New-York tribune., 1916-07-02
\ WOful Death and
A Vengeful Testament
The Ballad of Lord Randall Kentucky Mounaineer
Observation-Disclosures from Many Countries-fias
the Story an Historical Bass3
By II. f. KREHBIEL.

Ne the finest Of the old ballads which have from
the Kentucky mountains that which Child listed as No
~ - and TO which he gave the OF Lord Randall II
M with equal propriety have been given Of hall dozen
s fashioned after OF the hero OF tho story which
u but the Harvard professor gave the preference to Lord
because had become familiar through Sir Walter Scott
ns,resv the Scottish Border Miss McI IN oommunoat
-, version which she collected Hindman Ky, remarked
.be locality which she visited the OF the hero Lord
pay also Jimmy and Johnny Randall and is interesting to
~ that the minstrel who robbed the noble lord OF his as
c title became still proac in his account of the galio"S
~ left bv the diving his wicked sweetheart which IS
nta element in the woul ballad he to have thought
lanaon necessary and supplied by adding for she was
l occasion Of me living the meaning OF which will appear
presently ..o
81 ord Randall is chiefly interesting because offers so excel
~ - illustration OF the historical basis OF some ballads and their
s1bgjon among different peoples by wandering minsreS
ror prove such distribution by pointing out community OF
.n and their sequence dispersed versions OF song ne
srer motif Of ballad or myth fairy tale may have 1nde
o.nden origin any number OF peoples and III all parts
b world but in the telling the incidents OF story are identical
~ each other in the same order and it, as in the case OF
81 ord Randall the same literary mould IS Sood
hat the ballad nlvh or fairy tale into being in
o,c, and was disseminated thence by contact OF peoples
LorG Nc.1@ ~ E f.al:aS Eronrh German Flemish Wcnd-
~ Dcb Scotch Portuguese, Hungarian. Modern Greek and
b.r. no telling how many anaOgue In bret relates
b Young lan-king nobeman merely handsome CIVILIAN
,,,prn m from visit his sweetheart or eman discovers from
his mothers quesonngs that he has been poisoned ana
~ death b making will by which he gives his property to his
family relations and leaves the wish OF murderer punishment "
the VINO administered the poison OnId P''ts nice
ns Of the ballad with which the hero hgreS under
he names Of Lord Randall Lord Ronald King fienrlc ard KoW
nde Billy my Son, arant My bonnie wee croodhn 900 inc
doo and Wee wee coodn doc This list has been more than
doubled by recovered variants since Ghd published MS feai @
work TO il have been added Ierenoe oronto IWannS ou
o1 ord Iantoun Sweet William. Fair EsOn Sweet Nelson
bnie Randolph Orlando Feander Dsndoo and Durango be
ies Jimmy and Johnny Randall or Randay mentioned by MISS
l.C1 MANY az these obviously COrrupuons OF
+ve original due to oral transmission The dish set before
n, hero bv his murdeous sweetheart generally poisonous eel
fish
els bcled in broo dish OF fishes with black backs and
soeed beies) "eels fried in pan, FISH boiled in broo
oecled on the and white the bey) eel pie wee
lte fshe" boiled in wee pannie bonnie wee hshe lbocd
in brass PAM specked trout little four,0oted hh zaTa M
,-ohh) "specked hshe and The similarity IN the
rs exists in the foreign anaogues and generally the hero
dogs eat OF the bones OF the fish, burst and die