I came across the words to this lovely song written out in a poetry scrapbook my mother has kept for years. Now I just learned here that it was by Robert Burns. She used to sing this song when we were very small, and the three of us have never forgotten it. So glad to see the utube recording, and to hear the correct melody on the 2nd line.
My mother attended Cherry School in Toledo Ohio in the late '20s and '30s. That is where she learned it. They had weekly assemblies where ALL the different grade levels attended, and the students learned poetry and songs such as this. What a legacy she passed along! Our Mom will be 99 soon. She was born in 1920.