Lyr Req: Londonderry Air / Emer's Farewell / ...

Subject: Londonderry Air - lyrics
From:
Date: 27 May 97 - 10:58 PM

The tune Londonderry air was given to Petrie by Miss Jane Ross of Londonderry, a well-known collector of traditional Irish music. Sir Hubert Parry called it "the most beautiful tune in the world" The first known words to be added to it were by Alfred Perceval Graves -" Would I were Erin's appli blossom o'er thee" and the second version, " Emer's farewell" was made by the same writer. The most popular version, "Danny Boy" was written by the prolific lyricist Frederick E Weatherby in 1913. Do the words for "Emer's Farewell" still exist? If so where can I get a copy of them?

Subject: RE: Londonderry Air - lyrics
From: Martin Ryan
Date: 28 May 97 - 10:44 AM

Interesting query. I may be in the Irish Traditional Music Archive in Dublin over the next few weeks. If anyone has it - they will!

I'll let you know.

Regards

Subject: RE: Londonderry Air - lyrics
From: Martin Ryan
Date: 03 Jun 97 - 06:06 AM

Some minor progress to report. Graves is confirmed as the author of "Emer's Farewell" and the words MAY be in his "Songs of the Irish" book.

More later

Regards

Subject: RE: Londonderry Air - lyrics
From:
Date: 03 Jun 97 - 09:39 PM

Thanks for your efforts Martin, I keep coming back to the group every couple of days to check for responses. Appreciate your interest and hope we eventually come up with the words...I couldnt respond direct as I havnt got your e-mail address....cheers Eric

Subject: Lyr Add: EMER'S FAREWELL TO CUCULLAIN^^
From: Martin Ryan
Date: 09 Jun 97 - 06:06 AM

From "Songs of Old Ireland" the words by Alfred Perceval Graves the music arranged by C Villiers Stanford (Boosey & Co, London and New York, 1882)


EMER'S FAREWELL TO CUCULLAIN
O might a maid confess her secret longing
To one who dearly loves but may not speak!
Alas! I had not hidden to thy wronging
A bleeding heart beneath a smiling cheek;
I had not stemmed my bitter tears from starting,
And thou hadst learned my bosom's dear distress,
And half the pain, the cruel pain of parting,
Had passed, Cuchullain, in thy fond caress.

But go! Connacta's hostile trumpets call thee,
Thy chariot mount and ride the ridge of war,
And prove whatever feat of arms befall thee,
The hope and pride of Emer of Lismore;
Ah, then return, my hero, girt with glory,
To knit my virgin heart so near to thine,
That all who seek thy name in Erin's story
Shall find its loving letters linked with mine.

Thanks to John Moulden (see "Irsh Songs. sources" thread) for supplying the above.

Hope the format survives pasting!

Regards

Regards ^^

Line Breaks <br> added.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Londonderry Air - lyrics
From: Martin Ryan
Date: 09 Jun 97 - 06:31 AM

Alas! The formatting went astray. Sorry about that. Shouldn't be too difficult to sort out

Regards

Subject: RE: Londonderry Air - lyrics
From:
Date: 11 Jun 97 - 11:18 PM

Many thanks Martin, I sorted it out okay and have printed it up without a problem....cheers ...Eric

Subject: RE: Londonderry Air - lyrics
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 12 Jun 97 - 11:48 PM

Does anyone know where the "Tender Apple Blossom" lyric fit in here?

Subject: RE: Londonderry Air - lyrics
From: Martin Ryan
Date: 02 Jul 97 - 11:51 AM

Dick,

A modern American sheet music book called "51 Lucky Irish Classics" (!) contains a song called "Would God I were the tender Apple blossom" with the words ascribed to Katharine Mary Hinkson (b 1861). She was a minor Irish poet, mostly known through one poem that was often beaten into schoolkids! Copyright date is given as 1916(Renewed).

It seems too much of a coincidence that Graves had so similar a set. Any source, Eric? A cursory look through some of Graves' book shows only Emer's Farewell.

Dick I'll post words (all two verses), another time.

Regards

Subject: RE: Londonderry Air - lyrics
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 03 Jul 97 - 01:30 PM

And while I'm asking...I seem to have misplaced my set of lyrics for the modern (and somewhat rude) ode to a miniskirt: "The London Derriere" I don't sing that kind of stuff, of course, but I'd sort of like to find it for the sake of completeness.

Subject: Lyr Add: WOULD GOD I WERE THE TENDER APPLE...^^
From: Martin Ryan
Date: 18 Jul 97 - 05:15 AM

Dick. Here's the words to "Would God I were..." And if you let the thread run just so you could indulge the pun... On the other hand, if you HAVE the words, let's hear them!

WOULD GOD I WERE THE TENDER APPLE BLOSSOM
(Words by Katharine Tynan Hinkson [b 1861])
Air from Londonderry, in Petrie collection

Would God I were the tender apple blossom,
That floats and falls from off the twisted bough
To lie and faint within your silken bosom,
Within your silken bosom as that does now
Or would I were a little burnished apple,
For you to pluck me, gliding by so cold
While sun and shade your robe of lawn will dapple,
Your robe of lawn and your hair's spun gold

Yea, would to God I were among the roses,
That lean to kiss you as you float between
While on the lowest branch a bud uncloses,
A bud uncloses to yon Queen
Nay, since you will not love, would I were growing,
A happy daisy in the garden path
That so your silver foot might press me going,
Might press me going even unto death!

Note
"Unclosing!" No wonder I've never heard it sung!

p.s. Knowing your fondness for completeness, I'm almost afraid to mention that there is at least one set in Irish! Not traditional either - written at the end of the last century by professor of Irish at Trinity College Dublin, I think.

Regards ^^

Subject: RE: Londonderry Air - lyrics
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 18 Jul 97 - 11:42 AM

Thanx Martin. and no, it's not my pun. There is such a parody extant. I've heard it.

Subject: RE: Londonderry Air - lyrics
From: Bruce O.
Date: 12 Mar 98 - 08:36 PM

For history of song and tune go to
www.standingstones.com/dannyboy.htm

Subject: RE: Londonderry Air - lyrics
From:
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 05:18 AM

Just noticed this from the new Danny Boy thread started by SusieQ. Emer's Farewell doesn't seem to have been included in the Database. Perhaps this year?

Subject: RE: Londonderry Air - lyrics
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 05:51 AM

G'day Dick,

I see The London Derrierre (as it were) appears (via a link) in the "Give me the words to Danny Bo..." thread ... Hmmmm!

Regard(les)s,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: Londonderry Air - lyrics
From:
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 11:16 AM

I believe it was Dick who supplied those "London Derriere" lyrics. I was thinking that this Emer's Farewell looks nice, and being part of the history of the tune, we should put it safe into the DT.

Subject: Lyr Add: LONDONDERRY AIR^^
From: radriano
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 02:31 PM

There's a lovely version of this song in Sam Henry's Songs of the People.

I like these lyrics much better than Danny Boy.

The Londonderry Air
[from 'Sam Henry's Songs of the People']


Flood tide that ebbs, dark waves in sullen motion
Sad winds that sigh, take this, the heart of me
To yonder ship, white falcon of the ocean
Bearing so swiftly my lost love across the sea

Rain from gray skies like tears of lamentation
Beating across bleak sands and shoreland bare
Weep with my soul, alone in desolation
Hopeless the grief and anguish of my sad despair

Sweetest of all, my dream that, at the waking
Swiftly was gone and lost beyond recall
Rose on the rood that as the dawn was breaking
So softly died as morning wept thy silent fall

Sad wind and tide that two fond hearts now sever
Our faith proclaims, triumphant over tears
How still we love and shall do so for ever
Who wait alone the secret of the coming years

[Petrie 1855-57 says the air, without title or lyrics, was collected by Miss J. Ross in Limavady. According to local tradition, James McCurry, the blind fiddler of Myroe, Limavady, was the itinerant fiddler from whom Miss Anne Jane Ross of Limavady obtained the Londonderry Air. The lyrics in this version were written by T. Wray Milnes of Beeston, Leeds.]

radriano
^^

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Londonderry Air / Emer's Farewell / ...
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Oct 21 - 05:49 PM

Mrs.Kathleen Mary Allen.
I heard a lovely version at a funeral sung to the tune of Londonderry Air.Does anyone know the words to this version.They are l
Lovely words to be sung at a funeral.Thankyou.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Londonderry Air / Emer's Farewell / ...
From: GUEST,Martin Ryan
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 03:33 PM

I understand that there are a number of hymns set to the air in use in the United States. A quick search suggests this might be suitable:


Hymn set to Danny Boy

The most interesting setting I've heard in a religious context was by a United Church of Christ (?) "shout band"! I'll post a link later.

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Londonderry Air / Emer's Farewell / ...
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 16 Oct 21 - 08:19 AM

Fred Weatherly, an English lawyer, is estimated to have written the lyrics to at least 3,000 popular songs. He wrote the song "Danny Boy" while living in Bath in 1910, but it did not meet with much success.

In 1912 his sister-in-law Margaret Enright Weatherly in America suggested an old Irish tune called "Londonderry Air", which he had never heard before. Margaret had learned the tune from her Irish-born father Dennis. The tune matched his lyrics almost perfectly. He published the now-famous song in 1913.

His ballad "Roses of Picardy", written in 1916 and set to music by Haydn Wood, was one of the most famous songs from World War 1. (Wikipedia)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Londonderry Air / Emer's Farewell / ...
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Oct 21 - 05:28 PM

I'm not familiar with the London Derrière song that Dick Greehaus mentioned, but I wrote this one a few years ago (it's in Franglais):

London Derrière
© Vikki Appleton Fielden (~2015?)

When Ah was young
Ah left mah 'ome in gay Paris
Ah crossed La Manche
To leeve in Angleterre
To mah soorpreeze
Zee lovely girls of Lohndohn
Sont tres gentil
Et belle beyond compare

So when Ah go to bed
Mah rose Anglaise
Oh voulez vous
Ahccompahnee me zayre
For zo j'adore
Les jolies filles Francaises
Zere's nossing cahn soorpass
a London derriere

(For those who may not know, "la Manche"("the sleeve") is what the French call the English Channel, Angleterre = England and Anglaise = English woman.)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Londonderry Air / Emer's Farewell / ...
From: Felipa
Date: 22 Apr 23 - 03:42 PM

https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ accessed 22 Apr 2023

"Londonderry Sentinel" 15 Aug 1918

Mr Henry Coleman, FRCO, organist of Derry Cathedral, has an interesting article in this month's 'Musical Times' on the old Irish tune known as the 'Londonderry Air.' He says that of all the national tunes which have been rescued from oblivion during the last few years, chiefly through the efforts of such entusiasts as Cecil Sharp, none has achieved such striking popularity as the air under review, which he describes as a 'very beautiful tune, that is taking such an extraordinary hold upon the people' that 'hardly a week passes by without its appearing in some form or another on concert programmes.'

Sir Hubert Parry is quoted by Mr. Colemans as having spoken of the air as 'the most complete and perfect Irish national tune in existence.' The age of the tune is unknown. Miss Ross, of Limavady, 'seems to have been the first to write it down, and it was she who gave it to Petrie. Petrie printed it in his "Collection of Ancient Music in Ireland," published in Dublin in 1855.

Mr Coleman tabulates a list of no less than sixteen settings of the air, including one for organ by himself. It figures as an Irish love song, as 'Emer's Farewell to Cuchulain,' as 'Danny Boy' song, as 'Would God I were a tender apple blossom' song, as a pianoforte solo, string quartet, violin solo, viola solo, 'Military band, played by Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers,' part song, anthem, &c.

Mr Coleman mentions that Mis Honoria Galwey, of Londonderry, has told him that the tune belongs as much to county Donegal as to county Derry, and Dr Annie Patterson remembers the tune in the west of Donegal from her childhood. The words seeem to have been descriptive of a penitent confessing to the priest, and all that remains of them are the words 'O shrine me, father.' These words, in Irish, constitute the name of the tune as Miss Patterson remembered it.
------------------------------------------------

I added paragraphs as there were none in the original article. Honoria Galwey (1830-1925) of Derry and Moville Co Donegal, collected tunes and songs and published a book called "Old Irish Croonauns". It sounds like people in County Donegal and Derry were familiar with hearing versions of the "Londonderry Air" tune in the oral tradition, quite likely handed down from other sources than the publication in Petrie's collection.

Words of 'Emer's Farewell to Cuchullain' and 'Would God I were a tender apple blossom' are published in the Londonderry Sentinel Sat 20 Dec 1947 in "MY COUNTY" Notes on a Recent Broadcast by Commander F. Gilliland D.L. But I see these lyrics have already been contributed to Mudcat. And you will find other lyrics set to this tune in some of the related Mudcat threads listed at the top of this page. A related tune 'Aisling an Óigfhir' (the young man's dream/vision) was published in Bunting's 1796 collection. https://www.itma.ie/digital-library/score/bunting-vol-1-17

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Londonderry Air / Emer's Farewell / ...
From: Lighter
Date: 22 Apr 23 - 04:56 PM

Wikipedia:

"In 2000, Brian Audley published his authoritative research on the tune's origins. He showed how the distinctive high section of the tune had derived from a refrain in 'The Young Man's Dream' which, over time, crept into the body of the music. He also discovered the original words to the tune as we now know it, which were written by Edward Fitzsimmons and published in 1814; his song is 'The Confession of Devorgilla', otherwise known by its first line 'Oh Shrive Me Father'."

But more recently Brendan Drummond has cast doubt on the melody's relationship to "The Confession," at least in the 1830s. He suggests that the tune as we know it was adapted from "The Groves of Blarney" by a local music teacher, E. F. C. Ritter:

https://journalofmusic.com/focus/long-drive-limavady

Both "The Young Man's Dream" and "The Groves of Blarney" show strong resemblances to "Londonderry Air," without being either identical to it or as melodically flawless.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Londonderry Air / Emer's Farewell / ...
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 22 Apr 23 - 05:38 PM

For years I thought it was the London derriere:-)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Londonderry Air / Emer's Farewell / ...
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Apr 23 - 08:33 PM

Ciarán Mac Mathúna, rest him, used to call it the Derry Air, without irony! What a great bloke he was, by the way.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Londonderry Air / Emer's Farewell / ...
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 23 Apr 23 - 07:19 AM

Here again are the words to "In Derry Vale" which I posted on another thread back in 2009. Written early 20th century, sung to the same tune. Found in an old songbook I bought in a second-hand book shop.

LONDONDERRY AIR (IN DERRY VALE)
W.G.Rothery

In Derry Vale, beside the singing river,
So oft I strayed, ah, many years ago,
And culled at morn the golden daffodillies
That came with Spring to set the world aglow.

Oh, Derry Vale, my thoughts are ever turning
To your broad stream and fairy-circled lea,
For your green isles my exiled heart is turning,
So far awa-a-ay acro-oss the-e sea.

In Derry Vale, amid the Foyle's dark waters,
The salmon leap above the surging weir,
The seabirds call – I still can hear them calling
In night's long dreams of tho-o-ose so dear.

Oh, tarrying years, fly faster, ever faster,
I long to see the vale belov'd so well,
I long to know that I am not forgotten,
And there at ho-o-ome in pe-eace to-o dwell.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Londonderry Air / Emer's Farewell / ...
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Apr 23 - 08:04 AM

Most people in Ireland would call it the Derry air, Steve. No surprise about that.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Londonderry Air / Emer's Farewell / ...
From: Lighter
Date: 23 Apr 23 - 09:03 AM

"The London Derriere" : one more example of English colonial rapacity.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Londonderry Air / Emer's Farewell / ...
From: Lighter
Date: 23 Apr 23 - 09:45 AM

Back in '05, George Seto posted Audley's complete 2002 summary of his scrupulously detailed 2000 article. It's fascinating:

/mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=22761#1290496

As a force in culture, "The Londonderry Air" had to wait for the appearance of "Danny Boy" in 1913. Though occasional words had been written to it by late 19th century poets like Alfred Graves, it was little known before then, being buried in Bunting's pricey collection under the uninviting non-title of "Air."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Londonderry Air / Emer's Farewell / ...
From: Felipa
Date: 23 Apr 23 - 11:01 AM

LIghter's link didn't work for me.

Try https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=22761#1386063

If that doesn't work, find George Seto's 2005 post at https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=22761 or click on the link to "(origins) Origins: History of the Song Danny Boy (48)" at the top of this page.

re Lighter's summary, Bunting published an air similar to the Londonderry Air, but the air as transcribed by Jane Ross was published in George Petrie's 1855 collection (the book was first published in parts, commencing in 1853). I'd say it is Petrie's collection that Lighter referred to when he wrote "Bunting".

Audrey writes that "It wasn't called the Londonderry Air in print until 1894 when this was the name given it as the tune accompanying Irish Love Song, written by Katherine Hinkson, in a book edited by Alfred Perceval Graves called Irish Song Book. Graves and Hinkson wrote three sets of words to the air between the late 1870s and 1894 but it became a popular success only after Fred Weatherly wedded his verses of Danny Boy to it in 1912 and published it in 1913"

The 1918 Londonderry Sentinel article I submitted here does suggest that people in counties Derry and Donegal had some familiarity with the tune (or something similar) before it became famous. Thank you, Lighter, for filling in information (from Wikipedia) of the song which informed Dr. Annie Patterson's memories reported in 1918. I did not know of Dr Patterson, but she has a Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Patterson. She adjudicated at the first Feis Doire Colmcille in Derry in 1922 as civil war loomed in Ireland. https://www.derryjournal.com/news/people/feis-doire-colmcille-a-century-of-culture-from-a-city-of-music-song-and-dance-3555017

Audrey also quotes from Coleman's article in Musical Times which was the basis for the Londonderry Sentinel article

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Londonderry Air / Emer's Farewell / ...
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 23 Apr 23 - 11:26 AM

"The London Derriere" : one more example of English colonial rapacity.

Is it? And there was me thinking it was a joke...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Londonderry Air / Emer's Farewell / ...
From: Lighter
Date: 23 Apr 23 - 11:42 AM

Yes, Felipa. I meant "Petrie." Thanks for the correction.

Drummond believes that "The Young Man's Dream" and "The Groves of Blarney" were unlikely to evolve into the Ross-Petrie "Air" between 1834, when Petrie collected in the area, and the early 50s, when Ross sent it to him - shortly after overhearing it for the first time. That's why he brings Ritter into the equation.

Ritter's influence is plausible but unnecessary, because the source of the "variant" might well have been the fiddler/violinist that Ross heard play it. (Ross felt no need to inquire.) Surely, though, if it had been much older or long in tradition or widely known even in the area, Petrie would have found other versions.

Whenever it may have emerged from improvisation or was more deliberately tweaked into existence, the number of people on earth in 1853-1854 familiar with what much later was known as the "Londonderry Air" might have been countable on just a few fingers.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Londonderry Air / Emer's Farewell / ...
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 23 Apr 23 - 02:47 PM

Back many years when I was a student at The London Hospital in Whitechapel, we used to put on a Christmas show, which was not far short of pantomime and usually lampooned the current hospital consultants.
One year it was entitled "The London Derriere" - which fits with Dave the Gnome's post above. What goes on derriere the scenes!