I am familiar only with the 1959 Sammy Turner recording, which I always thought was silly beyond comprehension. Learning that it comes from a long-ago folk tradition may explain why it is so nonsensically obscure, but (like 'spaw) I find it hard to understand how and why such a goofy little ditty survived so long.

I hadn't even been aware of the Sammy Kaye, Dinah Shore, Burl Ives, and Jack Smith renditions, either, nor the British hit version from the war years.

Reading over some of the various sets of lyrics, not all of them seem to fit the melody that I know, that of the more-or-less recent recordings. I wonder how the various different melodies might sound ~ but not enough to actually make an effort to do research! Because I don't really care all that much...