Southwind
I was searching about and found a great legend about this waltz from Ireland:
Junior Crehan (1908-1998), tells a story about how the air was learned by the west Clare musicians. The tradition tells about a ghost ship bringing back to Ireland the souls of the Irish exiles, called Wild Geese, and mercenaries who had been killed in battle in foreign wars. As the vessel continued around southwest Cork it was driven up the west coast by a southern breeze and the ghosts of the expatriates could be heard intoning this tune, which was picked up by musicians on the coast of Clare who witnessed the event.
It also said that the tune was transcribed “from the playing of a harper in from County Clare in 1792” by Edward Bunting, who published it in his Irish music collection. Here is the entire posting by the Dulcimer Society of Athens.
