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DANNY BOY

© Roslind M. Sherman

Songs live within the wind, upon the whispers of the leaves amid the hearts and memories of eternity.

" For lo! The days are hastening on,

By prophet-bards foretold,

When with ever-circling years,

Comes round the age of gold."

... Edmund Hamilton Sears: The Angel's Song.

One of the first songs I ever remember singing is , " Would God, I were A Tender Apple Blossom ", a tune that locked itself in the heart of nations as the immortal, " Danny Boy " ... written by the English lawyer, Fred. E Weatherly.

Most of us believe that the song Danny Boy, is Irish in origin ... Right? As a matter of fact, in the late 18th century and early 19th century most Irish Immigrant did not know the tune.

This poised a very controversial question of origin in the minds' of eminent Irish, Scottish and English Musicologist who veritably claimed the air as their own.

Alfred Percival Graves, author of," Trottin to the Fair ", had written two songs to the haunting tune, when Fredrick Edward Weatherly published his famous, Danny Boy with Boosey and Hawkes. Graves accused Weatherby as stealing his tune and refered to him as a " poacher ". Thus, the longstanding friendship between the two men ended in great hostility.

Graves is most notably in my personal memory, as a 19th century poet, who collected Irish folk melodies but, " unfortunately ", ignored the lyrics that accompanied them. He is quoted as saying , " Irish lyric are not worth collecting ", he extended this ill- reputed attitude to the Welsh and Manx repertoires. " They are worthy only of peasants ", he added.

Weatherly,( 1848-1929 ) however, was a most prolific Edwardian poet, who as friends noted, " had a blithe and tender soul ". His most famous ballad, " Roses of Picardy ", gained great popularity throughout the Great War, accumulating Weatherly a small fortune. Several of his lyrics appear in, " The Edwardian Song-Book: Drawing-Room Ballads ". ( 1900-1914 )

Although the musical strains of, " Danny Boy ", are much older than its published dates, the melody was first seen in a collection entitled, " Ancient Music of Ireland ", The publisher, George Petrie received the tune from a correspondent named, Jane Ross, who claims to have written it down from a traveling, street musician.

Further, research discovers that the song is actually, a distorted version of a much older relic. " Aislean an Oigfear ", ( the young man's dream ) which has been traced to the middle of the 17th century. " Where there is no vision, the people perish" ...Old Testament: Hosea 12:10

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