Annotation:Planxty Wilkinson

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PLANXTY WILKINSON (Pleraca Uilginson). AKA - “Planxty Williamson.” Irish, Air or Planxty (6/8 time, "spirited"). G Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. Composed by blind Irish harper Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738). The melody was collected by Irish collectors George Petrie [1] (1790-1866), William Forde (c.1759–1850) and John Edward Pigot (1822–1871), all variants of one another, in minor and dorian modes. Forde had the tune from Patrick MacDowell [2] (1799-1870), a Belfast sculptor who had a huge knowledge of Irish music and songs. Petrie mistakenly entered the title as "Planxty Williamson" in the index of his manuscript collection, but, according to Donal O'Sullivan (Life, Times, and Music of an Irish Harper, 1958), it was merely a slip, and not a real title.

O'Sullivan researched the person of the title, and, while he did not uncover the name of the individual Carolan honored, he did find that the family name Wilkinson (an English name and uncommon in Ireland) held lands in County Meath in the bard's time. Members of the family are buried at the Tara Protestant Church, near the site of Tara's Halls. Wilkinsons were also occupied nearby Skryne Castle [3], Skreen, County Meath, into the 20th century, built as a country house around 1780, incorporating a late medieval tower house.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Complete Collection of Carolan's Irish Tunes, 1984; No. 168, p. 114. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; p. 242. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 689, p. 126. O'Sullivan (Carolan: The Life, Times and Music of an Irish Harper), 1958; No. 168, p. 192. Stanford/Petrie (Complete Collection), 1905; No. 873, p. 218.

Recorded sources: Green Linnet SIF 1047, John Cunningham - "Fair Warning" (1985).