The fiddler of Dooney

When I play on my fiddle in Dooney,
Folk dance like a wave of the sea;
My cousin is priest in Kilvarnet,
My brother in Mocharabuiee.

I passed my brother and cousin:
They read in their books of prayer;
I read in my book of songs
I bought at the Sligo fair.

When we come at the end of time
To Peter sitting in state,
He will smile on the three old spirits,
But call me first through the gate;

For the good are always the merry,
Save by an evil chance,
And the merry love the fiddle,
And the merry love to dance:

And when the folk there spy me,
They will all come up to me,
With "Here is the fiddler of Dooney!"
And dance like a wave of the sea.

by William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) , "The fiddler of Dooney", from Bookman, published 1892

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Mark Andrews (1875-1939) , "The fiddler of Dooney", <<1939.
by Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax (1883-1953) , "The fiddler of Dooney", 1907. [voice and piano]
by Walter Butler , "The fiddler of Dooney", published <<1940 [voice and piano], from Four Irish Lyrics
by Thomas Frederick Dunhill (1877-1946) , "The fiddler of Dooney", published 1905 [voice and piano], from The wind among the reeds, no. 4.
by Francis Frank , "The fiddler of Dooney", published <<1940. [voice and piano]
by Ivor Gurney (1890-1937) , "The fiddler of Dooney", published 1959. [voice and piano]
by Richard Hageman (1882-1966) , "The fiddler of Dooney", published <<1940.
by Sir (Herbert) Hamilton Harty (1879-1941) , "The fiddler of Dooney", published <<1938, from Five Irish Songs
by Sidney Homer (1864-1953) , "The fiddler of Dooney", op. 20, published 1909. [voice and piano]
by Charles Martin Tornov Loeffler (1861-1935) , "The fiddler of Dooney", published 1935 [voice and orchestra], from Five Irish Fantasies, no. 3.
by Nicholas Marshall (1942-) , "The fiddler of Dooney" [voice, treble recorder, violoncello, harpsichord], from The Falling of the Leaves
by Robin Humphrey Milford (1903-1959) , "The fiddler of Dooney", published 1925 [baritone or unison voices and piano], from A Book of Songs
by Vittorio Rieti (1898-1994) , "The fiddler of Dooney", published 1964 [mezzo-soprano and piano], from Two Songs Between Two Waltzes, no. 1.
by William (Southcombe) Lloyd Webber (1914-1982) , "The fiddler of Dooney", published 1964. [two-part chorus]

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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