BTW, I can't quite figure out why she didn't step forward at the trial, but I guess she was afraid of her husband's retribution. As for the defendant's reason for not giving his alibi, I always assumed that it was his friend's honor he was protecting, but maybe not.
I think you're right that it was not a real "folk song," but then the line between songs composed by the "folk" and ones produced by "composers" has always been rather fuzzy. I don't recall who the first singer was, but I know Joanie B. did it very early on.
Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________________ A sympathetic Scot summed it all up very neatly in the remark, 'You should make a point of trying every experience once, excepting incest and folk-dancing.' -- Sir Arnold Bax