Thankyou for that information and I will endeavour to purchase a copy of one of the mentioned recordings.

I can well believe that whoever the original writer was- he might not have been a Hull gypsy. The old fella' that I heard sing has been known to give out random- sometimes untrue information- sometimes even claiming certain songs as his own creations when they are not!
Oh well, he is a bit of a character- as there are many in the 'folk world'.

I really like the song, it's lyrics and the tune a really good one to get even the most stern faced smiling
Thanks again
Kipling