Jim,
Many songs, and indeed tales, share motifs, but this does not mean they are connected in any other way. They may have picked up their motifs from some distant common source, or it is even possible the connection is pure coincidence. If you read my article and the inset article by Phillips Barry you will see these connections put into a much larger overall context covering a multiplicity of international ballads and tales.

'dismissive of scholars': That's exactly what you are being by dismissing the works of very knowledgeable scholars like Child and Ebsworth.

'almost certainly made'. I thought we'd already agreed to differ on that one. You can't prove your stance. I can't prove mine. Irresistable force/immovable object and all that!

Cheers,
Steve