Sorry to resurrect this thread again, tried to post yesterday but cookie unset and post got blocked.

Just wanted to add a date to the assemblage of facts being pieced together. I've got Lomax on tape recording John W Green singing the song, then JWG saying 'God you should have heard my father-in-law (Roddy) sing that! It would make your hair stand up'.   Roddy died in 1897.