Lord Randall
Traditional
- Written by
- [Traditional]
- Publication date
- 1787
- Language
- English
- Comments
-
[Roud 10; Child 12; Henry H814; Ballad Index C012; VWML CJS2/9/445; Wiltshire 1149; trad.] The publication date is for the first known printed appearance of the ballad, which is in "The Scots Musical Museum" under the name "Lord Ronald, My Son". "Lord Randall" is an Anglo-Scottish border ballad built in the form of a dialogue. The different versions follow the same general lines, the primary character (in this case Randall, but varying by location) is poisoned, usually by his sweetheart.
Variants include "Jimmy Randal", "Henry My Son", "What Had You for Supper", "Buried in Kilkenny", and "The Wild, Wild Berry".
The traditional song Billy Boy is based on this ballad, and some have suggested that Bob Dylan's A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall is structurally based on "Lord Randall". - Licensing
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