Derry Aire

[Jonathan Lighter]

You're so right, Wilson.

It isn't "The" Londonderry air,  like they only had one; it's "an" air
played by a street fiddler in Londonderry in the early 1850s and noted down
by Jane Ross of Limavady.

Of course, many people presumably think the title means, "You know, the
fresh air they breathe there, where was it you said?"

PS:  Wackipedia bears out my suspicion: "the title...'Derry Air' is
sometimes used instead, due to the Derry-Londonderry name dispute
<goog_818275218>."

At least there's no "e."  Wacki is definitely improving.

JL


On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 12:36 AM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Derry Aire
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Mon, Jun 2, 2014 at 8:27 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > 'The Londonderry Aire'
>
>
> "The"?! There was no definite article, back in the '40's! Can't these young
> whippersnappers leave *anything* the way that it used to be? :-(
>
>
>
>
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
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