Variations of Druid tunes: Matthew Dubourg as song collector

Abstract Matthew Dubourg (1703–1767) was well known in the 18th century as one of the period’s most brilliant violinists. He also worked with Handel, performing his works in London and Dublin, most notably as orchestral leader for the première of Messiah in Dublin in 1742. Dubourg is less well known as a composer, though he composed a steady output of birthday odes for Dublin during his time as Master of the State Musick in Ireland. There survive in numerous publications and manuscripts various works attributed to him, including dance suites and ‘graces’ for Corelli’s and Geminiani’s works. Dubourg’s most famous work was the set of variations he composed on the traditional Irish song ‘Eibhlín a rúin’, first published in Dublin in 1746. References to a lost publication by Dubourg—Variations of Druid Tunes—suggest that he was also a song collector. This publication is frequently referred to as proof of Dubourg’s known passion for taking ‘famous Irish tunes and morphing them in the late Baroque style’ (as he did with ‘Eibhlín a rúin’). This article will present the discovery of a hitherto unidentified song with variations by Dubourg, held in the British Library Collection. Using this song (and others) as evidence, it will argue that Dubourg was a song collector and that he engaged with these songs in a very particular manner. This argument opens new ways of understanding the relationship between traditional Irish music and European art music during a particularly fascinating period of developing Irish identity.