It should be noted that the Alfred Williams being discussed in this thread is the song collector and local historian from Swindon in Wiltshire. Alfred M. Williams was a Providence, Rhode Island, newspaper editor who accumulated a collection of Irish ballad sheets (now in Providence Public Library) and was the author of several books, the one mentioned above by Joe Offer and this one: Williams, Alfred M: (1881)Poets and Poetry of Ireland with historical and Critical Essays and notes, (Boston)among them.