On this thread, several catters, including me, contributed evidence suggesting that Scott B's great-granddad did not "write" either of these songs, but may have popularized his own versions of them. They are traditional American folk songs, and versions have been collected going back to Cecil Sharp in the teens.

Both Archie Green (in "Only a Miner") and Norm Cohen (in "Long Steel Rail") have chapters on this song, neither of which supports the idea that Scott B's great-grandfather wrote it. Green does suggest that the Bucklebusters may have innovated in combining traditional verses of "Nine Pound Hammer" with traditional verses of "Roll on Buddy."

Incidentally, Gordon published a fragment of "Roll On Buddy" in 1924.