Composer: Traditional
Lyric Author: Traditional
Published: 18th Century?
Country of origin: Scotland
General Interest
Like many such folk songs, there is no attributed author or songwriter, and the age is uncertain.
The most common version refers to the unrequited love of a captain of Irish dragoons for a beautiful Scottish girl in Fyvie, a village in Aberdeenshire, in the North East of Scotland.
The historical setting is said to be a reference to the capture of Fyvie Castle in 1644 by the Royalist army of Montrose, but this is uncertain. There were many Irish soldiers present, but they weren't Dragoons.
Other versions are set in the war of 1812, in what is now the USA.
Many versions have been recorded by such well-known artists as Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and The Grateful Dead.
Here's a link to the Lyric:
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