My mother used to sing this song to me when I was a little girl. I have always wondered where it came from, especially now I'm an adult (56) and mum died several years ago. She was born in 1916 and her mother my grandmother was born in 1882! Thank you to whom ever posted the lyrics. I only discovered recently that Nelly Blyth was an actual person, thanks to QI XL. There are many other songs mum sang to me that I've never discovered the origins for. I in turn have sang them to my son when he was a baby and my granddaughter. It's such a shame that we never record the stories our parents tell us about their past and our families histories.