A couple of years ago I met a young Irish whistle player in Sydney, Australia (where I live) and she said she had met the person who wrote the song (whose name I've forgotten) and he (the composer) said that it was not a love song at all, as most of us had assumed, but a rebel song!

I cannot vouch for the authenticity of this piece of information, but this girl seemed like a very reliable source - she was a lovely, no bull type of person with a great generousity of spirit (and boy, could she play that whistle!).

If it is a rebel song, the lyrics seem equally, if not more, inexplicable. So I'm afraid I've probably just confused the issue. Anybody else got any further info?

Jan