davidneale, I understand.... when people come later searching up "origins" they may well be looking for the origin of the song, not just the earliest recording..... sometimes information is posted because it's pertinent to a larger issue than the fisrt inquiry might indicate. Around here we tend to look as far back as we can. It would not surprise me atr all if Malcolm Douglas visited a thread like this and pointed out the Child Ballad some Negro slave may have overheard which then became a spiritual and then became your gospel song! :~) When one asks "origins" questions, it can be a long road to the short answer! :~)

~S~