The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #58547   Message #2930807
Posted By: Steve Gardham
18-Jun-10 - 06:33 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Wanton Wife of Castlegate
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Wanton Wife of Castlegate
Just a hunch but if no source for tune or words from tradition are given the strongest likelihood is that the Watersons' pared down version is a Bert special.

Jim,
What exactly is the image you are waiting for? Apart from odd bits of punctuation Ebsworth was very faithful to the original texts he used as sources For Roxburghe Ballads.

The first 3 stanzas he states are by a different author and are probably from some theatrical piece.

Roxburghe says there is a copy in Euing 372 which I'll check out tomorrow.

Ebsworth also rants at length on Burns appropriating lines 3 & 4 of stanza 9 for his 'My Love is like a red red rose'. He doesn't explain the bits in brackets as far as I can see. I assume they are his interpolations for missing words.