Thus, Danny Boy was birthed into the loved song that it is today. Having already written the lyrics to Danny Boy, he heard the tune of the Londonderry Air and manipulated his words around the song itself. Passionate about music, Weatherly wrote lyrics in his spare time between court cases. The lawyer and lyricist Fred Weatherly hailed from Somerset. However, it is believed that she had possibly heard it from Irish emigrants leaving Ireland for the New World or from her father, another passionate fiddle player. It is unknown how Maragaret came about the tune itself.

Knowing he will create something grand out of it, she requests he writes lyrics to the tune. Margaret sent the copy of the tune to her brother-in-law, a lawyer by trade and a wordsmith in his spare time. (Source: )įast forward to 1912 in the United States in, where Margaret Weatherly, a Colorado resident, hears a delightful tune and requests to send to someone she regarded as a skilled poet. Limavady Main Street where Danny Boy’s tune was first heard. Other sources claim the fiddlers name was Jim McCurry however. Noting down the infamous tune, she had collected a great number of Irish traditional songs and passed them to George Petrie, who published Londonderry A ir in 1855 in a music book called “Ancient Music of Ireland”. Sadly Jane did not note the fiddler’s name who remains anonymous despite creating such a recognisable melody. He played a particular tune that caught her attention. On one occasion, McCurry set up his playing space for the day opposite Jane Ross’ home.

Living in the local workhouse, he played local and Irish traditional ballads. According to legend, a blind fiddler called Jimmy McCurry would sit on the Limavady streets and play delightful songs as a means of gathering coppers. It is noted by historians that Londonderry Air was recorded by Jane Ross in Limavady. The original version of the song had four verses, but two more were added later and thus most recordings have six verses performed. Ernestine Schumann-Heink produced the very first recording of Danny Boy in 1918. She was deployed to entertain the British troops fighting in World War One in France.ĭue to its increasing popularity, it was decided that a recording would be made of Danny Boy. Hoping for it to gain popularity, Weatherly gave the Danny Boy song to the vocalist Elsie Griffin who succeeded in making it one of the most popular songs of the era. This prompted Weatherly to change the lyrics of Danny Boy to fit the tune of ‘Londonderry Air’. On hearing this haunting sound, Margaret immediately went and found out its origins before sending it straight to her brother-in-law. Weatherly was inspired to pen Danny Boy after his Irish-born, sister-in-law Margaret sent him a copy of ‘Londonderry Air’ from the United States.Īn Irish tune that had humble origins from a small town in Ireland was being played on an international stage in the state of Colorado. It is estimated that he wrote the lyrics to over 3000 songs before his death.

Frederic Weatherly was a famed lyricist and broadcaster who wrote the lyrics to Danny Boy in Bath, Somerset, in 1913. The origins of Danny Boy’s lyrics lie in the most surprising of places, namely an English lawyer. ‘The Pipes Are Calling’: The Inspiration for Danny Boy

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