Thanks Bruce! I'm glad it's nearly Christmas - I have a huge list of books..

I've always assumed BH was English, and have been surprised by the lack of information I've found. So I finally find some information - and it just confuses me!

In addition to Baring-Gould, it is in Edith Fowke's Penguin Book of Canadian Folk Songs, and Fuson's Ballads of the Kentucky Highlands. Those lyrics correlate closely with the Ritchie song.

I've done a bit more research. The other source in the broadside index was Garland of New Songs printed by Angus of Newcastle. It was a dead end until it finally occured to me the Bodleian might have something. According to the Bodly they printed 1774-1825 - and they have a ton of their broadsides. The first line is "To bachelor's hall we good fellows invite..." I'm not very good at the Bodley search yet - I went through the first thirty of Angus and hadn't run across it. My eyes are crossing so I will start looking again tomorrow AM!

I see that Rick Fielding recorded it. Wonder which version he recorded?

Thanks again Bruce.