Folk song collected by Carl Sandburg in South Carolina and included in his 1927 book, "The American Songbag." Sandburg learned it from an elderly woman who learned it as a child. Versions of this song have been traced back to the mid 1800s. Lee Hayes, who was familiar with Sandburg's book, copyrighted this song in the 1950s based on new lyrics. However, the first recording of this song attributed to Lee Hayes was by Pete Seeger in 1955 and it was very close to Sandburg's version.