was lightened full soon. Origins Both rhymes were first printed separately in a Tom the Piper's Son, a chapbook produced around 1795 in London, England. The origins of the shorter and better known rhyme are unknown. The second, longer rhyme was an adaptation of an existing verse which was current in England around the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries. The following verse, known as "The Distracted Jockey's Lamentations", may have been written for (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, And '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 Plad away. This verse seems to have been adapted for a recruiting song designed to gain volunteers for the Duke of Marlborough's campaigns about 1705, with the title "The Recruiting Officer; or The Merry Volunteers", better today known as "Over the Hills and Far Away", in which the hero is called Tom. External links English nursery rhymes Pigs in literature English folk songs English children's songs Songs about fictional male characters Songs about pigs Songs about crime Songs about criminals Traditional children's songs 1795 songs