[1] The refrain states: The song was first published in 1867, with words written by the British lyricist and singer George Leybourne, music by Gaston Lyle, and arrangement by Alfred Lee.

It was later recorded by Billy Costello, Don Redman & His Orchestra (1936), Eddie Cantor, Burl Ives, Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards, Spike Jones, Ian Whitcomb, Les Paul & Mary Ford, Bing Crosby (for his 1962 album On the Happy Side), Alvin and the Chipmunks, Crispin Glover, Graham Parker, and Bruce Springsteen, Larry Groce, among others.

In the 1954 film The Bridges at Toko-Ri the USS Savo Island's band plays the refrain while Mickey Rooney's character (CPO Mike Forney) is being transferred via highline to a ship alongside.

The song was performed by young children in the Technicolor 1934 Vitaphone short Show Kids, written by Joe Traub and directed by Ralph Staub.

There is also a short sequence in the 2013 film The Lone Ranger, where the song is played as background music when the heroes of the movie go to a traveling carnival with a brothel.