Sweet Betsy from Pike

Stone in 1858,[3] was collected and published in Carl Sandburg's 1927 American Songbag.

[4] It was recorded by Burl Ives on February 11, 1941,[5] for his debut album Okeh Presents the Wayfaring Stranger.

The melody derives from a popular English comic song "Villikins and his Dinah", first published in London in 1853 and which had become a hit in America by 1855.

Villikins and his Dinah closely parodies the lyrics of an old street ballad extant in England from the early 19th century, William and Diana; but it is unclear whether it simply borrowed the same melody as the existing ballad it parodies, or used a different tune written especially for theatrical performance.

Parts of the song are sung by characters in motion pictures such as The Absent-Minded Professor, A Fistful of Dollars, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Wild Women.