"Over the Hills and Far Away" (Roud 8460) is a traditional English song, dating back to at least the late 17th century. Two versions were published in the fifth volume of Thomas D'Urfey's Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy; a version that is similar to the second Wit and Mirth one appears in George Farquhar's 1706 play The Recruiting Officer. A further version appears in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera of 1728. The melody is modal, in what is known as C-Dorian (the Dorian mode transposed to C).
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. The first Wit and Mirth version and Gay's version both refer to lovers, while the second Wit and Mirth version along with Farquhar's version refer to military service. The tune was provided with another set of lyrics for the British Sharpe television series of the 1990s, based on Farquhar's version. This version was also recorded by John Tams who played Dan Hagman in the series.
The nursery rhyme "Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son" 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):
Tommy 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.
Another nursery rhyme, "Five Little Ducks", uses the title of the song as a line.
An instrumental version was heard in the Barney & Friends episode "Classical Cleanup".
In The Beggar's Opera the song is a duet between the antihero Macheath and his lover Polly. It is a romantic dream of escape, with no military references.[4]
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
John Tams lyrics
This is the version that is used in the Sharpe television series with lyrics written by John Tams. Note that each verse is from a different story, as noted at the start of the verse.
Dan Hagman quietly sings the first verse to Perkins when he was dying from getting bayoneted by a Spanish-Irish traitor, O'Rourke, in Sharpe's Battle, and Sharpe himself recites the same verse to the dying Ensign Beauclere in Sharpe's Peril.
Tams's recorded version
Tams recorded a variation of the above lyrics for Over the Hills & Far Away: The Music of Sharpe, the companion CD to the television film series. The song was also recorded by New Zealand singer Will Martin on his debut 2008 album New World. The lyrics for that version go as follows. (Chorus lyrics located at bottom of page)
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