Yes, Vic, 'Barbara Allen' was sung by the freed slave Aunt Maria Tombs. I'd love to know what made him call on Aunt Maria, given his general attitude towards black communities in the mountains - perhaps someone tipped him off that she knew the ballad. It seems to have been the only one, though.

I'd heard about slaves being forbidden to perform African music, so it's quite possible that ex-slaves would have known English songs. The one generally known as 'Seven Drunken Nights' was in the repertoire of black musicians like Coley Jones, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Blind Boy Fuller. It was also popular with early white string bands (Mainer's Mountaineers sang almost identical words to Coley Jones), which makes me wonder whether a version was used in minstrel shows - the risqué humour would probably have fitted right in. And I wonder how 'The Maid Freed from the Gallows' got to Lead Belly as 'Gallows Pole'!