Fanny Power

Turlough O'Carolan wrote this before 1728 for Frances Power, daughter of his patrons David and Elizabeth Power of Loughrea, County Galway. He called her "the swan of the shore" because the family house stood on the edge of the lake. In the song he hopes to live long enough to dance at her wedding.

In 1732 she married Richard Trench of Garbally, so the tune is also called "Mrs. Trench." She lived until 1793, and her son William became Baron Kilconnel in 1797 and later an earl. Rose Mooney, one of the few women harpers of her day, played it at the Belfast Harp Festival in 1792.