Londonderry Air Totally Explained

Everything about The Londonderry Air totally explained

The Londonderry Air (or Derry Air) is an anthem of Northern Ireland. It is also popular among the Irish diaspora and very well known throughout the world. The tune is played as the Northern Ireland anthem at the Commonwealth Games. "Danny Boy" is a popular set of lyrics to the tune. Australian composer Percy Grainger wrote numerous settings of this tune.

History

The title of the air comes from the name of the county in Northern Ireland. The air was collected by Jane Ross of Limavady, County Londonderry, who heard it played by an itinerant piper or fiddler. The descendents of blind fiddler Jimmy McCurry assert that he's the musician from whom she transcribed the tune but there's no historical evidence to support this speculation.
   Ms. Ross submitted the tune to music collector George Petrie, and it was then published by the Society for the Preservation and Publication of the Melodies of Ireland in the 1855 book The Ancient Music of Ireland, which Petrie edited. The tune was listed as an anonymous air, with a note attributing its collection to Jane Ross of Londonderry. This led to the descriptive title "Londonderry Air" being used for the piece. The title "Air from County Derry" or "Derry Air" is sometimes used instead of "Londonderry Air", due to the Derry-Londonderry name dispute.
   The origin of the tune was for a long time somewhat mysterious, as no other collector of folk tunes encountered it, and all known examples are descended from Ms. Ross' submission to Petrie's collection. In a 1934 article, Anne Geddes Gilchrist suggested that the performer Ross heard played the song with extreme rubato, causing Ross to mistake the time signature of the piece for common time (4/4) rather than 3/4. Gilchrist asserted that adjusting the rhythm of the piece as she proposed produced a tune more typical of Irish folk music.
   In 1974, Hugh Shields found a long-forgotten traditional song which was very similar to Gilchrist's modified version of the melody. The song, Aislean an Oigfear ("The young man's dream"), had been transcribed by Edward Bunting in 1792 based on a performance by harper Denis Hempson at the Belfast Harp Festival. Bunting published it in 1796. Hempson lived in Magilligan, not far from Ross's home in Limavady. Hempson died in 1807.

Danny Boy

The most popular lyrics for the tune are "Danny Boy" ("Oh Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling") written by the English lawyer, Frederick Edward Weatherly, in 1910 and set to the tune in 1913. While Weatherly intended the song as a parting message from a woman to a man, ť I can't tell why He Whom angels worship,

   Should set His love upon the sons of men, ť Or why, as Shepherd, He should seek the wanderers,

   To bring them back, they know not how or when. ť But this I know, that He was born of Mary

   When Bethlehem’s manger was His only home, ť And that He lived at Nazareth and laboured,

   And so the Saviour, Saviour of the world is come. ť I can't tell how silently He suffered,

   As with His peace He graced this place of tears, ť Or how His heart upon the cross was broken,

   The crown of pain to three and thirty years. ť But this I know, He heals the brokenhearted,

   And stays our sin, and calms our lurking fear, ť And lifts the burden from the heavy laden,

   For yet the Saviour, Saviour of the world is here. ť I can't tell how He will win the nations,

   How He will claim His earthly heritage, ť How satisfy the needs and aspirations

   Of East and West, of sinner and of sage. ť But this I know, all flesh shall see His glory,

   And He shall reap the harvest He has sown, ť And some glad day His sun shall shine in splendour

   When He the Saviour, Saviour of the world is known. ť I can't tell how all the lands shall worship,

   When, at His bidding, every storm is stilled, ť Or who can say how great the jubilation

   When all the hearts of men with love are filled. ť But this I know, the skies will thrill with rapture,

   And myriad, myriad human voices sing, ť And earth to Heaven, and Heaven to earth, will answer:

   At last the Saviour, Saviour of the world is King
   It was also used as a setting for I would be true by Howard Arnold Walter at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales:
ť I'd be true, for there are those that trust me.

   I would be pure, for there are those that care. ť I'd be strong, for there's much to suffer.

   I would be brave, for there's much to dare. ť I'd be friend of all, the foe, the friendless.

   I would be giving, and forget the gift, ť I'd be humble, for I know my weakness,

   I would look up, and laugh, and love and live.
   "Londonderry Air" was also used as the tune for the Southern Gospel hit "He looked beyond my fault" written by Dottie Rambo of the group "The Rambos" ť Amazing Grace shall always be my song of praise,

   For it was grace that bought my liberty, ť I don't know just why He came to love me so,

   He looked beyond my fault and saw my need. ť I'll forever lift mine eyes to Calvary,

   To view the Cross where Jesus died for me, ť How marvelous His grace that caught my falling soul,

   When he looked beyond my fault and saw my need.

Other uses

The melody is given by Julian May as the anthem of the Tanu and Firvulag in her Saga of Pliocene Exile science fiction series. She implies that the ongoing confusion about the melody's origin arose because it originally came to Earth from an alien world.
The song has been adapted into You Raise Me Up, and also Ne Viens Pas by Roch Voisine.
The melody was used to words in Irish Gaelic and sung by the Bunratty Castle chorus during the 1970's. The title used was "Maidín i mBearra".

Further Information

Get more info on 'Londonderry Air'.

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