A curious variant, sung by my mother & probably learned by her early in the 20th century, has only the first verse, but resembles the last version in being extended:

Around her neck she wore a yellow ribbon,
She wore it in the winter and the summertime, they say,
And if you asked her why she always wore it,
She wore it for her lover, who was far, far away --
Far away, far away,
Where they're milking cows and mowing hay.
Around her neck she wore a yellow ribbon,
She wore it for her lover, who was far, far away.