Thanks Snuffy for making the effort to put it into ABC (which I don't know). I won't bother to put the rest of the tune on, as MCP has said where it can be found.

Thanks too to MCP - very useful info. Where can I see these books? At the RV Williams library? I'm thinking of joining EFDSS to use it.

Interesting to see that stuff about '...me her bird alone' and '...bird, alone' (with the comma between the two words). There has always been confusion in people's minds about the word 'bird'. 'Burd-alone' used to mean on your own, but it's not clear whether that comes from the old word 'burde' (= woman, specially the aristocratic, virginal heroines of medieval romance who pined in their ivory towers while their heroes were on quests), now spelt 'bird', or whether it comes from 'bird' of the feathered variety.

Anybody else know anything about the song? Has it been sung in recent memory?