In my searches for Irish varientets of Child Ballads, I was surprised to find that a number of the standard Child texts had once been part of the Irish repertoire - I always considered it an English ballad
Mrs Ellen M Sullivan of Vermont sang Helen Hartness Flanders a 13 verse version entitled 'Lord James', which she learned in her childhood in County Cork
While not specific about the charges, it refers to "a golden ball"
A beautiful offshoot of this Ballad, 'Streets of Derry', is often associated with one of the many Irish rebellions against English rule, particularly the 1798 one
Jim Carroll