Steve, actually I already have a MS in Recreation and Leisure Studies. What I am doing now is out of pure interest. I want to write a good Wiki piece about the ballad - for posterity :)

Jim, where do you find, say, a song that describes the experience of a man at sea and his lady love waiting in some harbor town? The answer is, if you're a land lubber, they are few and far between. You'll probably find more about shipwrecks. The youtube link I posted is a relatively modern pop song which expresses the same ideas about love in a maritime culture that are found in Lord Levett. I would not use the word obscure, I'd use rare. They are around but not exactly dropping from the sky. I really think that Nora Cleary's version of Lord Levett is such a gem.

Now, the asterisks in a certain part of the text of Lord Levett indicate that Nora believed she was missing a part or parts. In Mount Callan Garland, Tom Munnelly tells us that he believed that he was missing something from his version also and was very interested in learning about Nora's. Personally, I don't believe Nora's version is missing anything. All those floating versions you see tacked on to Lord Lovel and indeed other ballads- about coffins etc. do not seem Irish to me. To me it seems more Irish to not supply the answer as to whether Lord Levett's bad dream was real or just a dream and then cut right to the chase and reassure the listener that our couple was ultimately united in eternity.

Jim, I think what happened is that when "Lord Lovel" eventually drifted back into Ireland, some people said, "Hey, wait a minute, this is ours!" and proceeded to refashion it. In some cases, they added back certain elements that were taken out or altered- such as the name Levett and the name of the church and so forth- and in the case of Lord Donegal, made a fresh start and chose a new name altogether. They sort of reclaimed it and this involved setting it to a delightful Irish melody like the Keane sisters version of Lord Donegal or Tom Lenihan's lovely tune. Tom Lenihan insistence that the rose-briar motif belongs to Lord Levett alone is based on "oral currency."

Two questions: Does this make sense to you? And do you ever get over to Dublin? Go and check out the following because I cannot get there obviously and you're just a few hours away.

LORD LEVIET / Donnchada Ó Cinnéide / Mairtín Ó Mainín / Galway 1939 / IFC617:134-6

LORD LOVELL / ? / ? / London*1957 / IFC1500:98-100 / [Incomplete text with prose summary of the missing verses in Irish. *Originally from Waterford.]

[Where are you going Lord Névin? she said] / Galway 1943 / IFC405:100 / [2-verse fragment.]

LORD LOVEL / Joe Coneely, (50) / Knocknaskeagh, Kilshanny / Tom Munnelly / Cl12-1-1972 / IFC2219:12-14. (12v) / TM35/B/1

LORD DEVITT / Micky 'The Pounder' Moloney, (59) / Carrowduff, Miltown Malbay / Tom Munnelly / Cl31-8-1972 / IFC2224:80-2. (14v) / TM92/A/3

LORD LEVEL / Tom Griffin, (80) / Killernan, Miltown Malbay / Tom Munnelly / Cl. 29-7-1974 / Interim vol. 15:117-9 (14v) / TM324/A/4

That is what they currently have in their data base. There might be more that have not been input yet.