I must admit that given the Norfolk references in this song that I thought it might have come originally from Tom Brown (and his mother's knee!), but clearly it was Jeff Wesley who created it from a song heard on a TV programme.

Just to muddy the waters a little more a search of the Mudcat archives led me to a post by Steamin' Willie who was an old friend to Tom and Bertha Brown, and a former radio presenter with BBC Radio Sheffield, I think. He once interviewed Fred Jordan for his programme, and asked Fred to sing Reedcutter's Daughter, to which Fred replied that it was Tom Brown's song - the joke apparently being that Tom had got it from Fred in the first place, but still claimed that he learned at his mother's knee. It seems this was a standard humourous introduction by Tom to any song which he reckoned as 'old'.

So, is there any recording of Fred Jordan singing The Reedcutter's Daughter?

Matthew