This is assuredly one of our oldest folksongs with an unbroken oral history. A Scottish Stationer’s Register of 1580 refers to “A Moste Strange Weddinge of the Frogge and the Mouse”. British collected versions do exist but many more versions are found all over the USA. Curiously, Mrs Neal’s version goes off on a different tack, with no marriage.
Notes by Gwilym Davies 4 April 2015