Tag Archives: Michael Peter Smith

But don’t you let it take you over

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[This is the fourth post this week on Child ballad 243, “The Demon Lover” or “House Carpenter.”  Read the first one here, the second one here, and the third one here.] Our last post took a look at one of the descendants … Continue reading →

I’m looking for my fortune and it ain’t in Illinois

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Pancho’s Stepchildren“Pancho and Lefty” has been a foray into a more Western genre of murder ballad, building on Pat’s discussion of “Jack Straw,” I suppose.  The Wikipedia entry on murder ballads cites Olive Burt’s 1958 article, “The Minstrelsy of Murder,” which … Continue reading →