is more frequently found among the mufical art, naturally calls for the Irish historians than that of fome enquiries into fo curious a to conceal fact, more efpecially as the perScribe; neverthele ́s, nothing, fome by the ancient fcribes fons, who deliver it, lived in a understand writers;"-this throws polifhed age, both in refpect of lino light on the lector. By the terature and manners. 15th canon of the Laodicean council, no one is to fing in the church but the canonical fingers, who are to afcend the desk and read from the book. In the anfwers of John, bishop of Citri to Conftantine Cabafilas, archbishop of Dyrrachium, we find the readers were placed on each fide of the choir, and, like the precentor and fuccentor, led At this day we the choristers. read each verfe of the pfalm before it is fung; in this inftance alfo we retained the ufage of the Eastern This incomparable kill could church. On the whole, the evi- never be predicated of unlearned, dence now produced is fufficient extemporaneous, bardic airs: it to convict St. Bernard of error, and implies a knowledge of the diagram, vindicate our practice of music and and an exact divifion of the har monic intervals; a juft expreffion plalmody. of the tones, and in the quickelt movements, an unity of melody. Cambrendis obrves thefe particu

"Giraldus Cambrenfis gives a
endil a count of the perfection
h music in the 12th century,

"The words of Cambrenfis are clearly expreffive of attainments in the fcience of mufic far beyond the mintiselly of England and France, or any other country he had travelled. The richness of our. invention; the vivacity, beauty, and variety of our melodies extorted applause from him: 1 fay extorted, becaufe he takes care to inform us, there was fearce any thing elfe to commend among the Irith.

lars

lars of our mufic. He accurately us, had three inftruments, confe

diftinguishes the Irish and English ftyles: the latter was the diatonic genus; flow and made up of concords heavy; the intervals fpacious, as in ecclefiaftical chant. The former was the enharmonic genus; full of minute divifions, with every diefis marked the fucceffion of our melodies lively and rapid; our modulations fuil and fweet.

"He alone who had the fharpeft faculties, and was the most profoundly verfed in the mufical art, felt ineffable pleasure. It is then evident, that all this tranfcendent excellence in mufic could be derived but from two fources; a perfect knowledge of it as a fcience and practice. We are not, it is true, able to produce our ancient tablature, or tunes from M. S. S. hitherto difcovered; but as from Caradoc, it appears we communicated both to the Welfh, and as they exist in Mr. Morris's Collections, we may fairly affume them as our own, and derivatives from this ifle. Thefe collections are of the 12th century, the very time in which Caradoc and Cambrenfis flourished; fo that connecting the evidence together, that we had mufic in fcere, can hardly be difputed, and what is more extraordinary, most of the pieces for the harp are in full harmony and counterpoint.

From thefe facts a mistake of - Cambrentis unfolds itself to view. The Irish, he informs us, ufed but the tabor and harp. Here then could not be a varied combination of founds; a multiplicity of parts, of fuch an artificial compofition as to constitute counterpoint a fingle melody, and that confined within a fmall compafs, was all that could be executed. The Welsh, he tells

quently they could play counterpoint; fo that Cambrenfis muft have been ignorant of the art he was defcribing, or extremely inadvertent, as no fuch effects, as he fuggefts, could be produced by fuch inftruments. Nor can any reason be aligned, why we fhould not have an equal number of mufical inftruments with the Welsh, who confeffedly adopted them from us. An omiffion of a transcriber very probably gives rife to the error.

"The tenor of our ecclefiaftical history very explicitly fhews the propagation of the gofpel among us by Hellenistic miffioners; our doctrine and difcipline were the fame as practifed in the primitive church during the four first centuries. Each bishop appointed fuch an order for the celebration of divine offices, as he judged moft eligible and belt fuited to his refpective diocefe. So various were thefe offices in 1090, that Gillebert, bishop of Limerick, preffes the Irish clergy to adopt the Roman. "What," fays he, can be more indecent, or fchifmatical, than that a clergyman who is very learned in the offices of one church, fhould be very ignorant and a laic in thofe of another?" This is a new proof that we were unacquainted with the Roman fervice, as well as with the Ambrofian and Gregorian chant, and that we retained the forms of the eaftern church, originally delivered to us. Bifhop Stillingfleet, as cited by Dr. Burney, makes the principal difference between the Roman and Gallican ritual to confift in their church music.

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St. Paul defires the Ephefian's to fpeak to each other in pfalms and hymns and fpiritual fongs. He here feems to make ufe of a harsh expreffion to avoid introducing a heathen

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