Jane Ross (5 August 1810 – 1879) was an Irish folksong collector from

Limavady Limavady (; ) is a market town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, with Binevenagh as a backdrop. Lying east of Derry and southwest of Coleraine, Limavady had a population of 11,279 people at the 2021 Census. In the 40 years between 1 ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. She is most notable for collecting the tune that became ''

Londonderry Air The "Londonderry Air" is an Irish air (folk tune) that originated in County Londonderry, first recorded in the nineteenth century. The tune is played as the victory sporting anthem of Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games. The song " Dan ...

''.

Early life and family

Jane Ross was born in or near

, County Londonderry on 5 August 1810. She was the eldest of the four daughters and two sons of John Ross (1781–1830) and his second wife Jane (née Ogilby). Her siblings were Elizabeth, William, Ann, Theodosia and John. Her father was captain in the Limavady yeomanry and owner of land, flour mills, and a bleach green. Her brother William (born 1814) became rector of

Dungiven Dungiven () is a small town, townland and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is near the main A6 road (Northern Ireland), A6 Belfast to Derry road, which bypasses the town. It lies where the river ...

and later canon of

Derry cathedral St Columb's Cathedral in the walled city of Derry, Northern Ireland, is the cathedral church and episcopal see of the Church of Ireland's Diocese of Derry and Raphoe. It is also the parish church of Templemore. It is dedicated to Saint Columba, ...

. Her paternal grandfather, William Ross, was a land agent for the Conolly estate, provost of Limavady from 1789, and a linen merchant. Through both her parents she was related to other local gentry families.

Music collecting

Ross lived with some of her sisters in Limavady at 51 Main Street. Around 1853 she collected a number of traditional songs and airs from her local area and sent them to George Petrie, the Dublin-based folk music collector. He published them with other songs as ''Ancient music of Ireland'' (1855). The air, which became known as ''

'' or the ''Derry air'', was published unnamed without lyrics as a melody for the piano. It gained popularity, with a number of composers producing their own arrangements, the most notable with the words written by

Fred Weatherly Frederic Edward Weatherly, King's Counsel, KC (4 October 1848 – 7 September 1929) was an English lawyer, author, lyricist and broadcaster. He was christened and brought up using the name Frederick Edward Weatherly, and appears to have adopted ...

in 1912, which is better known that the

Alfred Perceval Graves Alfred Perceval Graves (22 July 184627 December 1931), was an Anglo-Irish poet, songwriter and folklorist. He was the father of British poet and critic Robert Graves. Early life Graves was born in Dublin and was the son of The Rt Rev. Cha ...

version. Weatherly put the lyrics of his song ''

Danny Boy "Danny Boy" is a folk song with lyrics written by English lawyer Frederic Weatherly in 1910, and set to the traditional Irish melody of " Londonderry Air" in 1913. History In 1910, in Bath, Somerset, England, the English lawyer and lyricist ...

'' to the air, which became a popular song given the themes of emigration of loss and connections to the experience of the Irish diaspora. There are a number of views on the age and origin of the ''Londonderry Air'', but there is a lack of evidence to settle the case. Some believe that Ross altered the original melody to her taste, with others think that Ross wrote it herself and claimed it was older. The majority of scholars agree that Ross heard a musician play a melody similar to that collected by

Edward Bunting Edward Bunting (1773– 17 March 1843) was an Irish musician and Folk music of Ireland, folk music collector active in Belfast. Life Bunting was born in County Armagh, Ireland. At the age of seven he was sent to study music at Drogheda and ...

from Denis Hempson. Despite varying theories about the composer of the air, Ross is given the credit for collecting it.

Death and legacy

Ross died in 1879, and was buried in Christchurch Church of Ireland graveyard, Limavady. A plaque was erected in her memory on her home in Limavady at 51 Main Street, and an annual music festival is held in her honour. The

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

holds the music Ross collected and sent to Petrie. In 1998 the Ross Archives were compiled.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Jane 1810 births 1879 deaths Irish folk-song collectors Musicians from County Londonderry Irish folklorists Irish women folklorists Irish musicologists Irish women musicologists 19th-century British musicologists People from Limavady