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Beena Thomas writes:

> Perhaps the 3 or 4 rare Arthurian
> ballads in Child's collection can also be regarded as
> "Made in England"?

In the case of those not derived from Percy, I doubt it. "Kempy Kay" and
"Kemp Owyne/Kempion" were collected in Scotland, as was "Young Waters"
(look up the magnificent tune in Bronson for that one!). There are several
late medieval, and post-medieval, Arthurian verse works set in North-West
England, some of which are noted by Percy.  Where they were actually
composed is another matter, but they may have influenced composition of the
Scots ballads - time-scale, genre and the characters involved might tend to
support this view, though there are also Arthurian verse romances composed
in Scotland based directly on French material.  (There's a flourishing
Arthurian tradition in Scottish Gaelic as well, which interacts with Irish
material, but that's another story, ultimately more concerned with prose
romance than with ballads.)

Linda Gowans
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