Llewellyn Jewitt wrote about the song in his The Ballads and Songs of Derbyshire (1867), asserting that song had been alluded to for at least a century before that. By some accounts, US President George Washington once sang "The Derby Ram" to the twin sons of Oliver Ellsworth, William Wolcott Ellsworth and Henry Leavitt Ellsworth (b. 1791), while staying at the Reeves - Wright mansion home in 1796 during one of his visits to Hartford, Connecticut. Traditional recordings Countless variants of the song have been recorded from people throughout the English speaking world. England Charlie Wills of Symondsbury, Dorset was recorded singing a lively rendition to Peter Kennedy in 1952. Dozens of other traditional English singers from all over England have been recorded singing variants of the song, including William Rew of Devon (1954), Ben Baxter of Norfolk (1955), Kathleen Gentle of Westmorland (1968), Adge Blackburn of Lincolnshire (1970), Les Hartley of Yorkshire (1975), Bob Mills of Hampshire (1981), and naturally many traditional singers in Derbyshire. Scotland The song appears to have been popular in Scotland. The traditional singer Jeannie Robertson sang a version learnt from her mother to Hamish Henderson in 1960, which can be heard on the Tobar an Dualchais website. Alan Lomax recorded a singer named Arthur Lennox of Aberdeen singing a version to in 1949, which he learnt from his father and was known to be performed by his great-grandfather; the recording can be heard via the Alan Lomax archive. James Madison Carpenter recorded several versions in the 1920s and 1930s, around northeastern England and Scotland, all of which can be heard on the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library website. Ireland Irish traditional singer Robert Cinnamond sang "Derby Ram" in 1955, whilst Danny Brazil of Gloucestershire, England, sang a version called "Salsbury Ram" learnt from his Irish traveller parents. United States and Canada Since the eighteenth century when George Washington sang the song, many versions have remained in the oral tradition of rural Americans. Notable American performers of the song include the famous Appalachian singer Jean Ritchie, who sang her family version to Alan Lomax in 1949, which can be heard online. Fellow Appalachians Bascam Lamar Lunsford (1928, 1937 and 1956), Fiddlin' John Carson (1930), Doug Wallin (1983) also recorded versions learnt within their communities. Many other recordings were made in the southern United States, and Helen Hartness Flanders collected many versions in the New England region.