Hello all. I've got a bit of a problem. I'm an American Revolution reenactor that fell in love with a version of this song. Unfortunately, the version (Linda Russell), albeit lovely, bears a striking resemblence in parts to PP&M "Gone the Rainbow." I would love to include this song at events, but I am not sure I want to use this version.

After going through the many discussions this board has seen on this particular song, I've concluded that I'm more confused than ever! I would like to know which version you think would satisfy these two requirements:

1. Approximately period-correct. I am just going to assume that the song existed in some form during the American Revolution. I do NOT want to start the debate over its date of origin, etc. Nope, definitely don't want to start that again! I'd just like something that doesn't explicitly refer to a later time period.

2. Easy enough lyrics. Oh, boy. I couldn't do justice to the Gaelic etc, so I'd prefer to avoid all but the most crystalline phonetic translations. For my purposes, it's probably better to be a little 'off' in the lyrics than to go about ruthlessly mangling a beautiful language!

I realize that most versions that satisfy my first requirement run afoul of the second, and vice versa. Suggestions, opinions, and advice all gratefully accepted. Thanks for reading this!