Not long ago we had a visiting Dutch lady at the Lewes Saturday Folk Club. She sang a ballad in Dutch, having outlined the plot first. I don't speak Dutch, but I could recognise a familiar metre and echoes of some of the turns of phrase common in Scottish ballads - 'up and spoke the youngest brother', and that sort of thing. Fascinating. The tune would have suited a British ballad, too.

Child does quote European and Scandinavian tellings of stories similar to the ballads he collected or assembled.

Valmai