Danny Boy
O Danny Boy the pipes the pipes are calling,
From Glen to Glen and down the mountain side,
The summer’s gone and all the flowers are dying,
‘Tis you ‘tis you must go and I must bide,
But come ye back when summers on the meadow
Or when the valley’s hushed and white with snow,
‘Tis I’ll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny Boy Oh Danny Boy I love you so.
And when you come and all the flowers are dying
And I am dead as dead I well may be,
You’ll come and find the place where I am lying
and kneel and say an Ave Marie there for me,
And I shall hear thou soft you tread above me
and on my grave will warmer sweeter be,
And you will bend and tell me that you love me
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me.
While probably one of the most well know Irish songs it is interesting to mention that it was an Englishman by the name of Fredrick Edward Weatherly who wrote these lyrics in 1910 and set them to the “Londonderry Air,” which itself was first published in 1855.
This rendition is dedicated to the memory of my father, Francis Paul O’Reilly, who played this song many times for us, as children on the concert flute.
