This is a lament written in the late 1700's for the closing of the Whisky distilleries in Scotland. It may also be played as a slow air. The forbidding of distilling whisky was due to a national grain shortage at the time, but the ban was subsequently lifted. Whisky was required for births, weddings and funerals so Scots often buried stores for forthcoming ceremonies. There is a story in Glenlyon of a man who emigrated, forgetting his whisky. He wrote back saying where it was buried but they never found it, or so they claimed.
This tune may also be of Scottish provenance, but printings only go as far back as the 1880's, where it was listed as an Irish tune. It is not in the Great Highland Bagpipe repertoire, so an Irish provenance seems more likely. It is also known as Smugglers Reel.