The singer Anne Briggs first popularized the song in the 1960s and recorded it in 1971. It was later learned by Archie Fisher who passed it on to Dick Gaughan. Gaughan recorded it on his Handful of Earth album, the success of which further popularized the song.
The song was used in the 2008 BBC adaptation of Thomas Hardy's 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles'