Law and Popular Culture
'Danny Boy' and its Lyrics, Written by a Lawyer, Banned at One Pub
A New York pub owner has declared his bar a “Danny Boy”-free zone.
Sorry about that, Frederick Edward Weatherly. He’s the lawyer who wrote the lyrics to the song in 1913, words so sad that bar owner Shaun Clancy says they are downright depressing, the Associated Press reports.
Clancy, who owns Foley’s Pub and Restaurant near the Empire State Building, points out that Weatherly was from England and never even set foot in Ireland. And the song he wrote is rarely sung in Ireland St. Patrick’s Day. For those reasons, he’s banning the song for the entire month of March.
Weatherly is credited with writing more than 3,000 songs as well science fiction novels and children’s books.
