This tune dates from a Jacobite era (early 18th century) song and was the precursor to Yankee Doodle and closely related to the jig Road to Lisdoonvarna. It also appears with the A and B parts reversed.
This tune was composed by prominent black minstrel songwriter and banjo player James A. Bland in 1870 as "Oh! Dem Golden Slippers." He died in 1911, poor despite his hundreds of successful compositions
This tune is also known as The Jolly Beggarman, Little Beggarman, An Giolla Ruadh, and by many other names. It was first published in the mid 19th century and is generally thought to commemorate a real-life rogue and bandit. It appears in a story about uilleann piper Donnchadh Ó Sé from Lóthar, who once heard a different tune being played by faeries at Faill an Mhada Rua. He learned the faerie's tune and found that each time he played it he would become ill for three months. Some time later, a rogue demanded him at gun point to play the faerie tune, but he got away with playing Red Haired Boy instead. It is widely known, has been picked up by the American old time and bluegrass communities, and is often played somewhat like a hornpipe.