There was a previous thread on this song:I have an unissued recording on a 1989 Blues Time LP (Victor 05197) that Leadbelly made with the Golden Gate Quartet in June 1940. The lyrics are pretty close to what Dr John posted in previous thread with some extra verses. There's an oldtimey connection here, but I can't remember what it is. The latter stanzas in Art's version above look like floaters from the white tradition. I recall that there was a discussion of the song on the oltimey newsgroup about a year ago, but I don't know how to access their archives.
--Stewie.