As a bit of ballad trivia; What are the three references to Child 74 found in Beaumont and Fletcher's "The Knight of the Burning Pestle"?
Child gives two of them- what is the third?
Where I'm going with this broadside discussion is that I believe as Swaen does that there is an early traditional ballad (the ur-ballad) that the broadside is based upon.
This again can be found in part through many of the versions from North America. Because the ballad was popular in North America we can surmise that early versions that predate the broadside were brought to the Virginia settlement, New England and also Maritime Canada where it is found less frequently.
Is the broadside sung in tradition? Yes but not as written. The traditional versions found in North America have stanzas from the broadside but also,
Sweet William he rose one morning in May, Himself he dresses in blue. His mother asked him about that long, long love [That] Lies between Lady Margaret and you. [Sweet William- Nora Hicks]
this stanza which is critical in establishing the relationship between Margaret and William. This is common in North America and is found in Child B. The stanza that follows of course is the fragment (in brackets) from the 1611 "Burning Pestle".
["I am no love for you, Margaret, And you are no love for me;] Before to-morrow at eight o'clock, A rich wedding you shall see."
The broadside's "I see no harm by you, Margaret," is similar in meaning as are a number of lines such as "I am no man for you" which was collected in California. What happens is William is trying to ignore his deep feelings for Margaret because he is marrying "the brown girl" and it's clear that she knows something about this relationship, because he asks his new wife's permission to see Margaret after his dream. The broadside skips the "he dressed himself in blue" stanza and when the that happens the ballad makes little sense afterward.
It's easy to understand that the "he dressed himself in blue" stanza would be part of the ur-ballad and that many of the ballad versions came to North America in this stanzic form.
The other point I'm interested in establishing the is close relationship between Child 73 and 74 as noted by both Percy and Jamieson.