And while I was down in St. Mary's Loch I found something else! It's a broken token! A ring broke in 3 and I realized something...

There never was a legitimate "Prince Robert." I don't believe that Lord Abore is a mondegreen for Robert. Abore is a word that refers to how much has been born, tolerated, abided - that's what the word means. What do you think it would be like living all those years with a mother who was so cruel that she would rather see you dead, poisoned, than to allow you to marry your sweetheart? She couldn't have become that cruel just in time to poison him. He's Lord Abore. It was a perfectly good Irish-Scots ballad until Sir Walter Scott and his "near relative" Mrs. Christian Rutherford got a hold of it.

Strike Sir Walter Scott from the record. That means:

Child #7 Earl Bran (A, G, & H Only)
Child #87 (Does not belong in a book of E&S popular ballads)

The rose-brier motif is not part of either of these two singing traditions. Any fine singer who wants to add it, be my guest. Just sayin' it didn't start out there.