Steve,

The Fleet broadside is obviously a copy of an earlier broadside, probably the Roxburghe (c. 1750). There are only a few words that vary and a few corrected spellings. One change is:

She afterward vanished with shrieks and cries,
Flashes of lightning did part [dart] from her eyes;

Fleet had "part" instead of "dart" and dart seems to be better. There are no quotations in Fleet and who knows exactly how accurate the Roxburghe transcription is.

Thomas Sr. has several lengthy biographies which I chose not to copy here.

The Deming broadside of 1835 is considerably different and introduces new material that was either traditional or manufactured by the printer. This new material makes it easy to identify versions that have the material- however, if the material was traditional -- it predates the 1835 printing. If the new material was recreated then traditional versions that follow were based on the Deming broadside or the Forget-Me-Not Songster (same text).

This new material is found in the last version I posted from Captain Nye who traveled on the Ohio River in the early 1900s.

Richie