An esoteric question born of curiosity: the recording of Thomas the Rhymer by Ewan MacColl for Folkways Records (FG 3509) has the lyrics, word for word, of Child's version C, but omits two of the strongest verses (15 & 16) with their striking imagery:

O they rade on, and farther on
And they waded thro rivers aboon the knee
And they saw neither sun nor moon
But they heard the roaring of the sea.

It was mirk mirk night, and there was nae stern light
And they waded thro red blude to the knee;
For a' the blude that's shed on earth
Rins thro the springs o that countrie.

We can speculate about the reasons for the omission, but does anyone know for a fact why those verses are missing from MacColl's recording? Jim Carroll?

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1RxXt7V1xA

https://folkways-media.si.edu/liner_notes/folkways/FW03509.pdf

Links added by Joe Offer