The tune is probably the Scottish song "Thou Bonnie Wood Of Craigielea", which Macpherson heard played by a band at the Warrnambool steeplechase. Robert Tannahill wrote the words in 1805 and James Barr wrote the music in 1818. In 1893 it was arranged for brass band by Thomas Bulch. The tune may have been based on the melody of "Go to the Devil and Shake Yourself", written by John Field (1782–1837) sometime before 1812. It is sometimes also called: "When Sick Is It Tea You Want?" (London 1798) or "The Penniless Traveller" (O'Neill's 1850 collection).