Elizabeth Cotten worked for Charles Seeger in Washington, D.C. She composed this song when she was about 11 years old and reconstructed it in the 1950's when she sang it for the Seegers and where both Mike and Peggy Seeger learned it. It passed into wide spread use by urban folk singers in the 1960's & 70's including Peter, Paul & Mary and we all learned it from them. Libba Cotton played a standard guitar left handed (i.e.: upside down).