Francis James Child 
English and Scottish Popular Ballads 

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. This ballad and the two which follow it are clearly not of the same use, and not meant for the same ears, as those which go before. They would come down by professional rather than by domestic tradition, through minstrels rather than knitters and weavers. They suit the hall better than the bower, the tavern or public square better than the cottage, and would not go to the Spinning-wheel at all. An exceedingly good piece of minstrelsy The Boy and the Mantle’ is, too; much livelier than most of the numerous variations on the somewhat overhandled theme.