Little is known about this song. It could have been written about Mary Ann Cotton. Mary Ann Cotton, née Mary Ann Robson, also known as Mary Ann Mowbra, Mary Ann Ward, and Mary Ann Robinson, (born October 31?, 1832, Low Moorsley, Durham county, England—died March 24, 1873, Durham county), British nurse and housekeeper who was believed to be Britain’s most prolific female serial killer. She allegedly poisoned up to 21 people before being executed in 1873.