In this session we will learn a lyrical air possibly composed by Turlough Carolan (1670–1738), the most famous early Irish harper. We will focus on a field notation of the piece, written down at speed by the music collector, Edward Bunting at the end of the 18th century directly from a live performance. We will compare this setting with another from the first ever printed collection of Irish music (1724) to establish which might be more valuable to us. We will encourage our minds and fingers to phrase it according to its contours. If we have time, we will also incorporate melodic ornaments, produced with plausible historical fingerings and string damping to give clarity of texture.