The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #51259 Message #781007
Posted By: Jim Krause
11-Sep-02 - 12:46 AM
Thread Name: Origins: Over the Hills and Far Away / O'er the...
Subject: RE: O'er the Hills
TtR, It comes from Gay's ballad opera "The Beggar's Opera" first staged in London in 1728. The lyrics you posted are a military parody dating from quite a bit later, although I don't quite understand the Queen Anne reference, since I believe she was dead and the Hanoverians were on the English throne when Gay's opera was produced. Jim