Hello,
I was wondering about a verse in certain versions of Child 243, "The Daemon Lover".
The verse in question is:

And as she turned herself round about,
So taller and tall he seemed to be.
Until the tops of that shining ship
No taller were than he.

In A. L. Loyd's recording(s) of the song.

Or:

And aye he grew and higher he grew
And sae tall he seemed to be
Till the tapmost mast a' that bonnie ship
Nae taller was than he.

In Ewan MacColl's version on Blood & Roses, Vol. 5.

The only other recording which has this verse is from Joe Rae, here:
http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/en/fullrecord/67188/2

Joe's version is almost word for word Child F, from Scott's Minstrelsy, except for three verses of unknown origin, including this one.

It doesn't appear in any of Child's texts. Nor is it in the Glenbuchat Ballads "Lady Jane" text.
So where does it come from?

Does somebody know of a traditional text that I might have missed?
I'm just curious if this is a modern invention or not.

By the way, I recently found out that the Helen Hartness Flanders Ballad Collection has been digitized and is now available for public listening via the Internet Archive.
If you like this ballad as much as I do you might want to listen to this recording of Mrs. Edith Ballinger Price singing her unique version of it:
https://archive.org/details/HHFBC_tapes_D46A

It's the first track on Side B.

Whether this is traditional or learned from print I don't know, but I think it's absolutely beautiful.
I just wanted to share it with those who didn't know about it.

There are countless treasures in the Flanders Collection, including Child Ballads. It's always hit and miss with the audio quality though, it ranges from moderate to unlistenable...