This was a festive fave of the much-missed Lady B, guaranteed to make her cry every Christmas. I remember one year making up a story to cheer her up, where the 'little laddie' got a new rich daddy the following year, so he always had lots of toys after to taunt the other kids with. It seemed to work.
The go-to version - if it can be described as such (apart from the maudlin sentiment I always had trouble with that laddie/daddy couplet and the spoken bit in the middle) - is usually the Nat King Cole version but I prefer this for its smoky, late-night lounge bar sound.
The Girl is known by her mum as Erin Moran and she's a New Jersey born singer/songwriter, currently living in England, who's worked with Richard Hawley among others.
Now if you excuse me I need to find those Snow Dog tissues...