The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #139929 Message #3214010
Posted By: Paul Davenport
28-Aug-11 - 11:29 AM
Thread Name: How old are the oldest Child ballads?
Subject: RE: How old are the oldest Child ballads?
The issue is solved by looking at Child himself. I quote, '23 Judas'. 'MS. B 14, 39, of the thirteenth century, library of Trinity College, Cambridge' There isn't an earlier attribution in Child, nor is there another ballad in such early English.