Nancy Cooper

Source :

• The Pigot MSS. in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. p701 "Nancy Cooper deas"
• The Forde MSS. in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. p1 "Nancy Cooper" => book p.318 (n°621)
• P.W. Joyce. Old Irish Folk Music and Songs. London. 1909.

[=> à voir sur le site d'ITMA]

Collecté par Pigot et William Forde (c.1795–1850) (site ITMA) auprès de Hugh O'Beirne qui décrit cet air comme 'one of the very old ones'. Compte tenu du titre ce morceau est attribué à Turlough O'Carolan, mais cela semble improbable (Donal O'Sullivan). En effet, Bunting a publié la mélodie d'une chanson sous le titre "Nancy Cooper" (First Air) 'from Paddy Quin, County Armagh. Near the Blue Stone'. On en retrouve les paroles dans une publication de Thaddaeus Connellan : An Duanaire (Fonna Seanna), datant de 1829. Soit 15 lignes en gaélique, introduites comme 'Anna Cupar. Miss Nancy Cooper, County Sligo. By Carolan'.

Une tentative sur YouTube (firts air).

Le texte est attribué à Carolan via trois sources distinctes et indépendantes :

• Bunting MS. 7, no. 17 - 'Miss Cooper of Mercury [i.e. Markree], County Sligo' and it was noted by Patrick Lynch form James Dowd, a farmer, of Skreen, Tireragh, Sligo.
• R.I.A. MS. 23 I 8, p. 46
• R.I.A. MS. 23 I 8, p. 47

Une curieurse version (le texte original n'a pas de métrique alors que cette version en a une) dans "James Hardiman. Irish Minstrely, 1831" p86. Mais James Hardiman relève le fait que le morceau ressemble à l'air écossais 'The Flower of Edinburgh'.

Histoire

The Cooper family in Ireland was founded by Edward Cooper, a Cornet in Richerd Collooney's regiment of dragoons. Having settled in Sligo, he became possessed of a large estate. His Will, dated the 20th December, 1679, was proved on the 5th January, 1680.

His son, Arthur Cooper, of Markree Castle, County Sligo, had two sons and five daughters. The third daughter was Anne, who married John Perceval, of Temple House, County Sligo, on the 7th October, 1722 [Burke]. She is doubtless the Nancy Cooper of Carolan's song.

The head of the coopers of Markree in our day was the late Major Bryan Cooper, who was M.P. for Dublin and subsequently one of post popular members of the Dáil.