"Tom he was a piper's son, He learnt to play when he was young, And all the tune that he could play Was 'Over the hills and far away,' Over the hills and a great way off, And the wind will blow my top-knot off." Then there was the one which, when it was sung by Tom, Dick took to be a bit of veritable autobiography: "When I was young and had no sense, I bought a fiddle for eighteen pence, And the only tune that it would play Was 'Over the hills and far away.'" But what was the song itself to which these verses alluded? Tom knew and sang several, but was cloudy as to which was the particular one. That mattered little, however, as all went to the same tune. There was one artfully contrived to lure recruits to the king's service, thus: "Hark how the drums beat up again For all true soldiers, gentlemen; Then let us 'list and march away Over the hills and far away." Then there was one that Tom had heard at the play, sung by a gay captain and a dare-devil recruiting sergeant, and of which the latter half would fill Dick's head with longings and visions: "Our 'prentice Tom may now refuse To wipe his scoundrel master's shoes, For now he's free to sing and play, Over the hills and far away. "We shall lead more happy lives By getting rid of brats and wives That scold and brawl both night and day, Over the hills and far away. "Over the hills, and over the main, To Flanders, Portugal, or Spain; The king commands, and we'll obey, Over the hills and far away. "Courage, boys, it is one to ten, But we return all gentlemen; While conq'ring colors we display, Over the hills and far away." And there was a duet, which Tom had heard at the opera in London, and which he sang, imitating the respective voices of the highwayman and the adoring Polly.