This tune was composed in 18th century Scotland by John Riddell. Some sources list it as a composition of fiddler Mike MacDougall (1928-1992), who lived in Ingonish on Cape Breton. However, he appears to have been the source for tune and not its author.
This tune may have originally been collected from Abram Beamish as My Darling in Bed, but Chief Francis O'Neill later amended the title to avoid the suggestive connotations. But it was in vain; this tune is now sometimes called My Darling's a Sheep.