"It was sung by Bascom Lamar Lunsford of South Turkey Creek, Leicester, Buncomb County, North Carolina. Mr. Lunsford, who described the air as an old fiddle tune, as a small boy heard his father hum it and sing a few stanzas."

It is surprising, then, to be presented with what seems a complete set of lyrics, in seven stanzas. Were these Luford's lyrics, and if so, is it likely that he himself completed the song from the 'few stanzas' his father sung?