A song which seems to perpetuate the old saying “Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief”. The song has only been collected a handful of times, and only in England, with the most complete version noted by Percy Grainger in Lincolnshire and ends with Taffy being hanged for his stealing, and bidding farewell, via a compatriot in the crowd, to his father, mother, and the King. The jolly tune belies a more sober story.

Notes by Gwilym Davies 20 April 2015