Interestingly, in the version Edith Fowke included in the Penguin Folk Songs of Canada, it is the "dark maiden's" prayer for her lover, rather than the "fair maiden's" prayer, which would be consistent with the suggestive reference to the 'spirit that rules o'er the world'. Whether in Fowke's notes or elsewhere, I've read that the song was written by a white woman or women in the Red River Settlement as a taunt at the soldiers who they felt were paying a little too much attention to the "dark maidens". The sentiment of the song seems a little too delicate to strike me as sarcasm, but - who knows?

I used to sing that version, but eventually gave up, since everyone would join in with the popular radio-cowboy version - which I've never heard an actual recording of, so I just do a mish-mash now, which does the job.