The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #164332   Message #3931962
Posted By: Richie
19-Jun-18 - 03:43 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Child Ballads in Ireland
Subject: RE: Origins: Child Ballads in Ireland
Hi,

Yes, I've found eleven Irish related versions of Child 10 including the one by Kidson (of which there is a variant text) and the two I posted. Perhaps the most famous not mentioned is Child C: "The Cruel Sister" a composite reworked by Scott in 1802 from the recitation of an old (Irish) woman by Miss Charlotte Brookes (circa late 1700s) and Mrs. Brown's Scottish version (Child B). The fourteen stanza Irish version appears in stanzas 5, 6, 10, 12, 20, 22- 27 but Scott also made changes to other stanzas and these may not be original. The original 14 stanza version as collected is unknown- but is perhaps in Scott's papers.

I'm not sure if you want all the info on the 11 versions, some are melodically related.

Unfortunately I'm only up to Child 10 (British versions) and Brian Peters posted the Irish versions of Child 3.

This seems to be outside the scope of your study of Irish recordings of Child ballads. Let me know if you want more info as I go through the rest of the Child ballads.

Richie