To carry out a simple search, type the term that you want to find in the Search box next to the Advanced Search tab, and press enter.
For a more refined search of songs or tunes use the Advanced search function. To carry out a search on two or more terms at once, e.g. Collector+Roud Number, select each term as above and then click search.
Be sure to clear previous searches before starting a new one by clicking on the x next to each search term at the top.
Folk singers have always been inventive in finding metaphors to describe seduction, none less so than this popular ditty. One has to admire the stamina of the man involved, taking on three maidens at one go. The earliest versions that can be traced are from the early 19th century, but it is persistent in oral tradition, mainly in England.
Notes by Gwilym Davies 23 June 2015