As you would expect, Richie, I am highly suspicious of all these D variant references and would suggest they all stem directly from the stall copy 'The Western Tragedy'. The only copy I have references to is that one in Harvard which I have not seen. If the ballad was extant when Motherwell was around you would perhaps expect to have seen at least one copy in the NLS.

In Welsh and Tillinghast 2460 the full title is given as 'The Western Tragedy, The Ballad of May Collean and False Sir John'. I find it highly suspicious that no other copies seem to have survived. I would dearly love to have a copy to check it with the later suspicious variants. Certainly the later editors all have their hands tainted to some degree or other.

BTW you didn't respond to my last posting on 295.