[3] In an early version,[citation needed] dating from the 1820s, a Cockney costermonger vowed to be true to his fiancée, who had been sentenced to seven years' transportation to Australia for theft and to mourn his loss of her by wearing green willow sprigs in his hatband for "a twelve-month and a day", the willow being a traditional symbol of mourning.
[4] The song was made famous by Steeleye Span,[5] whose rendition may have been based on a more traditional version sung by John Langstaff, in 1975.
In other versions, the young man is a street hawker who is mourning his separation from his lover who has been transported to Australia for theft.
[10] Ralph Vaughan Williams notated a version sung by a Mr. Harris of Little Burstead, Essex in 1904,[11] and another by Ellen Powell in Herefordshire the same year,[12] the original manuscripts of which are also publicly available.
In the "Yellow Ribbon" variants, the adornment is a reminder of lost love, similar to Ireland's "The Black Velvet Band".
A version popularized by Steeleye Span used the traditional chorus (shown above) and these verse stanzas (from Farewell He): Fare thee well cold winter and fare thee well cold frost Nothing have I gained but my own true love I've lost I'll sing and I'll be merry when occasion I do see He's a false deluding young man, let him go, farewell he.
The other night he brought me a fine diamond ring But he thought to have deprived me of a far better thing But I being careful like lovers ought to be He's a false deluding young man, let him go, farewell he
In the 'Watching TV' episode of British television sitcom Men Behaving Badly, Gary and Dorothy repeatedly end up singing the Steeleye Span version of the song while trying to remember the theme tune to Starsky and Hutch.