Though the melodies of Ravenscroft's round and the Souling song have much in common, it seems very unlikely that the two songs are related; it's much safer to assume -unless anyone out there has information to the contrary- that Stookey/Batteaste/Mezzetti (whoever they are) simply noticed the similarity and combined the Cheshire Souling song with the round, together with whatever else popped into their heads at the time. It reads to me like a mutant hybrid of Souling and Wassailing ("Tidings of Comfort and Joy"?! Carols as well?) The tune turns up all over the place, at its simplest as one of the most common tunes for children's playground games. The opening phrases and basic structure can also be heard in such diverse pieces as "Butternut Hill" and Oskar Merikanto's "Vallinkorvan Laulu". The underlying melody may be extremely old, but that certainly doesn't mean that all the texts that have been sung to it and its many variants have any particular connection with each other.

Malcolm