Steve
For someone who has joined those who have turned the term folk song on its head it's beyond me how you can offer a dictionary definition of Cante-fable
The term refers generally to a mixture of song and story, whether one or the other dominates
Alan Bruford first pointed out this ballad as being such at an EFDSS conference in Leeds where we both gave papers
We really don't need this, as Hoot says, we're here to discuss our enjoyment of the ballads
If it comes to a choice between the two opinions, personally......... !
"It is nothing like a cantefable, much more like the early nineteenth century comic pieces "
Helen Hartness Flanders got the ballad in 1930 from a 96 year old singer who described remembering it from her mother's who lived to be around the same age, singing
Her mother learned it from one of her parents - which puts it some time in the 18th century.

"Elizabeth LaPrelle "
Can't remember if you put her singing up recently Hoot - I think she was taking workshops
Very impressive
Jim Carroll