This week at Murder Ballad Monday we explore the ballad "Young Edwin in the Lowlands Low" (aka "The Diver Boy", "Young Emily", "Edmund and Emily", etc.) in four posts and across England, Ireland, Scotland, and the American Appalachians and Ozarks.

Diver Boy / Young Edwin in the Lowlands Low / Young Emily - Today, a song of murder doubly, perhaps triply, cruel. Pat brings us the story of the "Diver Boy," who was drawn by the love of one, and killed by the greed of others. Natalie Merchant, Maeve MacKinnon, and Rapunzel and Sedayne provide striking and faithful contemporary recordings, and Pat provides us with an archival recording from the Ozarks that may have been the source of many versions we hear today.

"Oh Father, cruel father, you will die a public show!" - In this week's second installment on "Young Emily," Pat turns to English sources for the ballad. With the gracious assistance of Jo Freya, we begin to hear the story that isn't there...which is often the most interesting of all. Performances by Freya, Louis Killen, Steeleye Span, and Harry Cox provide plenty of good listening.

"He therefore did confess..." - In a third post this week on "Edmund and Emily," Pat diligently pursues the quest for answers and justice to Northern Ireland. Justice, at least of the poetic variety, is found, and Emily is saved from madness. We, of course, are treated to a variety of excellent performances from Jody Stecher, Paul Brady, Geordie Hanna, Maggy Murphy, and Lizzie Higgins.

"The coats that hang on the mountain..." - Pat rounds out our week with "Young Emily" by returning to America and Appalachia, finding deeper understanding not only of family life, but the life of the broader community as well. Theme and excellent variations abound, with performances from Sheila Kay Adams, Doug Wallin, Dillard Chandler, and Dellie Norton.