Recordings & Info: 7. Earl Brand
CONTENTS:
1) Alternative titles
2) Classification of Related Ballads
3) Ballad Index
4) Folk index
5) Child Ballad Collection: List of recordings sources
6) Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America by Tristram Coffin 1950 from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America;
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud No. 23: Earl Brand ( Listings)
2) The American Variants of "Earl Brand," Child No. 7 by Doris C. Powers; Western Folklore, Vol. 17, No. 2 (Apr., 1958), pp. 77-96.
[A version of Earl Brand titled "Sweet Willie," was collected by my grandfather Maurice Matteson at Elk Park, NC back in 1933. My grandfather bought his dulicmer from Nathan Hicks nearby on Beech Mountain. The Hicks family knew the ballad as "Lady Margaret."
He rode up to the old man's gate,
And boldly he did say:
'Keep your youngest daughter at home,
But the oldest I will take away." Mrs. Lloyd Bare Bragg, Elk Park NC 1933
The classic US recording is The Greer's, "Sweet William and Fair Ellen" recorded way back in 1929. You can listen Lomax's recording of Daw Henson on Kentucky Mountain Music by clicking on the highlight: Listen: Daw Henson- "Lady Margaret and Sweet William." Daw Henson came from the crossroads of Billy's Branch in Clay County, KY in the middle of what is now the Daniel Boone National Forest. His version is confused-missing important events that are charateristic of this ballad. It does include the dream, an event sometimes present in US version. Here's an important list of US Versions from Doris C. Powers in her article- The American Variants of "Earl Brand," Child No. 7:
GROUP I: [I:i-a] Paul G. Brewster, "Traditional Ballads from Indiana," JAF, XLVIII (1935), 308f.; [I:2-a] W. Roy Mackenzie, Ballads and Sea-Songs from Nova Scotia (Cambridge, Mass., 1928), pp. gff.; [I:2-b] Phillips Barry, British Ballads from Maine (New Haven, 1929), pp. 35ff.; [I:2-c] Barry, pp. 37ff.; [I:2-d] Barry, "The Ballad of Earl Brand," MLN, XXV (1910), 104f.; I:2-e] Maud Karpeles, Folk Songs from Newfoundland (Oxford, 1934), pp. 83-7; [I:2-f] Elisabeth B. Greenleaf and Grace Y. Mansfield, Ballads and Sea Songs of Newfoundland (Cambridge, Mass., 1924), pp. 7f.; [I:2-g] Vance Randolph, Ozark Mountain Folks (New York, 1932), pp. 2i9ff.; [I:2-h] Randolph, Ozark Folk Songs (Columbia, Mo., 1946), I, 48f.; [I:3-a] Cecil J. Sharp and Maud Karpeles, English Folk-Song from the Southern Appalachians (Oxford, 1952), I, 23; [I:3-b] Sharp and Karpeles, I, 22f.; [I:3-c] Winston Wilkinson MSS., University of Virginia Collection of Folk Music, 1936-7, p. 5; [I:3-d] Helen Hartness Flanders, Ballads Migrant in New England (New York, 1953), pp. 228ff.; [I:3-e] Mellinger Henry, Folk Songs from the Southern Highlands (New York, 1938), p. 37.
GROUP II: [II:i-a] Arthur K. Davis, Traditional Ballads of Virginia (Cambridge, Mass., 1929), pp. 9of.; [II:2-a] Sharp and Karpeles, I, 21f.; [II:2-b] Winston Wilkinson MSS., University of Virginia Collection of Folk Music, 1935-6, pp. 9ff.; [II:2-c] John Harrington Cox, Folk-Songs of the South (Cambridge, Mass., 1925), pp. 18f.; [II:2-d] Davis, pp. 87f.; [II:2-e] Wilkinson MSS., 1935-6, pp. 7f.; [I:2-f] Davis, pp. 89f.; [II:2-g] Davis, pp. 88f.
GROUP III: [III:i-a] Alton C. Morris, Folk Songs of Florida and their Cultural Background (Gainesville, Fla., 1950), pp. 241ff.; [III:-b] John A. and Alan Lomax, Our Singing Country (New York, 1941), pp. 154f.; [III:i-c] Evelyn K. Wells, The Ballad Tree (New York, 1950), pp. 147f.; [III:i-d] Arthur P. Hudson, Folk-Songs of Mississippi and their Background (Chapel Hill, N.C.,
1936), pp. 66ff.; [III:l-e] Arthur P. Hudson, George Herzog, and Herbert Halpert, Folk-Tunes from Mississippi (New York, 1937), pp. 22f.; [III:2-a] Cecil J. Sharp and Maud Karpeles, English Folk- Song from the Southern Appalachians (Oxford, 1952), I, 19f.; [III:2-b] Sharp and Karpeles, I, 14f.; [III:2-c] Sharp and Karpeles, I, 16f.; [III:2-d] Sharp and Karpeles, I, 17ff.; [III:2-e] Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore (Durham, N.C., 1952), II, 28f.; [III:2-ee] Folk Music of the United States, Library of Congress, Music Division, "Anglo-American Songs and Ballads," Album 12, No. 6oB; [III:2-f] North Carolina Folklore, II, 29f.; [III:2-g] Mellinger Henry, Songs Sung in the Southern Appalachians (London, 1934), pp. 45f.; [III:2-h] Described in North Carolina Folklore, II, 30 [III:2-i] Described in North Carolina Folklore, II, 31; [III:2-j] Described in North Carolina Folklore, II, 31; [III:2-k] Described in North Carolina Folklore, II, 31f.; [III:2-m] E. C. Perrow, "Songs and Rhymes from the South," JAF, XXVIII (1915), 152ff.
R. Matteson 2011]
Alternative Titles:
Sweet Willie
Jolly Soldier
Lord William's Death
William and Ellen
Sweet William and Fair Ellender
The Seven Brethren
Brandywine
The Child of Ell
Fair Ellender
Sweer William and Fair Ellen
As He Rode Up to the Old Man's Gate
Lady Margaret
The Seven Brothers, or The Seven Sleepers
The Seven Brothers, or Lord William
Seven Sleepers
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[Mary O. Eddy includes three versions from Ohio of "A Soldier" (Bold Soldier) under Earl Brand. These and the other related ballad of "The Bold Soldier and "Lady and the Dragoon" are found in the appendix- 7A. The Lady and the Dragoon which follows Child 7- Earl Brand (see left hand column- attached pages)
R. Matteson 2011]
Related Ballads:
Red River Shore
Lady and the Dragoon
Bold Soldier
Jolly Soldier
Rise Ye Up
Erlinton: Child 8
Valiant Soldier
Soldier's Wooing
Regarding Classification of Related Ballads: "The Lady and the Dragoon"
David Greene 1957: Of the traditional ballad which Cecil Sharp designated as "The Lady and the Dragoon," the headnote to its versions in The Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore (Durham, 1952), II, 287, says:" This old broadside
ballad-it goes back at least to the seventeenth century-bears some resemblance in its central shape to 'Earl Brand' (Child 7) and 'Erlinton' (Child 8)." Phillips Barry also notes the resemblance to "Erlinton," and remarks that the ballad is somehow
derived from the seventeenth-century broadside" The Master-Piece of Love Songs"; Arthur K. Davis, Jr., lists his Virginia variant in an appendix to "Earl Brand"; Mary 0. Eddy places her three Ohio versions under the title of *"Earl Brand"; and, finally, Barry remarks in a later writing "The tragic [sic] old ballad of 'Erlinton' seems to have left a successor in this humorous song."
*Greene says "Erlinton" but it's Earl Brand. I've corrected it.
_____________________________
Traditional Ballad Index: Earl Brand [Child 7]
DESCRIPTION: (Earl Brand) falls in love with a high lady against her father's will. They flee together, but are overtaken. Earl Brand slays almost all the pursuers, but is himself sorely wounded. They flee on, but at last Earl Brand must stop and dies.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1803 (Scott)
KEYWORDS: courting death fight
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North),Scotland) US(Ap,MA,NE,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (38 citations):
Child 7, "Earl Brand" (9 texts)
Bronson 7, "Earl Brand" (42 versions plus 2 in addenda)
Percy/Wheatley I, pp. 131-139, "The Child of Elle" (2 texts, one being that of the Percy Folio and the other the result of Percy's reconstruction of the text)
Greig #57, p. 1, "The Douglas Tragedy" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 220, "Lord Douglas" (13 texts, 8 tunes) {A=Bronson's #7, E=#8, F=#9, H-#25}
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 6-7, "The Brave Earl Brand" (1 text, 1 tune) {cf. Bronson's #1b}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 35-40, "The Seven Brothers" (2 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #6, #28}
Randolph 3, "Rise Ye Up" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #27}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 228-230, "Lord William and Lady Margaret" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #38}
Flanders-Ancient1, pp. 128-130, "Earl Brand" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #38}
Davis-Ballads 4, "Earl Brand" (4 texts plus 1 of "The Bold Soldier," 2 tunes entitled "The Seven Brothers, or The Seven Sleepers";"The Seven Brothers, or Lord William"; 1 more version mentioned in Appendix A) {Bronson's #24, #40}
Davis-More 5, pp. 26-34, "Earl Brand" (4 texts, 4 tunes; the "CC" text looks mixed)
BrownII 3, "Earl Brand" (2 texts plus 2 excerpts and mention of 3 more)
Hudson 2, pp. 66-68, "Earl Brand" (1 text)
Warner 79, "Sweet Willie" (1 text, 1 tune)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 45-46, "Sweet Willie (Earl Brand)" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 115-116, "Earl Brand" (1 text, properly titled "Sweet William," plus an untitled excerpt)
Brewster 4, "Earl Brand" (1 text plus mention of 1 more, 1 tune) {Bronson's #35}
Greenleaf/Mansfield 2, "Lord Robert" (1 text)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 2, "Earl Brand" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #10)
Leach, pp. 66-71, "Earl Brand" (2 texts)
OBB 38, "Earl Brand"; 39, "The Douglas Tragedy" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 68, "Earl Brand (The Douglas Tragedy)" (1 text+1 fragment)
Ord, pp. 404-406, "The Douglas Tragedy" (1 text, 1 tune)
PBB 33, "Earl Brand"; 49, "The Douglas Tragedy" (2 texts)
Niles 5, "Earl Brand" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Gummere, pp. 206-208+349-350, "Earl Brand" (1 text)
SharpAp 4 "Earl Brand" (12 texts, 12 tunes) {Bronson's #13, #15, #14, #12, #11, #19, #20, #39, #26, #16, #36, #18}
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 3, "The Seven Sleepers" (1 text, 1 tune -- a single traditional verse filled out from other printed sources by the editor) {Bronson's #20, but Bronson has a different text}
Mackenzie 2, "The Seven Brethren" (1 text)
Hodgart, p. 29, "Earl Brand (the Douglas Tragedy)" (1 text)
TBB 13, "The Douglas Tragedy (Earl Brand)" (1 text)
JHCox 2, "Earl Brand" (1 text)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 51-54, "The Douglas Tragedy" (1 text)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 7-8, "Earl Brand" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 216, "Earl Brand" (1 text)
cf. BBI, ZN2487, "There was a bold seaman, a ship he could steer"
DT 7, DOUGTRAD* DOUGTRD2
Roud #23
RECORDINGS:
I. G. Greer & Mrs. I. G. Greer, "Sweet William (Earl Brand)" (AFS; on LC12) {Bronson's #34a/b}; Professor & Mrs. Greer, "Sweet William & Fair Ellen - Pts. 1 & 2" (Paramount 3236, 1930)
Henry McGregor, "The Douglas Tragedy (Earl Brand)" (on FSBBAL1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Erlinton" [Child 8] (plot)
cf. "The Bold Soldier [Laws M27]" (plot)
cf. "The Child of Elle (II)" (some plot elements: elopement, chase by father)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Sweet Willie
Jolly Soldier
Lord William's Death
William and Ellen
Brandywine
The Child of Ell
Fair Ellender
Sweer William and Fair Ellen
As He Rode Up to the Old Man's Gate
Lady Margaret
NOTES: Child admits that he has "only with much hesitation" separated this from "Erlinton" [Child 8], and many others have inclined to join them. Scott viewed "A Child of Elle" (the Percy text of this piece) as a forerunner of "Erlinton."
Two of Niles's versions seem to be mixed texts; both relate a conversation between the knight and his horse, and end with the intertwined rose-and-briar. (This is not uncommon in American versions; Robert Shiflett, of Brown's Cove, Virginia, had a similar mixed version.) The second, "William and Ellen," consists primarily of these elements; little is left of the plot of "Earl Brand."
Quite a few people (e.g. Eddy) list "The Bold Soldier" [Laws M27] as a version of this balled, and some few of these may have slipped into the above list.
Incidentally, there is at least one historical instance of a man fighting off six enemies but then being wounded from behind: William the Marshal, famous for his service with Kings Richard I and John, and infamous for the role he allegedly played in "Queen Eleanor's Confession" [Child 156], was part of a party that was attacked in 1168. His horse was killed under him before he had donned all his armor, but he killed the horses of six attackers before one came from behind and disabled him by spearing him in the thigh (see Frank McLynn, Richard & John: Kings at War, Da Capo, 2007, pp. 62-63). - RBW
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Folk Index: Earl Brand [Ch 7/Sh 4/Me I-A 1]
Rt - Red River Shore; Bold Soldier; Jolly Soldier; Rise Ye Up; Erlinton
At - Douglas Tragedy
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p 69 [1820s]
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p 67
Bishop, Mrs. Dan. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 24/# 4J [1917/08/21]
Caldwell, E. N.. Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p 69 [1913]
Cook, Judy. Far from the Lowlands, Cook CEI-JC02-0005, CD (2000), trk# 4 (Sweet William/Willie)
Creech, Mrs. Tilford. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 25/# 4K [1917/08/30]
Dodd, Margaret Jack. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 25/# 4L [1928/05/24]
Dunaway, Rebecky. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 24/# 4H [1917/10/12]
Fitzgerald, Clinton. Sharp, Cecil & Maude Karpeles (eds.) / Eighty English Folk Songs from th, MIT Press, Sof (1968), p 23 [1917ca] (Seven Sleepers)
Fitzgerald, Clinton. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 23/# 4G [1918/04/28]
Fitzgerald, Philander. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 22/# 4F [1918/05/07]
Gibson, Lizzie. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 21/# 4E [1918/04/26]
Greer, Mr. & Mrs. I. G.. Anglo-American Songs and Ballads, Library of Congress AFS L12, LP (1953), trk# B.09 [1945/11/29] (Sweet William/Willie)
Greer, Mr. & Mrs. I. G.. Gambler's Lament, Country Turtle 6001, LP (1970), trk# 6 [1929/10/29] (Sweet William and Fair Ellender/Ellen)
Griffin, Mrs. G. A.. Morris, Alton C. / Folksongs of Florida, Univ. Florida, Bk (1950), p241/#146 [1934-39] (Sweet William and Fair Ellender/Ellen)
Hayes, Mrs.. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 24/# 4I [1917/05/28]
Herring, Merritt. Precious Memories, Herring 31351, CD (199?), trk# 6 (Sweet William/Willie)
House, Hester. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 17/# 4C [1916/09/14]
MacArthur, Margaret. MacArthur, Margaret / Ballads Thrice Twisted, Whetstone WR 05, CD (1999), trk# 9
MacColl, Ewan. English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) Vol. 5, Washington WLP 719, LP (1963/1956), trk# A.05 (Douglas Tragedy)
Miller, J. Harrison. Cox, John Harrington (ed.) / Folk-Songs of the South, Dover, Sof (1967/1925), p 18/# 2 [1916/01/29] (Seven Sleepers)
Moore, Mrs.. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), P 19/# 4D [1909/05]
Potter, Granny. Scarborough, Dorothy(ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p115 [1930] (Sweet William/Willie)
Raspbury, Mary. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p 18/# 5B [1930s]
Saletan, Tony and Irene. Tony and Irene Saletan, Folk Legacy FSI 037, LP (1970), trk# A.03 (Lady Margaret)
Sands, Mary. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 16/# 4B [1916/08/01]
Shelton, Polly. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 14/# 4A [1916/07/28]
Shiflett, Robert. Abrahams, Roger; & George Foss / Anglo-American Folksong Style, Prentice-Hall, Sof (1968), 1-1 [1961]
Ward, Fields. Round the Heart of Old Galax, Vol 2., County 534, LP (1980), trk# B.06 [1937/10] (Sweet William/Willie)
Ward, Fields. Oh, My Little Darling; Folk Song Types, New World NW 245, LP (1977), trk# 3 [1937/10] (Sweet William/Willie)
Ward, Fields. Lomax, John A. & Alan Lomax / Our Singing Country, Dover, Sof (2000/1941), p154 [1937] (Sweet William/Willie)
Ward, Fields and Wade. Country Music - Fields and Wade Ward, Biograph RC 6002, LP (1968), trk# 5 (Sweet William/Willie)
Warner, Frank. Come All You Good People, Minstrel JD 204, LP (1976), trk# B.01 (Sweet William/Willie)
Winningham, Nancy Hicks. Hicks Family. A Cumberland Singing Tradition, Tennessee Folklore Soc. TFS 104, LP (1982), trk# 22 [1978/10/28] (Lady Margaret)
Wrinkle, Mrs. Lou. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p 16/# 5A [1940s] (Seven Sleepers)
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Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America by Tristram Coffin 1950
from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America;
7. EARL BRAND
Note: References to secondary versions songs about a bold soldier and with a happy ending can be found under Erlinton, Child 8.
Texts: Barry, Brit Bids Me, 3 5 / Brewster, Bids Sgs Ind, 37 / Brown Coll / BFSSNE, I, 4 / Bull Tenn FLS, VIII, #3, 64 / Cox, F-S South, 1 8 / Cox, W. 7 a. School Journal and Educator, XLVI, 83 / Davis, Trd Bid Fa, 86 / Greenleaf and Mansfield, Bids Sea Sgs Newfdld, 7 / Henry, Beech MtF-S, 10 / Henry, F-S So Hgblds, 36 / Henry, Sgs Sng So Aplchns, 45 / Hudson F-S Miss, 66 / Hudson, F-T Miss, 22 / Hudson, Spec Miss F-L,#.z / Hummel, Oz F-S / JAFL XXVIII, 152; XLII, 256; XLVIII, 307 / MacKenzie, Bids Sea Sgs N Sc, 9 / MacKenzie, Quest Bid, 2,6, 60 / Morris, Fla F-S, 373 / Lomax and Lomax, Our Sgng Cntry, 154 / Minish
Mss. / MLN, XXV, #4, 104 / Perry, Carter Cnty, 191 / Randolph, Oz F-S, I, 48 / Randolph, Oz Mt Flk, 221 / Scarborough, Sgctchr So Mts, 114 / SharpC, Eng F-S So Aplcbns, #3 / SharpK, Eng F-S So Aplchns, 1, 14 / Shearin and Combs, Ky Syllabus, 7 / SFLQ, VIII, 136 / Va FLS Bull, #s 2, 46, 10.
Local Titles: Fair Ellender, Lady Margaret, Lord Loving, Lord Robert, Lord William, Lord William and Lady Margaret, Rise Ye Up, Sweet William, Sweet William and Fair Eleanor, Sweet Willie, The Child of Ell, The Seven Brethren, The Seven Brothers, The Seven King's Sons, The Seven Sleepers.
Story Types:
A: A girl is carried off by her lover who, in some songs, spends the night with her first. Her father and seven brothers pursue them. The lover halts his flight and slays all eight. After the damage has been done, the girl tells him to hold his hand, and then, desperate and crushed, she continues on with him. Often a scene in which they stop to drink at a river
and the fatal bleeding of the lover stains the water is included. The song ends at his mother's house where they both die, he of wounds, she of heartbreak. Examples: Barry (A), Brewster (A), Davis (A), SharpK(A), FIg, VIII, 137.
B: The usual story has a stanza (perhaps from Barbara Allen) inserted so that the mother dies as well as the lovers.
Examples : Cox, W. Va. School Journal and Educator, XLVI,83; SharpK(B).
C: The usual story is told as far as the fight. Then, on the death of her father, the girl turns against her lover and wishes him in the middle of the sea. Examples: Hudson, F-S Miss,
D : This text is similar to that of Type C, except that the lover becomes harsh with the girl after the fight and tells her if she does not like what he has done she can get another suitor. He tells her he wishes that she were back in her mother's room and he somewhere else. This ending is very abrupt.
Examples : Henry, Sgs Sng So Aplcbns.
Discussion: The Type A ballads follow the story of Child B, Scott's The Douglas Tragedy, a song that may well be based on a real Selkirkshire event as far as its detail goes. (See Davis, Trd Sid Va, 86 and Child, I, 99.) The Douglas Tragedy contains the rose-briar ending, although this feature is lacking in a large percentage of the American versions. None of Davis' Virginia collection has this motif, though SharpK, Eng F-S So Aplchns, A, C contain it. Also, in the SharpK southern texts can be found the names Fair Ellender, Lord Thomas, in addition to the Barbara, Allen stanza (see Type B). These points indicate that Child 73 and 84 have both contacted this song.
Other American story types derive from varying causes. The girl's turning against her lover in Type C seems to be a combination of forgetting and sentimentality, while both this and the Type D versions tend to substitute a more active and less powerful dramatic scene for the pathos of the Type A ending. In Type D the change in tone after the father's death may well have come from the loss of a few key phrases somewhere in oral transmission. Compare the very similar lines as they exist in a Type A story (JJFL, XXVIII, 153) also from North Carolina where they have a pathetic tone.
In the American versions of the ballad the girl seldom, if ever, speaks before her father is slain. Also, the Brewster, Bids Sgs 2nd, A text is worth noting because of its extreme beauty and the interesting condensation of the end. The lovers never reach home, and the rose-briar lines are compressed. The A. C. Morris (SFLQ, VIII, 136) text differs from most American versions
in that the hanging of the bugle about William's neck is repeated. (See Child B.) For a complete description of leading American texts see Zielonko, Some American Variants of Child Ballads, 21.
The tale is not an uncommon one. Child's remarks (I, 88 ff.) concerning the Scandanavian counterpart Ribold and Guldborg are important" in this respect.
Reference should also be made to Child 8 (Erlinton) for the ballads called The Soldier's Wooing, etc. that are often printed as American secondary versions of Earl Brand or Erlinton. See Child 8 in this study.