Of the two earlier threads on this song (the 'third' is a completely different song with a similar opening line), Lyr req: Rout of the Blues contains some useful information; the other (see Keith's link) began as a long and slightly painful attempt by several people (including me; nine years ago I was a comparatively recent 'returner' to the subject and lacked many of the resources I now have access to) to remember the words of the Dransfield recording. A broadside transcription and some useful comments were added a few years later, though. 'Scarboro' sands' is a localisation printed in Ingledew's The Ballads and Songs of Yorkshire (1860), from a broadside in his collection. It has 'the Queen' instead of 'King George', incidentally, so may be a later form. The Bodleian broadsides have Rosemary Lane and Rosemary Hill, but both Scarborough sands and Salisbury Plain (and other locations) were found in various late C19 / early C20 oral examples.
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