"I hope you didn't type out all of that Coffin info."
What - with my typing skills; that we should all live so long!
Scanned them in from the book.
"Most British versions are somewhat burlesque in comparison,"
Would highly commend Scots Traveller Christina Kelby's version (I think it's on Tangent's, The Muckle Sangs). For me, it captures perfectly both the mystery and the tragedy of the subject.
MacColl's composite version based on this does it justice on The Long Harvest IMO.
I think MacColl's and Seeger's Long Harvest versions give a good overview of the different interpretations of the ballad; after all these years I still find myself singing around the house:

Peter and I went down the lane,
Down the lane, down the lane,
Peter and I went down the lane,
And sister followed behind.

Catchy little song.
I seem to remember seeing a book devoted to the ballad, but I may be imagining this.
Jim Carroll