“The Parting Glass” has roots in “Armstrong’s Farewell”, poem written by a Scottish Border Reiver on the occasion of his imminent execution for the murder of Sir John Carmichael, Warden of the Scottish West March, in the year 1600.

It remains a hugely popular farewell song in Scotland and Ireland. Despite being commonly sung at merry social occasions, has not lost its implied relevance to humankind’s ultimate, mortal farewell.