Hi,

I have couple questions. One is the use of "factor" as found in the text of Wehman's Universal Songster (a song collection):


The Bramble Brier

Near Blue-water a rich man dwelt,
With two sons and a daughter fair,
Who of his wife had been bereft,
Which caused their hearts much fear.
These young men journeyed across the sea,
To get riches was their aim,
But finding things not as they wished them to be
Returned with a factor[*] to their domain.

Now this factor[*] was tall and handsome,
Neat and genteel withal;

I noticed that "factor" was also used in the translation of Isabella's Tragedy given by Steve Gardham:

The trading of the brothers' business
That brought them plenty of store and gain,
Was by a factor[*], thus a servant,
Lorenzo was this factor's[*] name.

"Factor" does not appear in other traditional versions. What does this mean?

Richie