<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> "Danny Boy" Ernestine Schumann - Heink (1917) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Problems playing this file? See media help . </Td> </Tr> <P> Initially written to a tune other than "Londonderry Air", the words to "Danny Boy" were penned by English lawyer and lyricist Frederic Weatherly in Bath, Somerset in 1910 . After his Irish - born sister - in - law Margaret (known as Jess) in the United States sent him a copy of "Londonderry Air" in 1913 (an alternative version of the story has her singing the air to him in 1912 with different lyrics), Weatherly modified the lyrics of "Danny Boy" to fit the rhyme and meter of "Londonderry Air". </P> <P> Weatherly gave the song to the vocalist Elsie Griffin, who made it one of the most popular songs in the new century . In 1915, Ernestine Schumann - Heink produced the first recording of "Danny Boy". </P>

Where did the song danny boy come from