"Over the Hills and Far Away" is a traditional English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 song, dating back to at least the late 17th century. One version was published in Thomas D'Urfey

Thomas d'Urfey

Thomas D'Urfey was an English writer and wit. He composed plays, songs, and poetry, in addition to writing jokes. He was an important innovator and contributor in the evolution of the Ballad opera....

's Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy

Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy

Wit and Mirth: Or Pills to Purge Melancholy is the title of a large collection of songs by Thomas d'Urfey, published between 1698 and 1720, which in its final, six-volume edition held over 1,000 songs and poems. The collection started as a single book compiled and published by Henry Playford who...

; a very different one appeared in George Farquhar

George Farquhar

George Farquhar was an Irish dramatist. He is noted for his contributions to late Restoration comedy, particularly for his plays The Recruiting Officer and The Beaux' Stratagem .-Early life:...

's 1706 play The Recruiting Officer

The Recruiting Officer

The Recruiting Officer is a 1706 play by the Irish writer George Farquhar, which follows the social and sexual exploits of two officers, the womanising Plume and the cowardly Brazen, in the town of Shrewsbury to recruit soldiers...

. A version also appears in John Gay

John Gay

John Gay was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for The Beggar's Opera , set to music by Johann Christoph Pepusch...

's The Beggar's Opera

The Beggar's Opera

The Beggar's Opera is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satirical ballad opera to remain popular today...

of 1728.

The words have changed over the years, as can be seen in the versions below. The only consistent element in early versions is the title line and the tune. D'Urfey's and Gay's versions both refer to lovers, while Farquhar's version refers to fleeing oveseas to join the army. The tune was provided with another set of lyrics for the Sharpe

Sharpe (TV series)

Sharpe is a British series of television dramas starring Sean Bean about Richard Sharpe, a fictional British soldier in the Napoleonic Wars. Sharpe is the hero of a number of novels by Bernard Cornwell; most, though not all, of the episodes are based on the books...

movies, based on Farquhar's version. This version was also recorded by John Tams

John Tams

John Tams is an English actor, singer, songwriter, composer and musician.- Folk musician :John Tams was a member of Derbyshire folk group Muckram Wakes in the 1970s, then worked with Ashley Hutchings as singer and melodeon-player on albums including Son of Morris On, and as a member of the...

 who played Dan Hagman in the series.

The nursery rhyme "Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son

Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son

"Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19621.-Lyrics:Modern versions of the rhyme include:...

" mentions a piper who knows only one tune, this one. Early versions of this, known as "The distracted Jockey's Lamentations", may have been written (but not included) in Thomas D'Urfey's play The Campaigners (1698):

Jockey was a Piper's Son,

And fell in love when he was young;

But all the Tunes that he could play,

Was, o'er the Hills, and far away.

War memorials

The Royal Military College of Canada

Royal Military College of Canada

The Royal Military College of Canada, RMC, or RMCC , is the military academy of the Canadian Forces, and is a degree-granting university. RMC was established in 1876. RMC is the only federal institution in Canada with degree granting powers...

 Memorial Arch includes the text "Hark now the drums beat up again for all true Soldiers Gentlemen" on the inside top right face.

D'Urfey lyrics

Jocky met with Jenny fair

Aft by the dawning of the day;

But Jockey now is fu' of care

Since Jenny staw his heart away.

Altho' she promis'd to be true

She proven has, alake! unkind

Which gars poor Jockey aften rue

That e'er he loo'd a fickle mind.

Tis o'er the hills and far away

Tis o'er the hills and far away

Tis o'er the hills and far away

The wind has blown my plaid away

[verses omitted]

Since that she will nae pity take

I maun gae wander for her sake

And, in ilk wood and gloomy grove

I'll, sighing, sing," Adieu to love.

Since she is fause whom I adore

I'll never trust a woman more;

Frae a' their charms I'll flee away

And on my pipes I'll sweetly play,"

O'er hills and dales and far away

O'er hills and dales and far away

O'er hills and dales and far away

The wind has blawn my plad away.

George Farquhar lyrics

A version of the lyrics by George Farquhar

George Farquhar

George Farquhar was an Irish dramatist. He is noted for his contributions to late Restoration comedy, particularly for his plays The Recruiting Officer and The Beaux' Stratagem .-Early life:...

 for his play The Recruiting Officer from 1706.

Our 'prentice Tom may now refuse

To wipe his scoundrel Master's Shoes,

For now he's free to sing and play

Over the Hills and far away.

Over the Hills and O'er the Main,

To Flanders, Portugal and Spain,

The queen commands and we'll obey

Over the Hills and far away.

We all shall lead more happy lives

By getting rid of brats and wives

That scold and bawl both night and day -

Over the Hills and far away.

Over the Hills and O'er the Main,

To Flanders, Portugal and Spain,

The queen commands and we'll obey

Over the Hills and far away.

Courage, boys, 'tis one to ten,

But we return all gentlemen

All gentlemen as well as they,

Over the hills and far away.

Over the Hills and O'er the Main,

To Flanders, Portugal and Spain,

The queen commands and we'll obey

Over the Hills and far away.

John Gay lyrics

In The Beggar's Opera

The Beggar's Opera

The Beggar's Opera is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satirical ballad opera to remain popular today...

the song is a duet between the antihero Macheath and his lover Polly. It is a romantic dream of escape, with no military references.

MACHEATH:

Were I laid on Greenland's Coast,

And in my Arms embrac'd my Lass;

Warm amidst eternal Frost,

Too soon the Half Year's Night would pass.

POLLY:

Were I sold on Indian Soil,

Soon as the burning Day was clos'd,

I could mock the sultry Toil

When on my Charmer's Breast repos'd.

MACHEATH:

And I would love you all the Day,

POLLY:

Every Night would kiss and play,

MACHEATH:

If with me you'd fondly stray

POLLY:

Over the Hills and far away