child's variant a is the poem "kinge john and bishopp" taken from the percy folio manuscript. variant b is from a broadside copy, printed for p. brooksby between 1672-85 in which at the end of each verse, the burden (chorus) "derry down" is sung. on the broadside that child used, an inscription appears below the title indicates the ballad is to be sung to the tune of "the king and the lord abbot": this child thinks was an older ballad which has not survived.