Cecil Sharp collected a version of this song, called 'Boney's Defeat', from Mrs Townsley and Mary Wilson (her daughter) in Kentucky during 1917. Mike Yates writes, in his notes to the EFDSS pubication 'Dear Companion', that the song was probably written by one James Watt of Paisley, Scotland, and set to the Scots tune 'The Braes of Balquither'. Its popularity in North America seems to be the result of having appeared in 'The Forget-me-not Songster', which was circulating in America during the 1830s.

Jeff Davis and I will be including the Kentucky version in our 'Sharp's Appalachian Harvest' programme.