Could EM be a response to the more typical bride stealing ballads with their tiresome, weeping women? I'm reminded of "Rob Roy frae the Highlands Cam." I like the tune, but not the bride. To compare these two ballads: both have bands of men coming down on horseback from the Highlands to steal an unwilling bride, both ballads have an ineffective mother and no father. In both, the man carries the unwilling bride to a priest, and both show us how the couple reacts the day after. But there are significant differences. In the RR ballad, the unwilling bride fights with "cries and wat'ry eyes" addressed to her mother and then to her kidnapper. EM, in contrast, orders Willie to stand back and declares she will not marry him or any such other. As suggested in an earlier post, perhaps EM was even trying to protect her mother, again acting from strength. The weak bride in RR is unsuccessful and we learn how "mournfully she wept and cried when she by him was laid." I've been trying to figure out why EM is so captivating. I think it is her bold character. I like the tune and her. Last thought: does anyone else think it odd that EM knows her attacker's first name and addresses him so? By the way, despite the title of the song, the kidnapper in RR claims to be Rob Roy's son, not RR himself.