One can ponder to what extent the good folks of Gloucestershire understood all the Scottish dialect in this song but nevertheless, Alfred Williams assures us that it was a favourite at Aldsworth and Sherborne.  A number of Scottish songs appear in the Alfred Williams collection of which this is one.  The theme of a young woman marrying a young man runs throughout English folklore but not many of the songs end with the woman obviously intending to do away with her husband!  As expected, all the other collected copies are from Scotland.

Notes by Gwilym Davies 13 April 2016