I beleive there is definitely a relationship btween this ballad and one titled "Green Grow the Laurels", which is in the digitrad search. I am afraid the melody that is on the midi won't support my claim, but I have a recording by a singer named Kevin McElroy from my area who sings "Green Grow the Laurels" to the same tune, but at a rollicking tempo. There is also a version of "An Sagairtín"(The Little Priest)a song about a woman who sees her lover on the road as he returns from college. She professes her love to him, but too late. He has become a priest. He says that perhaps he can baptise her children. It is the very same melody as "She Moves Through the Fair" on the album Bláth na nÓige by Máirtín Tom Sheanín, although I recognise that melodies of irish tunes are very interchangable. There is a version of "An Sagairtín" in Amhráin Chlainne Gaedheal, but I don't have a copy to compare the melody. That collection was published in 1905. I thought I would mention this, because no one else has, and I would love some more discussion on this.

Brían.