In August 1992 A SOMERSET man had become the first person this century to be jailed for slaughtering swans under a law of 1592 introduced by Henry VIII, writes Mary Braid.
Alfred Dines, 20, was sentenced to three months for breaking the 400-year-old law that protects the birds.

So even if he did mistake Polly for a swan, why did he shoot it? Does this mean the song was written before 1592? It was however legal to shoot geese.