This anonymous carol was printed in 1916 in Carols Old and Carols New by the Rev Charles Lewis Hutchins, but had already been in circulation as a version was noted in 1908 by Mary Ann Leather. The carol has not become part of our traditional media Christmas fare, but it clearly went into oral tradition in Gloucestershire, and a Somerset version was collected in the 1970s. Many will know it from the 1958 recording by Petula Clark.

Notes by Gwilym Davies 20 April 2015