The Swedish version of Babylon is also called 'Herr Tores Dottrar' and HR Truelses Dotre'. It is also extant in Russia and Spain so one presumes another pan-European ballad. The Danish version as translated by Prior is given the title 'The Three Robbers and their Three Sisters.'Its Danish number is G338 and its Swedish number is S46.

Hi Richard. I prefer the supernatural mystery of the English versions in which her body parts are used to embellish a fiddle and the fiddle sings on its own, no lover involved.

Personally I adhere to the theory that these ballads were translated from the Scandinavian in the 18th and early 19th centuries. In the case of the Tvo Seostre more than once. We know that Jamieson was busy translating them before 1800 so why not others? I'm also convinced Peter Buchan was translating them to fill out his concoctions, amongst other sources.