From Wikipedia; 'Over the Hills and Far Away' is a traditional British song, dating back to at least the late 17th century. One version was published in Thomas D'Urfey's Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy; a very different one appeared in George Farquhar's 1706 play The Recruiting Officer. A version also appears in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera of 1728.

D'Urfey's and Gay's versions both refer to lovers, while Farquhar's version refers to fleeing overseas to join the army.

The nursery rhyme 'Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son' mentions a piper who knows only one tune, this one. Early versions of this, known as 'The distracted Jockey's Lamentations', may have been written (but not included) in Thomas D'Urfey's play The Campaigners (1698):

Tommy was a Piper's Son,
And fell in love when he was young;
But all the Tunes that he could play,
Was, O'er the Hills, and Far Away.

D'Urfey lyrics;

Jocky met with Jenny fair
Aft by the dawning of the day;
But Jockey now is fu' of care
Since Jenny staw his heart away.
Altho' she promis'd to be true
She proven has, alake! unkind
Which gars poor Jockey aften rue
That e'er he loo'd a fickle mind.
Tis o'er the hills and far away
Tis o'er the hills and far away
Tis o'er the hills and far away
The wind has blown my plaid away

[verses omitted]

Since that she will nae pity take
I maun gae wander for her sake
And, in ilk wood and gloomy grove
I'll, sighing, sing, 'Adieu to love.
Since she is fause whom I adore
I'll never trust a woman more;
Frae a' their charms I'll flee away
And on my pipes I'll sweetly play,
O'er hills and dales and far away
O'er hills and dales and far away
O'er hills and dales and far away
The wind has blawn my plad away.