Hi,

Moving on to other related songs/ballads. We haven't covered Sailor Boy or Sweet William which borrows from Died for Love and other songs.

One other song is "The Colour of Amber." A similar stanza is also known famously as "Black is the Color/Colour." A single version of three stanzas (with one Died for Love stanza) was collected in the UK by Mike Yates in 1974. A number of Newfoundland versions use the title which are unique variants of Sailor Boy (divergent plot some similar stanzas):

The Colour Of Amber (MacEdward Leach)

Oh, the colour of amber is my love's hair,
And her rosy cheeks do my heart ensnare;
Her ruby lips so meek and mild,
Ofttimes have pressed them to those of mine.

and here's a stanza from NC collected by Sharp from William Wells:

2 Yellow was the colour of my true love's hair,
Cheeks was like a lily fair.
If he returns it'll give me joy;
Never love any but a sweet soldier boy.

This 1916 version is a variant of Sweet William. The question is: should these be part of the ballads related to Died for Love?

Richie