[Harp-L] Danny Boy

["Glenn Weiser" <celticguitar1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joe and Cass Leone" <leone@xxxxxxxx>
To: "Glenn Weiser" <celticguitar1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2007 11:54 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Danny Boy


>
> On Jul 15, 2007, at 5:16 PM, Glenn Weiser wrote:
>
>> "Danny Boy" was originally a harp tune from around 1600, it seems,  but 
>> that was the Irish harp.
>>
>> -Glenn Weiser
>>
>> __Yes, it is so old, no one knows who wrote it. I never understood  why 
>> it is always written in Eb. Seems a little strange to me. You  would 
>> think it would have been written in 'Dry Irish'.
>
> smo-joe

The authorship of "Danny Boy" is attributed to the Irish harper Blind Rory 
O'Cahan, a nobleman of Ulster disposses of his land by the English around 
1600. The tune was originally known as the "Lament for Ulster." An untitled 
version in G was collected in 1845 by Irish ethnomusicoligist George Petrie 
in County Derry. The lyrics, though came later: one set, "Londonderry Air," 
by Thomas Moore in the 1850s, and the, next, the famous "Danny Boy" lyrics, 
by Fred Weatherly (gasp! an Englishman) in 1913.

Glenn Weiser