For such a well-known song, it is unusual that only 2 versions have come to light in Gloucestershire. It is known all over the British Isles and North America and, quite remarkably, descends directly from a 15^th century carol. The earliest modern version dates from 1810, but no tune is known before 1837. [George Perkins, “A Medieval Carol Survival: ‘The Fox and the Goose’”, Journal of American Folklore 74 (1961), 235-244; idem, “A Pre-Civil War American “Fox and the Goose”; ibid., 77 (1964), 263-265.]

Notes by Gwilym Davies and Jon Lighter