From Wikipedia: Though Tyler wrote the spoken-word piece, the earliest known reference is to be found in an account/common-place book belonging to Mary Bacon, a British farmer's wife, dated 20 April 1762. The story of the soldier can be found in full in Mary Bacon's World. A farmer's wife in eighteenth-century Hampshire, published by Threshold Press (2010). The folk story was later recorded in a 19th-century British publication entitled "The Soldier's Almanack, Bible And Prayer Book".
Published by
FORT KNOX MUSIC INC
BMI
UNIVERSAL SONGS OF POLYGRAM INTERNATIONAL INC
BMI
TRIO MUSIC COMPANY
BMI