Hi,

John Jacob Niles was a ballad re-creator. He has admitted it and his admission has been quoted by Wilgus. He did keep field notebooks from his collecting which I have not examined but some of which were examined by Ron Pen, author of I Wonder as I Wander: The Life of John Jacob Niles.

I do not doubt that Niles collected most of the ballads in his "The Ballad Book." It clear to me that Niles saw nothing wrong with (or he couldn't resist) improving the ballads he collected. Because he knew ballads as a scholar and performer, he added things which could not have been sung by the informants.

Instead of saying what he collected and what he changed- he said nothing. This implies that the text was exactly as he collected it. This is wrong-- it's misleading and dishonest.

I have no doubt that he improved many of the ballads he collected- Niles was a talented guy. Some of his ballads I believe were written from a fragment of something he collected- such as I Wonder As I Wander. Or maybe it was just a name- like "Judas" that inspired him.

If I take any of his ballads, and examine them you can see what the problem is. The last one I looked at was child 85 Lady Alice. Niles found two versions, I look at Niles A:

Earl Colvin- John Jacob Niles collected this version on August 1, 1934 from Carson Shook and his wife of Asheville, NC.


Earl Colvin rode home from the waterside,
He rode through wind and rain,
And then he lay down on his straight little bed
And died, all a-wrack of pain,
And died, all a-wrack of pain.

Oh, they gave him water, they gave him wine,
They gave him gruel with a spoon,
But when he turned his face to the wall,
The bell in the tower struck noon.

Now Alice May sat in her father's hall,
She sat and rested her head.
She did not know Earl Colvin was sick,
She did not know he was dead.
She did not know he was dead.

Alice May sat in her mother's bower,
She sewed at her mother's side,
When in come a runner with foam on his horse,
Said: 'Earl Colvin, your lover, has died.'
Said: 'Earl Colvin, your lover, has died.'

'Oh daughter, oh daughter, what makes you weep?
Oh daughter, what makes you cry?'
'Oh Mother, oh Mother, my lover is dead,
Oh Mother, I fear I must die.
Oh Mother, I fear I must die.'

At first she looked out of the window wide.
And then she looked out of the door,
And then she spied as fair a corpse
As ever shoulders bore.
As ever shoulders bore.

'Whose coffin, whose coffin, whose coffin?' cried she,
'Whose coffin so stark and so new?'
'It is one that holds Earl Colvin's clay,
Who once did love of you.
Who once did love of you.'

'Sit down, sit down the coffin box,
Lay off the coffin lid.'
And the bearers put him down on the grass
And did as they were bid.
And did as they were bid.

Oh, it's long she looked into his face,
Oh, it's deep she grieved and sore,
Oh, it's hard she pressed his clay-cold lips,
As she did oft before.
As she did oft before.

'See yonder dove, hit mourns its love
And flies from pine to pine.
Today you will weep at Earl Colvin's grave,
Tomorrow you'll weep at mine.
Tomorrow you'll weep at mine.'

[There are no known US versions with Colvin or Earl in them. Niles knows the name Covill (from Child 42) and uses a similar name. Niles knows Child 85 is Lady Alice, he names her, Alice. The "May" could come from "well-fared may" in Child 42.

In stanza 1, Niles knows about the waterside and the mermaid and Clyde's Water. In stanza 2 Niles know about the British Child versions of Lady Alice and the mother feeding him gruel and the noon, spoon rhyme. The problem is there are no US version (except Brown A which probably came from print) that have gruel and the noon, spoon rhyme. His informant couldn't have known that.

Without continuing- you get my drift. Niles is a ballad recreator- who know what the original fragment he collected from Carson Shook was?

Niles published his book, 25 years after his collecting was done- plenty of time to spruce up the ballads!!!

Richie