Yesterday, I was listening to Al O'Donnell's lovely rendition of this song - mentioned above by Wolfgang - when working on transferring my aged vinyl copy to disk. As a singer O'Donnell really was something special. I had forgotten that the sleeve of his first album had a lovely little poem by Archie Fisher:

THE BALLAD SINGER (To Al O'Donnell)
(Archie Fisher - 1968)

I watched a piper take the wind that blew around his hair
And with the supple leather
    lead the hard black wood and brittle reed
A dance into the air

I watched a boy that stood with men
A whistle at his tongue
Breathe the old and smokey air into his breast
    then with careful fingers
Make it young

I saw a chin rest on a fiddle
And watched the fingers dance
Letting the notes slip from the strings into the wind
    that takes all things
That music leaves to chance

I heard the singer read the wind
And listened to his song
That told of all the wind had known
    and when and where the wind had blown
And why he'd been so long


--Stewie.