The Banshee
from the Irish
bean sí
("woman of the
síde"
or "woman of the fairy mounds") is a
female spirit in Irish mythology,
usually seen as an omen of death and a
messenger from the Otherworld. Her
Scottish counterpart is the Bean Nighe
("washer-woman").
According to
legend, a banshee wails around a house
if someone in the house is about to
die.
Traditionally, when a citizen of an
Irish village died, a woman would sing a
lament at their funeral. These women
singers are sometimes referred to as
"keeners". Legend has it that, for five
great Gaelic families: the O'Gradys, the
O'Neills, the O'Briens, the O'Connors,
and the Kavanaghs, the lament would be
sung by a fairy woman; having foresight,
she would appear before the death and
keen. When several banshees appeared at
once, it indicated the death of someone
great or holy. The tales sometimes
recounted that the woman, though called
a fairy, was a ghost, often of a
specific murdered woman, or a woman who
died in childbirth.
Banshees are
frequently described as dressed in white
or grey, and often having long, fair
hair which they brush with a silver
comb, a detail scholar Patricia Lysaght
attributes to confusion with local
mermaid myths. This comb detail is also
related to the centuries-old traditional
romantic Irish story that, if you ever
see a comb lying on the ground in
Ireland, you must never pick it up, or
the banshees (or mermaids - stories
vary), having placed it there to lure
unsuspecting humans, will spirit such
gullible humans away. Other stories
portray banshees as dressed in green,
red or black with a grey cloak.
The tune is
arranged
here by
Terrry Tully
(above).
Terry
Tully’s name
is
synonymous
with
traditional
Irish music
in the world
of bagpipes.
His
accomplishments
both as a
solo player
and as Pipe
Major of the
St. Laurence
O’Toole Pipe
Band have
boosted the
already high
credibility
of Irish
Highland
piping.
Born on June
2nd, 1956,
Terry
followed in
the
footsteps of
his paternal
grandfather,
father and
mother who
were all
pipers.
A bricklayer
by trade,
Terry is
married to
Eileen, also
a piping
fanatic, and
they have
one son Alen,
pipe
sergeant of
St. Laurence
O’Toole and
All Ireland
Senior Solo
Piping
Champion in
2005.
Terry first
became
interested
in the pipes
around 1964
from
listening to
his father
Tommy. In
1966, at the
age of 10,
Terry joined
the St.
Joseph’s
Pipe Band
from
Clondalkin.
Between 1967
and 1973 he
was part of
the revival
on Highland
piping in
the Republic
of Ireland,
where a new
generation
of pipers
was
beginning to
make its
mark.
In 1971,
Terry played
at his first
All Ireland
Solo
Championship
in the
juvenile
grade at
Howth,
taking third
place to
winner Ian
Jess and
runner up to
Vivian
McCann. At
the end of
1973, he
joined St.
Laurence
O’Toole, who
were then
competing in
Grade 3
under the
leadership
of his
father. In
1974 the
band won the
All Ireland
Grade 3
championship
and the next
year it was
promoted to
Grade 2,
where it
struggled
for some
years.
In 1980,
Terry was
appointed
Pipe
Sergeant and
became the
man in
charge of
the band’s
sound. On a
visit to
Brittany
with the
band in
1983, he met
Field
Marshall
Montgomery
Pipe Band’s
young
Richard
Parkes, who
would have
an important
influence on
his piping
career. The
two future
solo
champions
established
an immediate
rapport, and
Richard
encouraged
Terry to
delve back
into solo
piping,
which he
did,
finishing 3rd
in the
junior
section of
the All
Ireland in
1983.
The
following
year was a
difficult
one as his
father Tommy
died just as
the band was
beginning to
make
important
strides. Two
weeks later
Terry led
the band to
victory in a
local
contest. He
has never
looked back.
He took the
band back to
Brittany in
1984,
re-established
contact with
Richard, and
later that
year won
Best Junior
Piper at the
invitational
Piper of the
Year event
in
Mid-Antrim.
Solo success
at the All
Ireland
Senior level
followed
quickly as
Terry gained
3rd in 1986
and ’87, and
2nd in 1988
and ’89. He
won the All
Ireland Solo
Championship
in 1990,
1994 and
1996.
Perhaps
Terry’s most
lasting
musical
achievement
to date has
been his
adaptations
of and
remarkable
ability to
play
traditional
Irish tunes
on the
Highland
bagpipe. He
published
three
collections
of tunes
between 1987
and 1997,
and such
compositions
as “Tommy
Tully’s Air”
and “The
Pumpkin’s
Fancy,” have
quickly
earned
places among
the best
Highland
Pipe tunes
written. His
skills have
earned him
renown and
such honors
as
performing
with The
Chieftains
in Carnegie
Hall in New
York. He has
appeared on
three of the
group’s
albums.
Under
Terry’s
leadership
the St.
Laurence
O’Toole Pipe
Band
continues to
rise in the
Grade 1
ranks,
finishing
third in
2004 in
Scotland’s
“Champion of
Champions”
results. The
band
frequently
places in
the top six
at the major
championships.
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