Danny Boy the story and Irish Elvis

Sceala Philosopher Location: NYC

Elvis Presley singing the Irish song Danny Boy.
The Legend and History of the Song 'Danny Boy'
Oh Danny Boy,
The pipes, the pipes are calling...
So begins one of the most haunting Irish songs. It is a song that has crossed oceans to grace movie soundtracks and draw tears at funerals, a song that went from just being a symbol of Irish culture to becoming a tune that almost everybody in the world has heard of and can hum for you.
Where Did the Tune Come From?
Long before it became the 'Danny Boy' that we all know and love, the song was an Irish air, commonly known as 'The Derry Air' (the ancient roots of Danny Boy are as much Inishowen in Donegal as Derry)
Rory Dall O'Cahan
Malachy McCourt, author of Danny Boy: The Legend of the Beloved English Ballad, claims that the original tune was written by a blind Irish harpist named Rory Dall O'Cahan1. Blind Rory, a descendant of the ruling O'Cahan clan, was a composer who lived sometime between 1560 and 1660 and who was well-known for his purths, or harp tunes, the best known of which is 'Tabhair Dom do Lámh', or 'Give Me Your Hand'. He honoured the Highland gentry whose homes he frequented with his compositions, and according to the writings of one Arthur O'Neill, it was in one such house on the island of Skye that Blind Rory died, leaving his harp and tuning key.
According to legend, the confiscation of the O'Cahan lands in the early 1600s enraged Blind Rory, whose people had lived on those lands for generations. It drove him to write a deeply moving tune of pain and passion called 'O'Cahan's Lament'. There are some who claim that a sort of supernatural intervention occurred: that Blind Rory, who was drunk one night, had staggered along the riverside and collapsed, where he reportedly heard fairies playing a haunting melody on his harp. Once he was sufficiently sober and confident that he could play back the music, he returned to his castle to serenade his guests with the first rendition of the Derry air that would be transcribed some 250 years later.

Blind Rory's haunting tune would be brought into the 19th Century by another blind harper called Denis O'Hampsey, a feat made possible by O'Hampsey's life spanning three centuries: he was born at the end of the 17th Century, and died at the beginning of the 19th at the ripe old age of 112. O'Hampsey, who hailed from Roe Valley, was born in Craigmore2 in 16953, and lost his eyesight at the age of three when he contracted smallpox. O'Hampsey studied with Bridget O'Cahan, who was purportedly related to Blind Rory4.
O'Hampsey inherited a sizeable repertoire including 'O'Cahan's Lament', which he would introduce in Ireland and Scotland during his travels.
It was in Ireland that Denis O'Hampsey met up with Edward Bunting (1773-1843), who would later be hailed as the pioneer collector of harp music. O'Hampsey was one of ten harpers invited to attend a harp festival in Belfast in 1792, and Bunting, whose job it was to write down the tunes played at the festival, in an attempt to revive and continue the tradition of ancient Irish music, was particularly attracted to O'Hampsey's traditional harp technique. Immediately after the festival, the young Edward Bunting embarked on a journey to the farthest reaches of Ireland in search of traditional airs. Not surprisingly, his travels began on Denis O'Hampsey's doorstep in Magiligan where he obtained several tunes for later inclusion in his three volumes of The Ancient Music of Ireland (published in 1796, 1809 and 1840).
Over a century later, in 1979, Hugh Shields penned an article for the Long Room, the journal of the library at Trinity College, Dublin, called 'New Dates for Old Songs 1766-1803'. He identified a tune in Bunting's first volume, entitled 'Aislean an Oigfear' ('The Young Man's Dream'), as closely resembling the modern version of 'Derry Air', although he noted that the fourth phrase made the song 'almost unsingable in traditional style while endearing it to virtuosos eager for effects of vocal expression'.

Some of the most beautiful airs have owed their origin to Northern genius, notably the compositions of the famous harper, Rory Dall O'Cahan, who composed such airs as 'Rory Dall's Purth', to which Robert Burns wrote 'Ae Fond Kiss'; 'The Minstrel Boy' and 'Emer's Farewell'5. Stanford, Percy Grainger, and Mrs Needham have all tried their skill in bringing out the beauties of 'Emer's Farewell', which comes from Limavady, in the County Derry; but, fine as are their settings, none seem to me the genuine frame for an air of such remarkable character.
- from the Journal of the Irish Folk Song Society, Vol 12, October 1912.

Jane Ross and Jimmy McCurry
The history of 'Danny Boy' seems to be littered with blind musicians. A book by Jim Hunter entitled The Blind Fiddler of Myroe, published in 1997, tells of one Jimmy McCurry who lived between 1830 and 1910, a famous blind musician and composer who frequently played his fiddle at the Limavady market just outside the Burns and Lairds Shipping Line Office.

Living opposite the shipping office was one Jane Ross, who would later become famous as the lady who annotated the music of the 'Derry Air' from 'an itinerant fiddler in 1851'. Oral evidence suggests that McCurry was this fiddler. The story, as told by Wallace McCurry, a descendant of Jimmy, was that one day Ross heard Jimmy McCurry rendering a beautiful melody which was unfamiliar to her. Ross was acquainted with Dr George Petrie from Dublin, whose life revolved around the study and collection of ancient airs of Ireland, and felt that the tune would make a good addition to his collection. She requested that the blind fiddler repeat his performance so that she could make a note of the music, and later passed on the tune to Petrie. Four years later, Petrie published a volume entitled The Ancient Music of Ireland7, and in it he included the melody supplied by Ross, which he listed as a 'song' under the category 'Anonymous Airs'8.

The most interesting point raised is that, despite the fact that Jimmy McCurry regularly played just across the road from Jane Ross's house, Ross had never named McCurry as the source of the music even when the origin of the tune was later in question; in fact, there is no firsthand account by Ross of where, when and from whom she obtained the tune. Michael Robinson of Standing Stones, who is the authority on the subject of Danny Boy, suggests a possible explanation: considering the outlook of the 19th-Century British upper class, Ross might have thought it demeaning to find out the name of the fiddler who played the tune she wrote down. Furthermore, he and Malachy McCourt proposed that Jane Ross 'may not have even entertained the concept that common folk had names, or that street fiddlers were not interchangeable'.

So all best evidence suggests that 'Aislean an Oigfear' is the original form of 'Derry Air', and that in turn Danny Boy is the modern manifestation of Rory Dall O'Cahan's lament.

AISLING AN OIG-FHIR	THE YOUNG MAN'S DREAM
Aisling ghéur do dhearcas féin, Go rabhas go faon sealad a'm luidhe, Faoí ghéugaibh crann chois amhan a'm aonar, Mar a m-bíodh aér agus spóirt a' t-saoíghil ; Bhídh ceileabhar eun ann ; a ngcaiseadhaibh ngéura, Bídh gleacaídheacht éise ann le feicsin trídh, Monbhar beach agus mil 'na slaodaibh Le fághail ag gach aein neach d'á ngeabhadh an t-slígh.	In a dream of delusion, methought I was laid, By a brook overarched with a fluttering shade ; A delicious recess, where silver-tongued rills, And far cataracts deep roar echoed round from the hills : Gleaming fish in clear waters were wontonly playing, And hoarse murmuring bees o'er wild flow'rets were straying ; While sweet honey distilled from old oaks to regale, The young and the fair in that odorous vale.
Rinn me stad tamall ag éisteacht Le ceileabhar éin bhídh a m-bárr na craoíbh', Ag síor-chur nótaídhe a g-cóir a chéile, A's dhearc mé sbéir-bhean mhín, dheas le'm thaoíbh, A gruadh ag lasadh air dhath na g-caér-chon, A rosc mar réult ghlan seaca bhídh, A scuab-fholt ómrach fighte go bróig léi, 'S le cúmhaibh na deóigh súd ní mhairfead mí.	A beautiful bird on a blossomy spray, Was warbling a varied and rapturous lay ; As I listened entranced in delightful surprise, A lovely enchantress astonished my eyes ; Her cheeks like the quicken's rich clusters were glowing, Her amber silk locks to her white ancles flowing ; Like a keen freezing star gleamed each sparkling blue eye, Alas! in one month, for her loss, I must die.
Do bhiodhg, do phreab an ainfhir mhaordha A's labhair go séimh de chómhrádh chaoín ; " A thogha na bh-fear mo slad ná déun-si "' S gur maíghdean mé casadh a'd líon, " Ná bídh-si ciontach le cam le claon-bheart " O taoím a'm aonar air mo chliú bhuain díom, " Oir gheabhainn-si bás trídh náire an sgeil sin " Nó'm gheilt do bheídhinn-si air feadh mo shaoighil."	When first she descried me, startled, alarmed, And with coy supplication my sympathy charmed : " Oh favoured of men ! do not ruin a maid, By fate to your power unprotected betrayed ; For with sorrow and shame broken hearted I'd die, Or for life thro' wild desarts a lunatic fly."—
A thogha na mban, ná tuig-si féin, Do shlad go n-déanfainn air aen t-slíghe, Le cam, le cleas, ná le beartaibh claona, Oir tá mac Dé aguinn ós cionn ag t-saoíghil ; Cuirim-si m'ímpidhe chum Rígh na gréine A's chum gach Naomh eile ghabhann le Críost, Tu-sa agus me-si bheith ag á chéile, A mhaighdion mhaordha, air feadh ar saoíghil.	" Oh peerless perfection ! how canst thou believe, That I could such innocence hurt or deceive ? I implore the Great Fountain of glory and love, And all the blessed saints in their synod above ; That connubial affections our souls may combine, And the pearl of her sex be immutably mine.
A phlúir na m-ban—a dheallradh na scéimhe, Ní fhásfaidh féur glas tré thalamh a níos, Ni bhiadh teas ann ná neart na gréine, Agus ní bhiadh réulta ann a d-torach oídhch',— Ní dhéanfaidh an ghealach solus d'éin-neach, 'S ní bheidh éisg ann air muir nó air tír, Beidh aghaidh gach srutha a g-coinne na sléibhte Tráth bheidhead-sa claon duit, a ghrádh mo chroídhe !	The green grass shall not grow, nor the sun shed his light, Nor the fair moon and stars gem the forehead of night ; The stream shall flow upward, the fish quit the sea, Ere I shall prove faithless, dear angel to thee." Her ripe lip and soft bosom then gently I prest, And clasped her half-blushing consent to my breast ; My heart fluttered light as a bird on the spray,— But I woke, and alas, the vain dream fled away.
Taréis gach geallaibh d'á d-tugas féin di, Phog mé a béilín go dlúith arís, Leag mé lamh air a brághaid bhreagh, ghléigheal, A's rugas am ghéagaibh air rún mo chroidhe :— 'N-uair d'úmhluigh si gabhail liom mar chéile, Bhi'dh mo chroídhe mar éun ag dul le gaoith ; Trí lár mo shúgradh do mhúscail mé, 'Smo chúmhaidh nír bh' aén read acht aisling í.

Derry Air becomes Danny Boy
When the Great Famine hit Ireland in 1845, many emigrants left their failed potato crops and travelled to America, bringing with them their traditions and their music. In 1912, a woman named Margaret Weatherley, who had moved to Colorado with her husband during the Gold Rush, heard gold prospectors believed to have originated in the Roe Valley playing an unfamiliar yet beautiful tune. Although, given that Australians were also highly experienced in gold mining, the men playing the tune at the gold camp might very well have been Australians who had brought with them the music of Australian composer Percy Grainger, who was probably the first to record 'Derry Air'. She managed to coax the musicians into giving her a copy of the music, which she sent to her brother-in-law Fred who was a lawyer in Somerset.
It so happened that Frederic Edward Weatherley (1848-1929), when not practicing law, was a radio entertainer, writer of verses and children's books, and human songwriting machine, having published over 1,500 works, including the famous hymn 'Holy City'. Two years before, he had penned the words and music for a song he called 'Danny Boy' Unfortunately, the song was a flop. Upon receiving the tune from Margaret, he immediately perceived that the melody fitted his 'Danny Boy' lyrics almost perfectly, and wasted no time in writing a new version of the song, which would be published by Boosey in 1913. By chance, his friend Alfred Perceval Graves had written two sets of words to the same melody, 'Emer's Farewell' and 'Erin's Apple-Blossom', and did not take too kindly to having somebody else doing the same.
The Popularisation of Danny Boy

The unifying nature of Danny Boy
Of all the national tunes which have been rescued from oblivion... none has achieved such striking popularity as the old Irish tune known as the 'Derry Air'... this very beautiful tune seems to be taking such an extraordinary hold upon the people - for hardly a week passes by without its appearing in some form or another on concert programmes... within the last few years a perfectly bewildering array of settings and arrangements has appeared.
- Henry Coleman, Musical Times
Because Weatherley purportedly wrote 'Danny Boy' with the intention to bring together the Unionists and Nationalists of Ireland, it is of little surprise that the song held so much appeal to the Irish people - and later, to people all over the world. 'Danny Boy' would quickly make its transition from printed media to audio as the gramophone trend boomed in the country.

'Danny Boy' has travelled a long way from its Irish roots. Ireland to America and to the rest of the world, 'Danny Boy' has entertained his way into the hearts of the young and old alike, in parlours and parties, on radios and television. Almost every famous singer, dead or alive, has recorded a version of the song.
But 'Danny Boy' isn't just about entertainment. Its melody has been described as hauntingly beautiful; it is the song most often requested by those who foresee their end, and the one most often played when people are laid into their graves.
No one can ever know for certain when the tune first took hold in someone's mind, time hides such secrets like the first leaf to fall on a bare tree. Danny could be connected hundreds, if not thousands of years further back.
Danny Boy for certain is now a legend - a Irish cultural symbol, a song of comfort and an anthem of the human spirit. Maybe Elvis Presley with known Irish connections, from an area of long Irish settlement was right, and the tune was written by angels.

Irish Community Video

Register

The Irish Community have posted
7 REPLIES TO THIS TOPIC
for logged in members to view.

Irish Forums Message Discussion :: Danny Boy the story and Irish Elvis

Danny Boy the story and Irish Elvis

Irish Community Video