Thank you, The Sandman and maeve, it is most appreciated.

I have listened to many versions of this song over the years, but I was keen to figure out what Charlotte Higgins was singing, as there are some differences from, for example, Norman Kennedy's. The temptation I try to resist is to substitute what she actually sang with what I think she might have meant.

It's possible that Norman Kennedy got the song from Jeannie Robertson - who lived across the road while he was growing up - or Davey Stewart, whose setting is close.