O'Carolan's Draught

O'Carolan's Draught

Dean Jonathan Swift said that Turlough O'Carolan might have had a fondness for the "juice of the barley."

At some point, a doctor advised Turlough to drink less, but when he began to feel worse, another doctor prescribed the opposite. Turlough immediately began to feel better and wrote “Farewell to Whiskey” and “O’Carolan’s Receipt”.

In another story, another professional harper named David Murphy said that Turlough’s music was like “bones without beef.” Turlough is said to have dragged Murphy across the room kicking and screaming, saying, “Put beef to that air, you puppy.”

I first heard Zan McLeod play with Mike Cross, in Chapel Hill, back in the day. When they traveled to Nashville, they met Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill, of the Bothy Band. Zan and Tríona formed a band, Touchstone, that cut a couple of great albums. They were a lot of fun, live.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzau-oz8XxA

Comments

  1. Tim O'BrienMarch 17, 2017 at 7:13 AM

    I have a friend who teaches guitar. I think I'll send him a “Put beef to that air, you puppy!" sign for his studio.

    ReplyDelete

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