Several additional thoughts about this ballad:

At one point, Alan Kelly told Lee Haggerty, who was recording Alan Kelly on our first trip to the Miramichi (I was busy recording Marie Hare at the same time), "Well, that's all of the English language songs I'm going to sing. Now, I'll give you some songs in my mother's language, French." But Lee, who had always joked with us about finding a version of this ballad someday, said "Wait a minute. Do you happen to know a song about a knight meeting a boy on the road?" Without hesitation, Alan replied, "That wasn't a knight! That was the devil!" He then proceeded to sing his "Fol, fol, folly" version, which he later tried to change.

I've read, Lord only knows where, that the "and still he stood" suggests that the boy was standing within a charmed circle, and the devil couldn't take him away as long as he remained there. Fakelore? Possibly, but fun. Also, in answer to the question above, the devil was seeking to whisk the lad off to hell, which he would do if the boy failed to answer the challenging questions. The little smarty was successful, however, in warding him off. Max Hunter, from Springfield, Missouri, has an Ozark version of this ballad, and the Nova Scotia version sung to the tune of "The Flowers of Edinburgh" is superb. And who was it who sang that splendid version from Ireland on the Caedmon ballad series? Someone out there will remember, saving me the trouble of trotting downstairs to look through the record shelves. God, that one was glorious!

Sandy