Just to prove that with enough research you can make anything ridiculously complicated....
This PDF
attributes the song to Root in the text notes at top, but in the upper left corner of the music it's noted as Traditional.
Another lyrics site I found claims to have copied it out of the Digitrad, with the subscription "George Root" under the title (as the DT has it), but then categorizes it as "Artist: Traditional". As typical with those sites, there is no field for "Composer."
I suppose it's just sympromatic that people these days put words down, especially on the Internet, without any particular regard for what they mean.
-Glenn