A song found all over the English speaking world and a good example of a genre in which the lover returns from overseas and is not immediately recognised by the girl. The Copper family from Sussex have popularised their version in the folk revival, but other tunes are available. Claudy may refer to a village of that name in County Londonderry, but there is no real evidence for that assertion.

Williams collected no tunes but for a possible tune to this song, go to ‘Browse’ and search for 266 in the Roud number field.

Notes by Gwilym Davies 28 March 2015