Written by? Somebody in the 16th-18th century. It is an old traditional folk song recorded by multitudes of people along the way from the 1930s through mainly the 1960s.
The Animals struck the first commercial success with the song in 1964.
5 years later Detroit’s Frijid Pink released their 1969 arrangement of a more striking psychedelic version that got them Gold reaching the top 10 of U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with over a one million copies sold. It also reached number 4 on the U.K. singles chart.
Longshot's Blog 