"Yes, the Coates believe they were originally Irish. This would corroborate the Ulster Folklife claim and date."

But the ballad was sung to Sharp by Mrs Coates (nee Allen). She claimed German or Dutch descent, although Sharp believed her brother John Allen to be Scots. Of course it doesn't necessarily follow that she had learned the ballad within her own family anyway.

Sharp found one other example of Child 3, which he collected from Jane Gentry - I'm sure Richie will shortly be getting to that one. FWIW, Gentry's family - from Watauga Co., NC - claimed English descent. Again we can't say for certain whether the ballad arrived in America with her ancestors, or with later migrants. It's certainly one of the rarer ballads in Appalachia.