This tune dates from the 1700's. A number of possible authors have been identified, in Germany and England. It is often also played as a reel, for example for dancing the Shetland Reel in the Shetland Islands. The tune has also been named Egg Hornpipe, which may refer to performance hornpipe dancers strewing the floor with eggs, in order to dance among them without breaking any.
The Northumbrian composer and fiddler James Hill (1811–1853) is sometimes credited as author of this tune, but this is disputed. The tune is probably named for Thomas Paine's 1791 book The Rights of Man, which sold a phenomenal 200,000 copies in England at the time. It was controversial because of its support of the revolution, was banned by Royal proclamation, and often burned along with effigies of its author. However, the book continued to circulate widely, particularly in oppressed areas like Scotland and Ireland. The tune is usually played as a hornpipe, but it may be played more like a reel, as was done after the tune Crossing to Ireland by legendary Cape Breton fiddler Winston "Scotty" Fitzgerald (1914-1987), on this Classic Cuts album.