In North America is earliest date given by and informant is c. 1820 and this appears in Child ESPB volume ten, Additions and Corrections. Obviously the informant's source learned it earlier and their source would date the ballad back to the 1700s.
It's also clear that the fragments from the "Burning Pestle" 1611, suggest it was in oral tradition in the early 1600s.
Does anyone know the source(s) of a more recent US version titled "Little Margaret (Little Margret; Little Marget)"? I suppose it was first titled this by Lunsford in 1929. He recorded it in 1953. I assume "little" is derived from "liddy" and back to "lady." There are literally dozens of versions mostly cover version with this title.
Recent covers include Carolina Chocolate Drops (source?) and Sheila Kay Adams (source?) who can be heard on Youtube as well. Does anyone know the sources?