I his book "Narrative Singing in Ireland", Lays Ballads, Come -All-Yes and other Songs Dr. Hugh Shields states, "Only two English ballads seem to have gone into Irish retaining something of the ballad character. Both come to light at the end of the nineteenth century, both edited by Douglas Hyde. They are probably not more than two or three generations older". He then goes on to name them as "Cá rabhais ar Feadh and Lae Uaim", an adaptation of "Lord Randal", collected in Roscommon in 1905 and "Muire agus Naomh Joseph" a version of "The Cherry Tree Carol" published by Hyde in 1897 from Mayo sources.