The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #142459   Message #3284216
Posted By: GUEST,SteveG
03-Jan-12 - 02:05 PM
Thread Name: Laws' American Balladry - years covered?
Subject: RE: Laws' American Balladry - years covered?
Hi Susan,
If I might be so bold, including all of these as Child ballads, is grasping at straws (IMHO). Maid on the Shore simply shares a motif/plot very loosely with a Child ballad and The many Rich Irish Lady versions are based on a Baring Gould forgery (295B) which he cobbled together from 295A and the well-known broadside ballad. Lord Bateman is a 19thc broadside hack's rewrite of Young Beichan, possibly even a parody/burlesque.