Hi,

I'm almost done with my headnotes to Child 1, a rough version is here: http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/english-versions-and-other-versions.aspx

Here's an excerpt:

C, "The Unco Knight's Wowing [Mysterious Knight's Wooing]" by Mrs. Storie of Lochwinnoch (dated c.1925) was taken by Child from Motherwell's MS. The text is the most complete traditional exemplar of the older original ballad. Scottish C, found in Motherwell's MS copy is now corroborated by another authentic copy from the same informant, Mary Macqueen Storie which was published in Crawfurd's Collection by Emily Lyle. Mary Ann Macqueen (also MacQueen, McQueen) was born in 1803 to parents Osbourne and Elizabeth (Copeland) McQueen of Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, Scotland and lived in Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire. She married Willie Storie in 1821 at the age of 18. Crawfurd wrote "The same Mary Macqueen has a great number of auld ballads which I had fished out of her for Mr. William Motherwell" (Lyle 1975-1996/1: xxx). Her brother, Thomas was a poet and collected ballads for Motherwell. Curiously, one of the great Scottish ballad singers moved with her family to Ontario, Canada in 1829. Thomas MacQueen also moved to Ontario and was the founder and publisher of The Huron Signal newspaper until his death in 1861[]. That area is now known as Renfrew County after the Macqueen's home county of Renfrewshire in Scotland. For a time Mary Macqueen Storie moved to Utah (US) with her daughter, Elizabeth. Mary died in Renfrew County, Ontario in 1877.

The "Unco Knight" of Child C is the Devil. Important is MacQueen's ending, which is a superstition found in ballads and rooted in the Bible[]-- if you call the Devil by name, he will flee from you. When the maid uses the Devil's name (the Fiend) in her answer to the last riddle, she wins the riddling contest and banishes him.

18 The Peas are greener than the grass
Sing the claret banks tae the bonny broom
An' the Fiend is waur than a woman's wuss[wish],
An' ye may beguile a young thing sune.

19 As sune as she the Fiend did name
Sing the claret banks tae the bonny broom
He flew awa in a fierie flam,
An' ye may beguile a young thing sune.

A comparison of the two texts by Motherwell and Crawfurd gives some insight into Motherwell's editing. He changes for example "the Fiend is waur[worse]" to "And Clootie's waur."

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Richie