This carol originated in the city of Wexford in the southeastern Republic of Ireland. It was transcribed from a local singer by the noted Irish author, composer, musicologist, and historian W. H. Grattan Flood (1859–1928). It eventually made its way into the Oxford Book of Carols. It has a modal (Mixolydian) feel, constantly shifting between the parallel major/minor key and the sharped/flatted 7th. In modern times it has been recorded by artists as diverse as Julie Andrews, Tom Jones, Rosanne Cash, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. This arrangement for SATB choir and organ is from 1994 and was first performed by the choir of St Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Minneapolis, Minnesota.