Azizi, if one looks at a lot of songs from anywhere, a number of the simpler rhyme forms will start to duplicate. People are just not that inventive. They also add on; build their new idea on an old one. Soon, one becomes confused because he can't find separations.

Re Mary Garvey's comment, I posted in the Ging gang Gooly thread an old religious song fragment in which the last line of each verse is "I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more (repeated). I am sure that there must be others. The line is found is several fragments that suggest fuller songs.

There is a "blue-eyed (as well as a bright-eyed) gal down by the riverside;" how old these "I met ..." verses are, who knows? One would have to look in some of the old party-dance data. I wouldn't doubt that the simple tune went into party songs quite early.

The general tune for these songs is probably older than any of the words; it (or a measure or two) may be from the British Isles and Ireland. Certainly some parts are similar- (down by the greenwood side?).

I ain't a goin' to grieve--- was long ago adopted by English football fans so now there are crosses with Ging gang goolie and who knows what else. The melody is memorable, and the verse (or doggerel) structure is simple enough for easy memory. They are repeating what American children, black and white, did here long ago with these simple melodies and verse structures.