According to Derek Bell (late of the Chieftains), and Liam O Conchubhair in Folk Songs Of The North Of Ireland, this is possibly the best Northern Ballad. By John Correy's cousin (?)
the poet asserts authorship in the verse.

As I went a-walking one morning in May,
To view yonder valleys and mountains so gay,
I was thinking of yon flowers soon a-going to decay,
That grow around you, bonny, bonny Sliabh Gallen's Brae.

My name is James McGarvey and I'd havve you understand,
I come from Derrygennard and I own a farm of land;
But my rents are getting higher, and I can no longer pay,
So farewell unto you bonny, bonny Sliabh Gallen's Brae.

Oft o'er these mountains with my dog and my gun,
I wandered these mountains for pastime and for fun,
But those days they are all over, and I must go away;
So farewell unto you bonny, bonny Sliabh Gallen's Brae.

It's not for the want of employment at home,
That causes the sons of Old Ireland to roam,
But our rents are getting higher, and the rates we cannot pay;
So farewell unto you bonny, bonny Sliabh Gallen's Brae.

Farewell to Old Ireland, that island so green,
To the parish of Lissan and the cross of Ballinascreen,
May good fortune shine upon you while I am far away,
So farewell unto you bonny, bonny Sliabh Gallen's Brae.


Many's the time I heard the late Tony McAulay and the McPeakes sing this beauty.

Seamus