Ireland’s most famous harper probably took this pre-existing, cheerful song air – with its lovely ‘cuck-oo’ mimicry – and furnished it with new Irish-language words to create his famous Sídh beag, sídh mór. Learn to play it in a harp setting made much, much easier than most ‘arrangements’. My reconstruction for both hands lies within what I now understand of how indigenous Irish harpers played, in the ancient Irish harping tradition: without complicated bass lines, and without added-on chords and harmony. Easier and more fun? Definitely!

(part 1 of a two-part session)