Here's something from Pete Seeger's book, Where Have All the Flowers Gone:

The original of the text can be found in Norwegian Emigrant Songs and Ballads, by Blegen and Ruud (Arno Press, New York). It was a famous drinking song both in Norway and among Norwegian-American men. The story behind it? In the 1840's, the famous Norwegian violinist Ole Bull toured the USA. Some real estate agents sold him 120,000 acres in northwest Pennsylvania, and when he returned home he announced there was free land for Norwegian emigrants. But the first settlers found it was mostly rocks. No good for farming. They headed west to places like Wisconsin. This satirical ballad was written in 1853 by Ditmar Meidel, a Norwegian newspaper editor. It had several dozen verses.
The tune is one more variant of what we know best as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," a melody with hundreds of different versions throughout Europe and the Americas.
A slow, minor-key version is "Hatikvah," the national anthem of Israel. The gospel song "Come By Here" (Kumbaya) incorporates it. I suspect the tune was known by our cave-dwelling ancestors.