The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #48317   Message #1234286
Posted By: Mary Humphreys
26-Jul-04 - 06:52 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Sheath and Knife
Subject: RE: Sheath and Knife
I have checked the Cambridge UL catalogue.There is an unborrowable copy at Cambridge University Library. It lists the following info:
        
Contains the text of 2 short poems, "O Lord I am Thy creature recreatid," and "Evin as the heart hurt in the chasse," and a ballad, "The sheath and the knife or Leesome brand," together with a Danish version of the ballad, "Redselille og Medelvold (Roselille and Ole)"
The 2 poems and the ballad are transcribed from the Common-place book of music and poetry, a ms. compiled by Robert Edward from about 1630 onwards; owned by the Earl of Dalhousie, the ms. is now in the National Library of Scotland. The Danish version of the ballad is taken from Grundtvig's Danmarks gamle folkeviser, v. 5 (1877), no. 271, text T.

So that explains the Dalhousie link that MacColl cited.
I will make an effort to get a look at it in the next few days and copy the ballad text as found there.
Mary Humphreys