 It was first published in 1905 in Sharp and Marson's "Folk songs from Somerset".The singer told Cecil Sharp that the carol had been taught to him by his mother and that, in company with other children, he used to sing it in the streets of Bridgwater at Christmas time, thus fitting it in with the Wassail tradition.To Sharp's knowledge, the carol had not been recorded or printed until it was noted at the turn of the 20th century.