The composer brings his creative skills to this set of charming folksongs. "Wearing of the Green" reflects the flavor of a military march through the accompaniment. "Down by the Salley Gardens" is a bittersweet, melancholy setting of lost love and youth. "The Rakes of Mallow," characteristically set in major mode, alternates in this arrangement between minor and major modes over a fiery ostinato in the accompaniment.