 The song has been published in more than a dozen collections prior to 1963, listed by the Archive of Folk Culture, Library of Congress.Songs numbered 130-136 in "Slave Songs of the United States", according to a note on page 113,

The words "obtained from a lady who heard them sung" suggest that the songs were written down by someone, perhaps the lady herself, but certainly someone adept at music notation who was able to understand and write down the patois.It seems likely that she or he was a guest or a member of the La Branche family, who resided at the plantation until 1859, shortly after which the plantation was devastated by flood.