Jimmy Crowley maintains that it's from Victorian times and he first heard it sung ,either by his Grandmother or his Mother(Can't remember which.) And I think Jimmy's recording of it is by far the more "gentler" version.
A well known singer from these parts of the woods says it's from the 1950s but i feel he's way, way off. I first heard it myself sung by a very old man in the early 60s. I think he got it from his father!.