It's interesting. Older people--(non-folkies) seem to far prefer the tune first used to set the poem to music---not the tune Peter Bellamy used. People like Peter Dawson evidently used the other tune before Peter Bellamy came on the scene. On the other hand I like the Peter Bellamy tune much better. I suppose it's what you first heard--or grew up with.

My stepfather loves the poem, but wants to hear it with the Dawson tune. So though I've learned the Bellamy tune and love to sing that while walking along, I'll have to also learn the other tune to please him.


(He's a great guy--loves music and has a sharp sense of humor--sings things like "Keep Your Head Down, Fritzi Boy"   (WW I parody of "Hold Your Hand Out, Naughty Boy").


Then I'll have to keep the two tunes totally separate.