This song is extremely rare in tradition.  Peter Kennedy recorded 2 verses of it from an Irish singer in the 1950s and apart from that, Mr Woodward’s version is the only other time it has been collected.  The song goes back to the early 19th Century when it was printed many times on broadsides but clearly the song did not grip the public imagination.  Interestingly, most songs of chance encounters leading to a happy ending are when the boy meets the girl and approaches her.  In this song, the roles are reversed.  One is tempted to ask why the boy did not recognise the girl if he was that much in love with her.

Notes by Gwilym Davies March 2020