Well I'm very surprised that no-one has mentioned Robert Burns in all this! I learned the McPaekae's version of "The Curragh of Kildare" about 45 years ago - then came to scotland 23 years ago, to find them singing this: Here is Burns' version:

Burns Original

THE WINTER IT IS PAST
(Robert Burns)

1.
The winter it is past, and the simmer comes at last,
And the small birds sing on ev'ry tree:
The hearts of these are glad, but mine is very sad,
For my love is parted from me.
2.
The rose upon the brier by the waters running clear
May have charms for the linnet or the bee:
Their little loves are blest, and their little hearts at rest,
But my lover is parted from me
3.
My love is like the sun in the firmament does run -
Forever is constant and true;
But his is like the moon, that wanders up and down,
And every month it is new.
4.
All you that are in love, and cannot it remove,
I pity the pains you endure,
For experience makes me know that your hearts are
full of woe,
A woe that no mortal can cure.


More than passing resemblance, methinks, at least in some of the verses!So which came first??

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Note from Joe Offer: most of the Burns Websites show only the first two verses (e.g., http://www.robertburns.org/works/218.shtml)

But the sung collections usually have the four verses posted above (with slight variations). So, did Burns write four verses, or two? Here's Jean Redpath: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zPQahXTLss

Here's the Billy Ross recording from Volume 1 of the wonderful Linn Records Burns: The Complete Songs Collection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2MTFPKVxao

Note that both Redpath and Ross sing lyrics that are slightly different from what Tattie Bogle posted.