I first encountered this song at an early age in an old "song book" that was in the piano bench. My old friend and musical co-conspirator David Behm has been singing this song at our sessions for nigh on twenty years; he learned it from his mother in a version somewhat re-arranged and abbreviated from the one George posted.

While I am in no position to challenge the attribution to Charles Edward Carryl, I can state with confidence that he was not the same person as Charles Ludwidge Dodson (Lewis Carroll).

A great song nontheless -- Tom