Jane Ross (collector)

Jane Ross (1762 – 1843) was an Irish woman from Limavady, County Londonderry, best known for collecting the melody of "Danny Boy" (also known as "The Derry Air"). While not a composer or musician herself, she was a keen collector of traditional Irish airs and songs.

Ross received the tune for "The Derry Air" from a blind fiddler named Jimmy McCurry, who reportedly played it for her outside her house. She transcribed the melody and sent it to George Petrie, who was compiling a collection of Irish music for the Society for the Preservation and Publication of the Melodies of Ireland. The tune was published in Petrie's Ancient Music of Ireland in 1855, long after Ross's death, attributed to "Miss Jane Ross".

Frederick Weatherly later wrote the lyrics to "Danny Boy" and paired them with Ross's tune, resulting in the globally recognized song. Although Ross is not credited as the composer of the melody, her role in preserving and transmitting it ensures her place in the history of Irish music. Her work exemplifies the important contribution of amateur collectors in documenting and preserving folk music traditions.