Hello. This is a beautiful song. I love the mystery and the haunting guitar riff. It dawned on me one day that the farmer was the sisters' biological father. The youngest daughter's "true love", her husband William, was a prince. Therefore, the king is actually her father-in-law. After she died, her sister Anne married William, whom she wanted all along. This is why she pushed her younger sister in the river and would not save her ("Drowned her for the sake of a man"). This also explains why Anne is now on the king's court. In an earlier version of the tale, there are only two sisters, but I think "three" rhymes better with "north country", so Mrs. McKennitt took some creative liberty here.
Hello. This is a beautiful song. I love the mystery and the haunting guitar riff. It dawned on me one day that the farmer was the sisters' biological father. The youngest daughter's "true love", her husband William, was a prince. Therefore, the king is actually her father-in-law. After she died, her sister Anne married William, whom she wanted all along. This is why she pushed her younger sister in the river and would not save her ("Drowned her for the sake of a man"). This also explains why Anne is now on the king's court. In an earlier version of the tale, there are only two sisters, but I think "three" rhymes better with "north country", so Mrs. McKennitt took some creative liberty here.