Spencer is the story of the prodigal son: the wanderer returned from the wild beyond.

The song starts strangely in that the singer, who is not Spencer, claims that ‘this tune was compos-ed by Spencer the Rover’, yet the song proceeds in the third-person.

The origin of the song is unclear, like a lot of folk songs. But it is certainly northern English , as evidenced by the content.

...

This tune was composed by spencer the rover

as valiant a man as ever left home

and he had been much reduced

which caused great confusion

and that was the reason he started to roam

..

and it's where the story begins:

: a wanderer returns where she belongs to.