Blow the Wind Southerly is a traditional English folk song from Northumberland. It tells of a woman desperately hoping for a southerly wind to blow her lover back home over the sea to her. It is Roud number 2619.
Kathleen Ferrier recorded what is perhaps the best-known version of the song in London in 1949.
Lyrics
As with all folk music, there are now multiple versions of the lyrics after years of these lyrics being passed down the generations primarily by word of mouth. A common version is:
The Ferrier recording does not have the "Oh," at the start of the last verse and changes ""when 'tis" to "'tis when". Also, the Ferrier recording varies the words of the chorus, whereas traditional versions do not; and the Ferrier recording misses out the third verse.