Ruaidrí Dáll Ó Catháin (anglicized: Rory Dall O'Cahan) may have been an Irish harper and composer. Recent research, however, raises the question whether he ever really existed. He is said to have been born circa 1580 in County Antrim and to have died circa 1653 at Eglinton Castle. Background All current knowledge about Ó Catháin is based on anecdotes by the harper Arthur O'Neill, retold by Edward Bunting (1840), Charlotte Milligan Fox (1911), and Francis O'Neill (1913). Captain Francis O'Neill explained the uncertainty concerning his lifetime, stating he lived c.1570 to 1650 and that he was active during the first half of the 17th century. According to Arthur O'Neill, unlike the vast number of travelling musicians, Ó Catháin was a gentleman by birth, his sept being hereditary allies of the O'Neill dynasty. Their territory was Keenaght (barony), now part of County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. Reflecting his origins, Ó Catháin "traveled into Scotland attended by the retinue of a gentle man of large property, and when in Scotland, according to the accounts preserved there also, he seemed to have traveled in the company of noble persons." Compositions Ó Catháin's best-known composition is Give Me Your Hand (Irish: Tabhair dom do Lámh, Latin: Da mihi manum), published originally under its Latin title. There is an anecdote about its composition: "Proud and spirited, he resented anything in the nature of trespass on his dignity. Among his visits to the houses of Scottish nobility, he is said to have called at Eglinton Castle, Ayrshire. Knowing he was a harper, but being unaware of his rank, Lady Eglinton commanded him to play a tune. Taking offence at her peremptory manner, Ó Catháin refused and left the castle. When she found out who her guest was her ladyship sought and effected a speedy reconciliation. This incident furnished a theme for one of the harper's best compositions. Tabhair Damh do Lámh (or Give Me Your Hand). The name has been Latinized into Da Mihi Manum. The fame of the composition and the occasion which gave birth to it reaching the ear of King James the Sixth, induced him to send for the composer. Ó Catháin accordingly attended at the Scottish court and created a sensation." "His performance so delighted the royal circle that King James I familiarly laid his royal hand on the harper's shoulder. When asked by one of the courtiers if he realized the