Between Vulgarity and Beauty in the Interstices of Orality and Literacy

Abstract

Abstract This chapter links contemporary nineteenth-century hierarchies of taste with Petrie’s often tacitly expressed opinions about Irish song melodies. In examining Petrie’s statements equating aesthetic and moral value, the chapter finds that some of the attitudes contained in his work continue to be relevant to the way song melodies are perceived and assessed today. By analyzing variants of one song air (used for ‘An Buachaill Caol Dubh’ in Munster and for another song, ‘An Caisideach Bán,’ in Connacht and Ulster), these ideas are unpacked and explored. The essay demonstrates that an underlying preference for an AABA melody format, still favoured nowadays, follows classical European norms. Historically conditioned aesthetic judgement notwithstanding, the chapter further argues that scholars and performers may set aside such preconceived ideas by appreciating the interplay of complex dynamics between oral and literate performance without necessarily having to accept a prescribed set of inherited assumptions regarding Irish song melodies.