There are a number of entries in the Traditional Ballad Index. These two are the ones that apply most directly:

Son of a Gambolier (I), The

DESCRIPTION: "I'm a rambling rake of poverty, From Tippery town I came. 'Twas poverty compelled me first, To go out in the rain." The singer tells how hard life, (drink), and rambling has turned him old and unattractive. He can't help it; he's "the son of a gambolier"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1870 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: rambling drink poverty
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
BrownIII 369, "The Rambling Soldier" (1 text)
Sandburg, p. 44, "The Son of a Gambolier" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 78-80, "The Son of a Gambolier" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, pp. 159-160, "The Song of a Gambolier" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 515-516, "Son of a Gun -- (Son of a Gambolier; Dunderbeck; and Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech)"
DT, SONGAMB*
Roud #2964
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech" (tune)
cf. "Dunderbeck" (tune)
cf. "Son of a Gambolier (II)"
cf. "Way Out in Idaho (I)" (tune)
cf. "The Pioneers" (tune)
cf. "According to the Act" (tune)
cf. "The Rakes of Poverty" (tune)
cf. "The Freight Handler's Strike" (tune)
cf. "The Man That Waters the Workers' Beer" (tune)
Notes: The Brown text is clearly a prototype of the various "Son of a Gambolier" versions; in it, the lad is forced by poverty to join the army, and does not mention the gambolier. But so much of the rest is the same that it seems absurd to split the songs. - RBW
File: San044

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Son of a Gambolier (II)

DESCRIPTION: Bawdy, scatological, and sundry verses to the tune of "Son of a Gambolier/Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech." Often directed at the local arch-enemy (so, e.g. students of Stanford would lampoon California)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy parody nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cray, pp. 327-332, "Son of a Gambolier" (1 extended text, 1 tune); also pp. 332-336, "The Cardinals Be Damned" (3 texts, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Son of a Gambolier (I)"
Notes: This extended title is used for any song insulting another college which can use the "Gambolier" tune. Why? Because no two versions of the result are alike. - RBW
File: EM327

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The Ballad Index Copyright 2004 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.