Believe it or not, this song came from a 1943 movie called "I Walked with a Zombie," set in the West Indies. In the movie, the song was sung intermittently by a nameless wandering Calypso singer played by Sir Lancelot (not the Camelot one), and the song is a thumbnail telling of the plot of the movie. The movie was not a classic flick, but it was nowhere near as bad as the title makes it sound. It was actually kind a gripping, and it was a classic in it's own way. Surprised the hell out of me when Odetta recorded it.

Substantially right, Jim, but the names. . . .

"The head of the family was a Hollander man." (The plantation manager's name was Paul Holland, so "Hollander man.")
"The younger brother, his name was Rand." (Wesley Rand, Paul Holland's younger half-brother)

Anybody have any idea of where the one in DT came from?

Don Firth