Wolfgang, thanks for putting the verses in order.I'm not sure how they got strung out. In Flanders 1932 Vermont Folksongs and Ballads this covers 7 and a half pages. I learned it from the singing of Bertha Cahpin of Waterbury,who left out 2 of the verses that appear in Flanders book, 2 verses that don't really advance the story. In the booklet accompanying my cs Vermont Ballads and Broadsides the text covers 5 and three quarter pages. If anyone has Julia Dorr's poetry they will have access to the original poem, rather than the ballad that passed into Margaret MacArthurtradition not only in Vermont but throughout New England