Sorry, Jay, I guess I could have been clearer, but I meant only that the Limeliter version was copyrighted by Gottlieb, not the original.

As for "creative license," or modernizing trad. materials, I'm of the opinion that more than one of the folk groups of the time created songs of their own and purported them to be folk. Though a different group, I've found no evidence whatsoever to suggest that Billy's Mule comes from an earlier source despite notes on the album liner to the contrary. I would not be shocked if there was in fact no traditional song that this song is based on.

That being said, getting Italian lyrics to the song would help greatly. There are a few polyglots on here who I think could be of assistance... Monique knows many languages, as does Felipa, though I'm not sure Italian is in either of their wheelhouses.