Seems we've got several different, and probably unrelated, songs going on here.

First time I heard Joe Thompson sing the version I learned from him, he talked about hearing his mother sing it when he was really small, which would have had her learning it early 1900's, if not earlier, as he is 86.

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FYI, I received this notice today:

"Triangle Folk Music Society presents a concert by Joe Thompson and The Carolina
Chocolate Drops . Please join us for an evening of traditional Piedmont music performed
by very talented musicians from our area.

Joe Thompson should be regarded as one of the most historically important American
traditional performers active today. A North Carolina native, Joe, at the age of
86, has   upheld and represented a tradition of Afro-American country fiddling now
all but vanished. The Carolina Chocolate Drops (banjo players Rhiannon Giddens
and Dom Flemons, and fiddler Justin Robinson) strive to carry on the Piedmont musical
heritage embodied by Thompson and other musicians. This is a rare opportunity to
hear Piedmont traditional music at its best!"
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Yay!!

Dani