'Danny boy' - new single from Danny Burns

Danny Burns and Tim O'Brien collaborate on the latest single by Danny Burns, released today by the Bonfire Music Group: a new recording of 'Danny boy', which will appear on Burns's forthcoming album Promised land, scheduled for release three months from now. The Bonfire Music Group press release says: 'With the new single, Burns showcases his bluegrass side. The song “Danny boy” has roots that date all the way back to 1910, when it was first created as an Irish ballad.'

Its 'creation as an Irish ballad' was the work of the English lawyer and songwriter Frederic Weatherly of Somerset (left). He set his words to the tune 'Londonderry air' collected by Jane Ross and published in George Petrie's The ancient music of Ireland (1855). Other words had been set to the tune before 1910, but Weatherly's became the lyrics most closely associated with it.

© Richard Hawkins