"however I can't see much wordcraft in The Streets of Laredo, or St James's Infirmary."
Can't speak too much about American versions Al as I'm not familiar with th vernacular, but the idea of a dying man instructing how a funeral should be conducted is poetic enough for me, as is the terms set out in the confession of sins by many of the characters in the various versions
Most folk songs are based on vernacular speech, which can be as poetic in the extreme wherever it occurs
By the way the "border ballads" are just a fraction of the Child canon (don't think any I mentioned were included)
Jim Carroll