The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #24751 Message #285674
Posted By: GUEST
26-Aug-00 - 02:36 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Earl of Moray
Subject: RE: Lyric : Earl of Moray
Except for several differences in spelling the text in Jed's first click on above (DT file EARLMURY) is identical to that in 'Orpheus Caledonius', II, p. 8, 1733. If you look at the 6 texts in Bronson's 'The Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads', you see that the only Scots one later than that in 'Orpheus Caledonius' is one of the 1870s, whose tune was presumeably traditional, but whose text was from the reprint in 'The Tea Table Miscellany'. The other four are from the US in the 20th century. It's obvious that all are derived from the text in 'Orpheus Caledonius' (with rather trivial variations). Thompson's text had been reprinted in several places in the 18th century and later. There is no evidence for any independent version of the ballad. The 'Orpheus Caledonius' version is the one and only original.