The tune of the Seekers' hit "The Carnival is Over" was originally from which country?

The song generally known in the Anglophone world as "The Carnival is Over" is adopted from a Russian folk song which, in fact, has nothing to do with carnivals, but concerns the life of a rebel against Cossack rule in the 17th century. The earliest known reference to this song dates from 1883.

The famous songwriter Tom Springfield (born 1934 - incidentally with the original forename Dionysius!) adapted the tune to an English text that was made popular by the folk group The Seekers in 1965, drawing on the legend of Pierrot and Columbine. This version topped the singles charts for several weeks in the UK, Australia, and Ireland.

The tune's wistful tone and lyrics have made it a natural choice for the closing ceremony of various events, including, famously, the closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Paralympics - a scheduled performance at the Olympic Games closing ceremony having to be cancelled due to the Seekers' lead singer Judith Durham breaking her leg.

Although the Seekers' version of the song is generally considered the iconic one, other artists have recorded it, including Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, and Boney M.