William Percy French (1854 - 1920) was born in County Roscommon and educated in Windemere College, Foyle College and Trinity College, Dublin. He graduated as a civil engineer in 1881 and joined the Board of Works in County Cavan. His song writing career had already begun and around this time "The Mountains of Mourne" became popular. The Board reduced its staff in 1887 and he turned to journalism editing for about a year a comic magazine called "Jarvey." When this packed up he joined with a fellow writer and they produced a musical comedy "Knights of the Road" in Dublin. He never looked back and had a long and successful career as a songwriter and entertainer touring Canada, the United States and England. The song mentioned above "Are Ye Right There, Michael?" led to a libel action. In addition to his talents as a song writer, he was also a gifted painter. He moved to London in 1890 and died in Formby, Lancashire. Information from "A Dictionary of Irish Biography."