Danny Boy Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pipes

Though solidly identified by many with Irish life and sentiment, the text of "Danny Boy" was written by English lawyer Frederick Weatherly in 1910 and set to the tune "Londonderry Air" in 1913. It is not unknown in the land of St. Patrick (Northern Ireland uses it as their anthem at the Commonwealth Games, and I recall a hearty crowd rendition of the song at Barry McGuigan's featherweight world title defense against American Bernard Taylor in Belfast), but it is most popular among North Americans of Irish descent.

Answer: Glen

Though the text's authorship is established, the melody's origin still remains open to debate. Some credit the tune to Irish harpist "Blind" Rory Dall O'Cahan (1560?-1660?), but the tales of O'Cahan's composition are fraught with elements of the supernatural.

The more musicologically inclined point out that the tune, with its broad range and other more modern characteristics, is more typical of 19th-century music than the older traditional styles, and subscribe to the hypothesis that the tune was written by fiddler Jimmy McCurry (or an acquaintance of his) shortly before its transcription by Jane Ross in 1851. Still others point to more abstract origins of the tune, such as Ross hearing it whistled by her brother and seeking out an elderly musician who knew the song. For a discussion of the tune's origins, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3826136

Answer: Summer

The union of "Londonderry Air" with "Danny Boy" began in 1912, when Margaret Weatherly heard the tune from Irish (or Australian) gold miners in Colorado. She acquired the sheet music and sent it to her brother-in-law Frederick Weatherly in Somerset, UK. Frederick, a working songwriter and radio personality in addition to a lawyer, paired the tune with his previously unsuccessful "Danny Boy" lyric, and the new fusion became a best-seller.

Answer: Bide

Like many American blues standards, travel, perhaps unwanted, is a major theme of "Danny Boy". The nature of Danny Boy's sojourn is not explicit in the lyrics. Some have speculated that he is emigrating because of the 1840s Irish potato famine. Others posit that he is being drafted by the British army to fight a foreign war. Yet another interpretation is that he is going off to join the IRA. Weatherly himself did not say, and as "American Pie" writer Don McLean once put it: "...long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence."

Answer: Valley

"Londonderry" in "Danny Boy's" original tune "Londonderry Air" refers to the city in Ireland bequeathed to the City of London Corporation by English King James I in 1603. Irish nationalists still refer to the city as "Derry", and this is by far the preferred name in Ireland itself.

As such, the very naming of the tune can be seen as a political act, and many Victorians preferred the less provocative title "Air from County Derry".

Answer: Sunshine

As far as politics go, Weatherly himself appears to have wanted nothing of them, at least in their divisive form. As he wrote in his autobiography, "Piano and Gown" (1926), he hoped that "Sinn Feiners and Ulstermen alike would sing my song."

Answer: Flowers

On Davy Spillane's 1998 album "Sea of Dreams", controversial singer Sinead O'Connor added this politically charged third verse:

But if I live and should you die for Ireland
Let not your dying thoughts be just of me
But say a prayer to God for our dearest Island
I know He'll hear and help to set her free

And I will take your pike and place my dearest
And strike a blow, though weak the blow may be
Twill help the cause to which your heart was nearest
Oh Danny Boy, Oh, Danny boy I love you so.

Similar political verses have been written by various authors over the last century; the provenance of this example is unknown.

Answer: Kneel

The "Ave" referenced here is the traditional Roman Catholic/Eastern Orthodox prayer "Ave Maria", usually translated into English as "Hail Mary". The Latin text is as follows:

"Ave María, grátia plena, Dóminus tecum. Benedícta tu in muliéribus, et benedíctus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.
Sancta María, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatóribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostræ. Amen."

In sacred music, the text is often sung to a tune by Charles Gounod based on Johann Sebastian Bach's first prelude from "The Well-Tempered Clavier".

Answer: Soft

A particularly poignant acoustic version of "Danny Boy" was recorded by Johnny Cash (with minimal accompaniment) on the album "American IV", his last recording released before he passed away in 2003.

Answer: love

I could not bring myself to insert any glib alternatives into this beautiful couplet. Perhaps Elvis Presley (and the tales of Rory Dall O'Cahan) were right, and the music was indeed written by angels. Presley recorded "Danny Boy" in the year before his death for the album "From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee". The song was played at his funeral in 1977.

As always, I'd love to hear any comments you might have, especially those that will make this a better quiz. Thanks for playing.