The Irish musicologist Father Henebry, along with Brendan Breathnach, regarded this tune as originally Scottish in origin. However, Bayard (1981) challenges that view, noting a lack of traditional Scottish variants and identifying numerous versions circulating in Irish and Irish-American traditions.

Emmerson (1971), on the other hand, argues that the tune is “substantially a set of the ‘Fairy Dance,'” a well-known Scottish composition. The full title, “Largo’s Fairy Dance,” refers to the version composed by Nathaniel Gow, affirming its Scottish roots.