Jed, I don't know *anything* about runaway slave songs, but it seems to me that slaves who ran away wouldn't necessarily want to sing about it, (for fear of recapture) and those who were left behind wouldn't be *allowed* to sing about it. Such a song, I think, would have to be so circumspect in its lyrical content that it might easily be mistaken for something else (say, a spiritual...)

Just my $0.02, your mileage may vary...

By the way, your "Streets of Fall River" gets heavy rotation in my car... Great Disk!

V