I always liked one of the Creighton melodies for "All Around My Hat." But the lyrics made no sense to me. Andrew Gant in his 1997 compilation "Folk Songs of the British Isles" suggests the original flavour of the song is a lament by a female pickpocket for her lover transported to Australia for theft. Could it be that the song contrasts the faithfulness of two street people in London to the faithlessness of that powerful empire for its own poor? When I sing it I use the lyrics in Gant's book and the melody from Creighton and hear it as a lament.

There is lots of choice with this song: the variations in lyrics and melody seem almost endless.