I think it was Seeger who said it he'd heard it from Broonzy. But what does it matter? Whoever said it, it was a flippant one-off, probably geared to get some half-wit out of his face.

And then picked up and passed on by other half-wits--and song-writing opportunists trying to claim undue credit for their own scribblings.

Is the aria "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's opera Turandot, sung by any number of operatic tenors, including Luciano Pavarotti, a folk song?

Well--I've never heard it sung by a horse!

Don Firth