"Over the Hills and Far Away" (Roud 8460) is a traditional English song, dating back to at least the late 17th century.
The tune was provided with another set of lyrics for the British Sharpe television series of the 1990s, based on Farquhar's version.
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): Another nursery rhyme, "Five Little Ducks", uses the title of the song as a line.
A version of the lyrics by George Farquhar for his play The Recruiting Officer from 1706:[3] In The Beggar's Opera the song is a duet between the antihero Macheath and his lover Polly.
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.