This was written by Sir Hugh S. Roberton (1874–1952) in the 1930s. The melody is described in Roberton's Songs of the Isles as a traditional Gaelic tune, probably titled "Lochaber". Mingulay is one of the southern most islands of the Outer Hebrides off the north west coast of Scotland. It is about 2.5 square miles in area and has been uninhabited since 1912. The highest population was around 150 in the 1880's but dwindled after that until the island was abandoned in 1912. This is well known among dulcimer players since the tuneis simple to pick out on the dulcimer in both traditional and newer tuning setups.