Rosemary Lane

An old traditional song. There are many versions of this and my version is similar to two popular ones from the folk revival, as sung by (amongst others) Anne Briggs and Bert Jansch.
The early collections of this in mainly Edwardian times tended to find bawdy versions. The Rev. Baring Gould loved the tune but then used it for his Blue Flame song whilst Cecil Sharp ignored it till eventually he heard a cleaner version by a lady called Mrs Overd in Somerset and these words are basically those.
There are some lovely variations, included many citing Drury lane rather than Rosemary Lane, and the verses can be fund in some chorus songs such as Home Boys, Home and Bell Bottom Trousers.