Albert Wade Hemsworth (23 October 1916 – January 19 2002) was a Canadian songwriter. Although he was not a prolific composer, having written only about 20 songs during his entire career, several of his songs (most notably "The Wild Goose", "The Blackfly Song" and "The Log Driver's Waltz") are among the most enduring classics in the history of Canadian folk music. Hemsworth grew up in Brantford, Ontario, and learned to play guitar and banjo in his youth. He subsequently studied painting at the Ontario College of Art, graduating in 1939, and then spent World War II serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was stationed for a time in Newfoundland, and it was there that he first discovered traditional music. After the war, he worked as a surveyor in the wilderness areas of Northern Ontario, Quebec and Labrador, the job which provided Hemsworth with the subject matter for many of his songs. He subsequently moved to Montreal in 1952, where he w