The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #161752   Message #3846357
Posted By: Steve Gardham
23-Mar-17 - 03:36 PM
Thread Name: Origin: Son Oh Son / Sheath & Knife
Subject: RE: Son oh Son - Sheath & Knife
I'm not aware that this ballad has been collected from oral tradition since about the 1870s and that in Scotland. In fact the ballad was very scarce even then. However, if there are any American versions they should show up on Richie's fantastic Bluegrass website.

There is supposedly a tune in Christie's Traditional Ballad Airs Vol2 p138, with other words set to it. But anything in Christie can't be guaranteed as genuine. There is a tune given in Johnson's Scots Musical Museum, Vol 2, p434.

Generally speaking it is one of those scarce ballads that suddenly appeared in a few Scottish collections at the start of the 19th century.