Oh, the things for which the BBC can be held responsible! I guess it must have been about 1963 - or even earlier! - there was a serial on Children's Hour, about a drummer girl/boy in the early 19th Century.

No prizes for guessing what they used as the theme tune - Polly Oliver. I remember distinctly listening to it in the kitchen, using my parent's old bakelite radio, and asking my Mother about the theme tune. She told me it was a folk song... and that was it - I was hooked!

epn