[2] It was printed in "Games and Songs of American Children" by William Wells Newell.
[5] The song concerns a woman seeking marriage of a soldier, who demurs for want of proper apparel (hat, coat, boots, etc.).
She proceeds to fetch him, from her grandfather's chest, each article he asks for, one by one, in each respective verse.
In the season 2 episode of Lost in Space titled "The Dream Monster", Angela Cartwright's character Penny Robinson sings this song while watering plants.
In the 1990 film Dances with Wolves, Kevin Costner's character sings this song as he swims in a creek near Fort Sedgwick.