The Blackbird (England, traditional, not Macca, Roud

I have been reading the excellent biography of the great polymath and folk song enthusiast and expert Bert Lloyd written by Dave Arthur. This song appears on the first field recording he made with BBC colleagues in 1938, in the Eel's Foot pub in Suffolk, England. I had already come across the song a few years ago in the English Folk Song & Dance Society digital archive, which includes the almost identical version collected by Francis Collinson. Hearing this recorded pushed me to have a go myself.
Collinson was one of the few early twentieth century collectors to gather songs in Kent, and he obtained this one is Smarden in 1943. (This is a very pretty but famously exclusive village in the heart of the county.) Its unclear, at least to me, whether it was simultaneously part of local oral traditions in Suffolk and Kent (quite close, so not unlikely); or was learned by the singer from hearing the national radio broadcast. But I really like the song either way, for its admirable elegance, simplicity and straightforwardness.
I have the Veteran CD based on the BBC recordings, and am also uploading this to youtube, although I am not sure if I will be permitted to leave it online! I recommend anyone interest in this material buys the CD, please do so to support Veteran as a sponsor of traditional folk music.
All sources listed below.
Sources
Arthur, Dave (2002) Bert: The Life and Times of A.L. Lloyd, Pluto Press, London
Cook, Albert "Diddy" and friends "The Blackbird", from the Veteran CD "Good Order", youtube upload, available at • Blackbird (traditional...
EFDSS Digital archive, The Blackbird, collected by Francis Collinson in Smarden, Kent, archives.vwml...., Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, London.
Veteran (2002) Good order: Traditional singing & music from The Eel's Foot Recorded in the 1930s and 1940s, VT1 40CD, Veteran, Suffolk.