A generation earlier the oldest known text, from "A Garland of New Songs containing 1 The old ram of Derby [etc.]" (Newcastle-on-Tyne?: Angus, Printer, ca1790):
                        


                        The old Ram of Derby

        As I was going to Derby
           All on a market day,
        I saw the finest Ram, sir,
           That ever was fed on hay.
                                              fal lal.

        The Butcher that killed this ram, sir,
           Was drowned in the blood,
        And the boy that held the bowl, sir,
           Was washed away in the flood.
                                  fal lal.

        The head of this said Ram, sir,
           Served fifty thousand men,
        It served them over and over,
           And ten times over again.
                                 fal lal.
        
       The horns that grew on his head, sir,
           Was fifty cubits high,
        Where the eagles built their nest, sir,
           For I heard the young ones cry.
                                  fal lal.

        The little boys of Derby
           Sent to me for his two eyes,
        For to kick about the street,
           For they were of a foot-ball size.
                                 fal lal.

        The beard of this said Ram, sir,
           Was an hundred yards long and an ell,
        And it was carried to Derby
           To ring the market bell.
                                 fal lal.

        The backbone of this Ram, sir,
           Made a mainmast for a ship,
        And they carried more upon it
           Than all the English fleet.
                                  fal lal.

        The wool that grew on his belly, sir,
           Hung dangling to the ground,
        And it was sold in Derby
           For fifty thousand pounds.
                                  fal lal.

        The wool that grew on his tail, sir,
           Was sold for as much more,
        And the tanner that tanned his hide, sir,
           Was never after poor.
                                 fal lal.
        
        Now Gentlemen and Ladies,
           If you think I lie,
        You may go now to Derby;
           And you’ll see it as well as I.