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There are several “Sugar in the Gourd” tunes, related and unrelated. This version of “Sugar in the Gourd” is melodically related to "Turkey in the Straw," and historically predates it, the words having been printed in the 1830's (Charles Wolfe).

It was mentioned in an account authored by William Byrne describing a chance encounter with West Virginia fiddler ‘Old Sol’ Nelson during a fishing trip on the Elk River. The year was around 1880, and Sol, whom Byrne said was famous for his playing “throughout the Elk Valley from Clay Courthouse to Sutton as…the Fiddler of the Wilderness,” had brought out his fiddle after supper to entertain the company on a hunting trip (Milnes, Play of a Fiddle, 1999).

The name proved to be popular and became attached to a number of tunes in several different genres and styles; in this sense the title was a 'floater' in much the same way that popular word couplets became attached to various melodically unrelated songs.

Although there are words that are often sung to the tune, just as often it exists solely as an instrumental.

Well I'm goin' down the road and I met her on a board,
And the wind from her shoes knocked Sugar in the Gourd;
Sugar in the Gourd and the gourd upon the ground,
Well you wanna get to sugar got to break it all around.

Refrain:
Sugar in the Gourd and you can't get it out,
When you wanna get to sugar got to break it all about.

...more at: Sugar in the Gourd - full Score(s) and Annotations