All these examples appear to be adaptations of traditional versions - I've just discovered an Irish American version from Maine - have yet to examine the tune
I've never been convinced that 'Willikins' wasn't adapted from an earlier tune, though songs that use it usually credit it as the tune

I suppose it's a matter of taste, but I have to say to say that P.D's performance is one of the worst I've heard - those sound effects - phoney or what !!
This is one of the most beautifully sensitive ballads in the Child canon - it's not a ghost story, it's a 'revenant song' - a conversation between the living and the dead based on the superstition that if you over-mourn a loved one they will be unable to find peace and rest
That sounded as if Roger Coran had produced it (though the tune is fine)
I think the same mistake with two films in the 1990s
The overblown 'Ghost' ended up with demons dragging the villain Down to hell - Hammer Horror style, while it's British counterpart 'Truly Madly Deeply (far superior, in my opinion) treated it as a gentle tragi-comedy
Much more in line with the revenant theme
Just an opinion, of course
Jim Carroll