Australian Raymond Crook has recorded all the Child Ballads

Raymond's Child Ballad page The first ballad I ever heard from the collection of Francis James Child was Barbara Allen, from my parents' Burl Ives collection, followed closely by his rendition of Henry Martin. As a teenager, I listened to Joan Baez, and learned from her the significance of the bracketed Child number. As I gradually learned more of these songs, I formed the idea of recording all of them, but it is only a few years ago that I actually set about to fulfill this ambition. I have now recorded at least one version of each of the Child ballads on YouTube. Although I have completed this project I will still add other versions to the collection, particularly where I have previously sung variations that are quite different from those collected by Child ...

1. Riddles Wisely Expounded

This English song is an example of the ancient tradition of riddling in folklore. It dates back to at least 1450 and exists in several variants. The first known tune was attached to it in 1719. In the earliest surviving version, the devil threatens to abduct a maiden unless she can answer a series of riddles. The woman prays to Jesus for wisdom and answers the riddles correctly.

In later versions, a knight puts a woman to a test before agreeing to marry her, usually after seducing her. The woman knows the answers and is accepted as the knight's bride.

The American version,The Devil's Nine Questions, goes back to the earliest English version and lists a set of riddles being asked of a maid by the devil who may or may not be in disguise. I have yet to find a version which actually has a ninth question. This version, like the others I've heard, only has eight!

Here is my performance of the English version and here are the lyrics.

You can see my performance of the American version, the lyrics of which are here. (read on)