This folk song as sung by Anne Briggs "The snow it melts the fastest when the winds begin to sing," was played on the BBC Programme, Private Passions on Radio Three, Sunday, 19th. 2011. I am old enough to remember the folk song revival of the 1950/60's and this was a welcome reminder of that time. It is interesting to learn that this song was collected in Northumberland as early as 1821 and appeared in print in the Gentleman's Magazine of that year, so in all probability it is of even earlier derivation.

A whole new generation has since grown up with an interest in English and Irish folk music popularized on various threads such as http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=2857 as well as Wikipedia and http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~zierke/anne.briggs/songs/thesnowitmeltsthesoonest.html. The BBC commentator, Gary Fabian Miller, noted that Briggs' rendering included "the twiddles" or grace notes that are found in Northumbrian Pipe Music so perhaps the singer, in her travels, was able to consciously include such touches when in that area?