This seasonal ditty was found in various versions at the end of Mummers plays in Gloucestershire. The Yanworth mummers had an almost identical version. Some of the verses are found in other Christmas greeting songs, but the matches verse seems unique and obviously an early version of “product placement”. The tune has echoes of Lancashire Pace-Egging songs but also seems to be a version of the tune “Highland Mary”, used for Cotswold Morris dances.

Notes by Gwilym Davies 8 July 2015