This song was one of the "folkie" standards back in the late sixties early seventies--meaning that it was a song that everyone with a guitar seemed to know and like, and could play--I certainly remember playing it a lot--Judging by the signs, it's been around for nearly two generations, its origins are begining to be obscured, and there are even variants of the lyrics, so it has a lot of the qualities of a folk or traditional song--

We ought to make a list of songs like this--