john graves, who wrote it in cumbrian dialect, tinkered with the words over the years and several versions are known. george coward, a carlisle bookseller who wrote under the "pseudonym" sidney gilpin, rewrote the lyrics with graves' approval, translating them from their original broad cumberland dialect to anglican; and in 1866, he published them in the book, "songs and ballads of cumberland." another song written by graves mentions one of john's brothers, askew peel (1789–1854), a horsedealer who also lived in caldbeck.