Annotation:Katy Darling
X:1 T:Katy Darling M:4/4 L:1/8 R:Air B:O'Flannagan - The Hibernia Collection (Boston, 1860; p. 16) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:D d>e|f2 gf edcB|A3 A2 dc|B2 Bc ffed|[c4e4] z2 d>e| f2 gf edcB|A3d A2 dc|B2 cd ff e2|d4 z2|| fe|e3f g2 fe|f2 d2 z2 f>e|e3c e2d2|c4 z2 de| ffgf edcB|A3 d A2 dc|B2 cd A2 fe|d4 z2 d2| ce z2z2e2|df z2z2 de|f2 gf edcB|A3 d A2 dc|B2 Bc dfed| c4 z2 (de)|f2 gf edcB|A3d A2 dc|Bcde f2 fe|d4 z2||
KATY DARLING. American, Air (4/4 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. A popular song anonymously written around 1851, purportedly set to an Irish air. The first stanza (called "simple and artless" some forty years later) goes:
Oh they tell me thou art dead, Katy darling,
That thy smile I may nevermore behold!
Did they tell thee I was false, Katy darling,
Or my love for thee had e'er grown cold?
Oh, they know not the loving of the hearts of Erin's sons Then a love like to thine, Katy darling,
Is the goal to the race the he runs.
Oh hear me, sweet Katy,
For the wild flowers greet me, Katy darling,
And the lovebirds are singing on each tree;
Wilt thou nevermore hear me, Katy darling,
Behold, love, I'm waiting for thee.
The song was sung in countless parlors and minstrel shows. A version was entered into Book 2 of the large mid-19th century music manuscript collection of County Cork uilleann piper and Church of Ireland cleric wikipedia:James_Goodman_(musicologist) (1828-1896). Goodman penciled in after the tune title, "Vaga Luna", a reference to an arietta composed by Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) published in 1838 entitled "Vaga luna, che inargenti" (Beautiful moon, dappling with silver) set an to an anonymous Italian text.
