For a midi with lyrics page go to:

http://www.contemplator.com/folk.html

One of the unfortunate aspects of "origins" work is it never examines the meanings of the songs in context.

As interesting as some of the history surrounding the tune family is (there never does seem to have been any mystery surrounding Weatherly's lyrics), none of that has ever been of interest to me. What is of interest to me is how and why this song became such a beloved part of the Irish American song canon.

Wonder why no one ever discusses that aspect of it?