The melody was first printed by George Petrie in the mid-19th century under the title The Bucks of Ahasnagh. It may be a variant of the 17th century lowland Scots tune named Rock and a Wee Pickle Tow, which was a women's spinning song.
Ref: https://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Out_on_the_Ocean_(1)
Ref: https://thesession.org/tunes/108
Ref: https://bagpipe.news/2019/12/14/a-new-date-for-an-old-melody-a-rock-and-a-wee-pickle-tow/
: | G | CD | GEm | AmD | |
G | GD | GD | G | : | |
Em | Em | D | D | ||
G | CBm | GD | G | ||
Em | Em | D | D | ||
G | CBm | CD | G |