Hi,
If anyone has read my posts you might be aware that I strongly believe the phrase "blood red roses" to be of no consequence (and "hang down"/"go down" is a further red herring) because more than likely AL Lloyd (or someone very close to him) made it up. The question then is only: what did it mean to AL Lloyd? (And do we really care?) One can keep the faith in folk heros and hold out on judgement, hoping that somebody, somewhere sang it that way and somehow only transfered that knowledge to Lloyd...or we can play the surrender game of "We may never know" -- which, strictly speaking is true, but that goes without saying for most discussions of this sort, and it does not mean that we can't weigh the evidence and come up with pretty strong suspicious about what went down!

I'm working on an article right now where, incidentally, in one passage, I've laid out my "argument" about "blood red roses." I'm gonna post it next to see if it will satisfy anyone. My challenge to anyone is whether they can actually provide any positive proof that "blood red roses" preceded Lloyd...or any other positive argument (in lieu of "proof") as to why we should think it within the realm of reasonable possibility that the chantey existed that way before the Folk Revival.

Gibb

P.S. Though my tone may sound quite formal in quirky, know that I'm quite jolly right now