> The association with Lord Randall is clear conceptually in the opening lines of the two songs, which are so similar as to suggest the one inspired the other.

I acknowledge that the resemblances might be above average, but the weight of the evidence seems to favor coincidence (which often is a "conceptual association").

Not every mother who said, "And where have *you* been all the day?" was inspired by "Lord Randall."

Re "Tam Boy." Eels were a popular dish in fishing communities. They're just fish. That's not why Randy's mother thinks he's poisoned: it's because he wants to lie down, evidently looks like hell, and was fed by his sweetie - whom the mother has presumably long been suspicious of.

I see even less of a resemblance among "Tam Boy" and the other two songs than between "BB" and "LR."