The oldest broadside identified with the ballad is dated 1784 and is held by the Harding Collection of the Bodleian Library of the University of Oxford.
American versions were sung and adapted by slaves in the Southern United States, and have Stewball racing in California, Texas, and Kentucky.
[7][8] The American interpretation has Stewball as being born in California with the famed race against the grey mare taking place in Dallas, Texas.
[9] Lead Belly's American chain-gang version of "Stewball" was covered in the 1950s by The Weavers, and then by British skiffle singer Lonnie Donegan.
Guthrie's cowboy version of the British ballad, with the same lyrics but a different tune, was recorded in 1961 on the Vanguard album New Folks by John Herald and the Greenbriar Boys, and subsequently covered and popularized by Peter, Paul and Mary.
Their version, however, has lyrics from a different perspective, where the singer wishes he had bet on Stewball, as opposed to Johnny Herald, who encourages others to do so, because he "never did lose."
Popular British versions include recordings by A. L. Lloyd, Martin Carthy, and Steeleye Span on the album Ten Man Mop, or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again.
Also of interest are the renditions of the song by Doris Day that she had recorded in 1985/1986 for her TV series Doris Day's Best Friends: a solo version released on the American edition of her CD-album My Heart (2011) as well as a duet version with her late son Terry Melcher released in 2014 on the CD-album Music, Movies & Memories.