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First music degree from Dublin University, October 1612

This month marks the 400th anniversary of the first Bachelor of Music degree awarded by the University of Dublin, in October 1612. The recipient of this degree is not recorded, but circumstantial evidence strongly suggests that it was Thomas Bateson (d. 1630), organist and vicar choral at Christ Church Cathedral since 1609.

Thomas Morley ‘A plaine and easie introduction to practicall musicke’ London, 1608. Shelfmark: V.ee.45

Music was not taught in the College at this time, so Dublin University is likely to have followed the practice already established at Cambridge and Oxford of awarding the degree to a distinguished musician of proven ability, perhaps on submission and performance of a suitable composition.

p.116-117
Thomas Morley ‘A plaine and easie introduction to practicall musicke’ London, 1608. Shelfmark: V.ee.45

To celebrate this anniversary, two music publications from the period are currently on display in the Berkeley Library foyer. The first is ‘A plaine and easie introduction to practicall musicke’  by Thomas Morley (London, 1608). This was the first book on music theory to be published in the English language, and was amongst the earliest books purchased for the Library in the first decade of the 17th century. The book takes the form of a dialogue between the Master (Morley) and two pupils (the brothers Philomathes and Polymathes). It is laid out in three sections, dealing in turn with the rudiments of music, counterpoint and canon, and composition.

Also on display is John Dowland’s ‘First booke of songes or ayres’ (London, 1603), which has particular significance because of its innovative typographical design. Each song can be performed by a solo voice with lute accompaniment (printed on the left-hand page), but is also set for four voices, with the three lower voice parts printed on the right-hand page in a layout designed to allow the singers to read from a single copy while seated around a table (hence the term ‘table-book’ to describe this format).

John Dowland ‘First booke of songes or ayres’ London, 1603
Shelfmark: Press B.7.21

Five editions of this collection appeared between 1597 and 1613, making it the most successful musical publication of its time.

-Roy Stanley, Music Librarian, Trinity College Library.

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Dear oh dear diary…

TCD MS 10800

Diary-writing is a complex sort of occupation. Historically it has its origins in the spiritual self-reflection which developed with Protestantism, the idea being either to chart one’s journey towards enlightenment or, at least, to spot those ‘must do better’ moments. Historians have always used them for straightforward evidential data, but they are increasingly subjected to more ‘close reading’ by researchers from other disciplines, on the understanding that everything has a psychology, including the decision to keep a diary. How frequently the entries are made, the subjects dealt with, the subjects avoided, the kind of language used, even the choice of volume type – all of these things are now considered to be at least as revelatory, as that which the diarist chose to record.

There are many different types of diaries in the M&ARL collections. They range from those consisting entirely of the less-than-useful ‘Rained all day. Ate cabbage again’ type of entry to the psychologically much more intriguing. On display in the Long Room at the moment is a mid-19thcentury diary of a man called Kenney. He himself is of no historical interest, but as a personality type, the petty, vain, and very controlling young man would be a therapist’s delight. His need to control his young lady friend, Mary Louisa MacMahon (who spotted his bullying streak eventually, and ran for the hills) is expressed in his habit of drawing minutely detailed maps of where they met, inserting alphabetical indicators of places where they sat, where they parted, where they argued. He also transcribed into the diary over 80 of her letters to him, itself an odd undertaking, three self-portraits and, creepily, two very poor drawings of Miss MacMahon before and after she altered the way she did her hair, to suit him.

Jane Maxwell

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Asgard in Pictures

Asgard, the yacht owned by Robert Erskine Childers and used in the Howth gun-running of 1914, has recently been restored and is the focus of a new display in the National Museum of Ireland.

M&ARL holds the papers of Robert Erskine Childers (1870-1922), Irish nationalist, writer and father of the president of the same name. Within this collection is a wonderful group of photographs (TCD MS 7890/8) recording the history of Asgard. A selection of these are displayed as part of the NMI exhibition.

Commissioned as a wedding gift for Erskine and Molly Childers in 1905, Asgard is most famous for the part she played in transporting a shipment of arms for the Irish Volunteers in May 1914. Childers, his wife and a small crew agreed to collect part of the haul in the 51ft yacht, transporting 900 rifles and 29,000 rounds of ammunition from Germany to Howth. The ammunition was to be used in the 1916 Easter rising.

Somehow they also found time to take photographs to record the mission. TCD MS 7890/8 includes pictures of Mary Spring Rice and Molly Childers with guns aboard the Asgard and a number of the Irish volunteers at Howth assembled to receive the shipment.

Asgard was put into long-term dry dock in Northern Wales after the Easter rising. She was procured by the Irish government in 1961 and was used as the first national sail-training vessel until 1974.

 The restoration project has taken 5 years and the permanent exhibition Asgard: The Howth Gun-Running Vessel Conserved, opened on 9 Aug at the National Museum Collins Barracks.

Estelle Gittins

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Popular magazines from 100 years ago on display in the Berkeley Library foyer

‘The Strand Magazine’, ‘Pearson’s Magazine’, and ‘The Windsor Magazine’, September 1912.

"O mistress mine, where are you roaming" by Edwin Abbey, used to accompany an article on "Music in Picture" by Austin Chester.
“O mistress mine, where are you roaming” by Edwin Abbey, used to accompany an article on “Music in Picture” by Austin Chester.
The Windsor Magazine, September 1912

From around 1880 until 1950, general-interest family magazines proliferated in Britain. These took inspiration from popular American titles such as ‘Harper’s’ and included a high proportion of popular fiction. Printed on high quality paper, the magazines were copiously illustrated, with ‘The Strand Magazine’ aiming at a picture on every page. Circulation figures and distribution are unfortunately difficult to establish with accuracy, but the sheer number of titles tells its own story. Mike Ashley, in his history of the medium, ‘The age of storytellers‘, (London, 2006) lists 144.

"November Joe, the detective of the woods" by H. Hesketh Prichard. "The mystery of the black fox skin."
‘The mystery of the black fox skin.’
“November Joe, the detective of the woods” by H. Hesketh Prichard.
Pearson’s Magazine, September 1912.

Of these magazines, ‘The Strand Magazine’ is the most famous, made so by its serialisation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. Following the runaway success of ‘The Strand’, magazines such as ‘Pearson’s Magazine’, ‘The Windsor Magazine’, and ‘The Pall Mall Magazine’ entered the market, each attempting to carve out its own niche. In general the magazines tended to include a mixture of popular fiction, non-fiction feature articles, poetry and humour.

To give a flavour of what was popular 100 years ago, we currently have issues of ‘The Strand Magazine‘, ‘Pearson’s Magazine‘, and ‘The Windsor Magazine‘ from September 1912 on display in the foyer of the Berkeley Library. The article from ‘The Strand Magazine’ is particularly fabulous, so we’ve reproduced it here in full. To read the text you will need to click into the gallery, and then click the ‘View full size’ link at the bottom right of the page.

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‘A Great Many Choice Books’: 300 Years of the Old Library

Long Room, bust of Swift

The exhibition currently on view in the Long Room is part of a programme of events celebrating the tercentenary of the Old Library building, whose foundation stone was laid on 12 May 1712. The display showcases manuscripts, early printed books and College Archives from the Library’s holdings, and tells the story of the building’s construction, its collections, and the people associated with it over the centuries. Also on view are several items associated with the early Library, which was housed – it is believed – in a building where the present-day Examination Hall stands. Among the exhibition highlights are: the 12th-century West Dereham Bible; the 16th-century Book of the de Burgos; two sumptuously-illuminated 15th-century French books of hours; a first edition of Martin Luther’s Old Testament; fine bindings from the collection of the 18th-century connoisseur Henry George Quin; and books and manuscripts from the superb Fagel Library. There is also a fine 19th-century painting of the Library by J A O’Connor, which shows the building as it would have looked before any dramatic exterior alterations; as well as Library-related College records, such as catalogues, a 17th-century salary statement, tradesmen’s accounts, and photographs.

This exhibition will be on display in the Long Room, Trinity College Old Library until October 2012.

Ellen O’ Flaherty