The song appeared in The Scots Musical Museum (III, 1790, no. 285), and subsequently in various popular songbooks and on broadsides. The example here is taken from one of Gwen Polwarth's books; either Folk Songs of Northumberland (1966 and 1967) or Folk Songs from the North (1970). She in turn got it from Thomas Hepple's MS (c.1855), images of which can now be seen online at the Farne archive.

Number 2592 in the Roud Folk Song Index.