Robert Cinnamond (18 May 1884 – 3 June 1968) was an
Irish traditional singer and collector of songs. He was born in Tullyballydonnell,
Ballinderry, County Antrim, Ireland. Along with his siblings he attended the nearby school located at the front of St. Mary's chapel, Tullyballydonnell. He married Elizabeth Murphy in 1913 - she died in 1936 giving birth to their ninth child.
He was a founding chairman of St. Joseph's Gaelic Football club.
Due to the hundreds of songs he had in his repertoire he was interviewed several times by both BBC and RTE. He was interviewed by Seán Ó Boyle as part of the field recording venture carried out in Ireland by the BBC between 1952 and 1957. Cinnamond provided 70 songs for the field researchers. A number of these songs were featured on the BBC radio programmes ''As I Roved Out'' and ''Music on the Hearth'' and were released on the cassette ''You Rambling Boys of Pleasure'';
also as the gramophone record 12T269 by Topic Records, 1975.
One of his best known pieces was "Dobbin's Flowery Vale", which was adapted for the flute by
Frankie Kennedy
Frankie Kennedy (30 September 1955 – 19 September 1994) was a flute and tin whistle player born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was also the co-founder of the band Altan, formed with his wife Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh. The popular '' Frankie Ke ...
.
Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and we ...
used their version of his recording of "The Weaver" (
Roud 3085) as the introduction and ending of their song "The Weaver and the Factory Maid" on the album
Parcel of Rogues. He sang the song "The Beggerman" to the same tune.
References
External links
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1884 births
1968 deaths
20th-century Irish male singers
Irish folk singers
Irish folk-song collectors
Musicians from County Antrim
20th-century musicologists
Topic Records artists
{{Ireland-musician-stub