Looks like a good start toward a DTSTudy. I'll tag it as a DTStudy, and let's see where it goes.
-Joe Offer
Here's the entry from the Traditional Ballad Index.
O'er the Hills and Far Away (I)
DESCRIPTION: (Jocky) the piper "learned to play when he was young," but "the a' tunes that he could play Was o'er the hills and far away." Rejected by Jenny, he laments his fate, declares "I'll never trust a woman more," and intends to spend his life playing the pipes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1709 (_Pills to Purge Melancholy_, per Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection music dancing
FOUND IN: Britain Australia
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Logan, pp. 330-334, "O'er the Hills and Far Away" (1 text)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 248, "(O'er the Hills and Far Away)" (1 fragment)
Opie-Oxford2 507, "Jockey was a piper's son" (1 text)
DT, OVRHILL4*
ADDITIONAL: Allan Ramsay, The Tea-Table Miscellany: or, A Collection of Scots Sangs (in three vols) (London, 1733 (ninth edition) ("Digitized by Google")), Vol. I, pp. 192-194, "O'er the Hills and Far Away" ("Jocky met with Jenny fair") (1 text)
Alexander Whitelaw, A Book of Scottish Song (Glasgow, 1845 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 145-146, "Jocky Met Wi' Jenny" (1 text)
James Johnson, Editor, _The Scots Musical Museum_ [1853 edition], volume I, #62, p. 62-63, "O'er the Hills and Far Away" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Arn017 (Full)
Roud #8460
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Over the Hills So Far Away" (lyrics)
SAME TUNE:
The Hubble Bubble (Logan, pp. 196-198)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Jockey's Lamentation
NOTES: It has been conjectured that this is descended from one or another version of "The Elfin Knight," with which it shares a few scattered lyrics and perhaps a plaintive feeling. But it is more likely that it was inspired by, rather than descended from, the older ballad, as this appears to have been originally a broadside.
Pieces with this name are common; John Gay had one in the Beggar's Opera. This version is characterized by the lines quoted in the description, which seem to show up even in the degenerate forms such as "Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son" (which appears to be nothing more than a dance tune; compare the Baring-Gould text). � RBW
Opie-Oxford2: "According to J.W. Ebsworth (Roxburghe Ballads) this was written by P.A. Motteux for D'Urfey's comedy, The Campaigners, 1698, but it is not in the published version of the play."
Whitelaw (1845): "The song here given is, with the exception of the chorus, not properly a Scottish production, being rather a London imitation of Scottish song, brought out about the beginning of the last century...." - BS
Last updated in version 3.0
File: Arn017
Over the Hills So Far Away
DESCRIPTION: "Possum ran from under the barn, Fiddle bow under his arm, The only tune that be could play Was Over the hills so far away." (x3) "The old cow died in the forks of the branch, Over the hills so far away; Possum had a regular dance, Over the hills...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1913 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: animal music dancing
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 165, "Over the Hills So Far Away" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "O'er the Hills and Far Away (I)" (lyrics)
NOTES: Almost certainly derived as some degree from "O'er the Hills and Far Away (I)," but since the outcome is an animal song, I classify this separately. - RBW
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