Remember me to one who lives there . . .
For she once was a true love mine.
Before he had agreed to join Jon and his forces, he had wanted to ask for her, to ask Jon to remember him to her when he would leave Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. And before he could, Jon Snow spoke to him of her. He didn't say much, just that everyone was well, but even to hear about her, hear her name, was enough, made him happy. She was there, she was real.
They had agreed to take Jon secretly to White Harbour and then continue overland to Winterfell, and as he walked out onto the deck of the ship, the wind hit hard and biting, the deck and railing slick with icy seawater, on the rough voyage.
If you're travellin', in the North Country fair . . . He had never been one for sentiment or fanciful thoughts, never had a reason to be, but today he half hummed, half sang the ballad's words under his breath in the cold, bitter wind, and laughed out loud, with a sense of anticipation and pleasure, out there on the deck alone. Perhaps now there was a reason to.
Once was, and still.