Thanks to everyone for their input - fascinating facts, as usual. Malcolm, thank you for your insightful comments but I would like to add that I did not want to know the meaning of the refrain itself, rather the meaning of the word 'lindsay'. I am quite aware that many refrains (and vocabulary) in traditional songs may have lost or hidden meanings, or that the 'folk process' may have altered the words to such an extent that they bear little resemblance to the original. However, I find it interesting to see if the meaning of a word can still be identified and I rather think others do too.