These things have moved back and forth so often; are you looking for actual words, or the tunes? Songs like >i>The Old Settler Song (also called Acres of Clams uses the tune Rosen the Bow. I was told this as a child, when my father was learning it. So where does Rosen the Bow come from? I have it on at least one Clancy Brothers album.

I seem to remember a traditional song to the states called Springfield Mountain that I read had English/Scottish roots. Is this true? Or did it just migrate from one state to another in the US? How many venomous snakes are there in England or Scotland to worry about in the fields?

It went
On Springfield Mountain there did dwell
A love-ly youth, I knew him we-e-el. . .

(I've extended the words as they were sung, but I'm not sure how it is written on the page)

Good thread, but one that is destined to become as entangled as the folk music itself.

m