A more likely interpretation is that the words of " Nottamun Town " and other American versions ultimately derive from the early 18th century broadside " Teague 's Ramble " , or " Teague 's Ramble to the Camp " , which includes a series of very similar contradictions and absurdities . " Teague 's Ramble " and various imitations were printed in several English or Scottish broadsides of c. 1740 , as well as in Boston , Massachusetts as early as 1748 ; its tune was used to set a number of other songs and was performed " with variations " on the Dublin stage in 1750 . The song was one of a large number of the period mocking the Irish , although its subject matter of an Irishman joining the King 's army at Salisbury Plain and references to " Holland 's Genever " suggest it may specifically originate as an anti-Catholic satire on the Revolution of 1688 , when there were rumours of Irish armies being sent to England . By the early 19th century a popular broadside version called " Paddy 's Ramble to London " was circulating : this was later adapted by singers to include local or topical references , such as the phrase " ten thousand drownded " apparently added in reference to the 1889 Johnstown Flood
Johnstown Flood
Johnstown Flood
Nottamun Town