Two sisters go for a walk one day along river or lake

two sisters go for a walk one day along river or lake, and the jealous sister pushes her sister into the water and
drowns her. Often the drowning sister pleads for her life, but to no avail. She is drowned and her body drifts
away. This is where the story varies based upon where and by whom it is performed.
In the typical English version the sister's body is found by a miller who steals her ring then pushes her body
back in the river. The ballad usually ends as the miller and the jealous sister are punished for their crimes.
This version of the ballad is also most often found in the United States.
In the Scottish version the body is discovered by an instrument maker who uses part of her body (usually her
hair) to build an instrument (usually a violin or a harp). When he plays the instrument, it sings and tells the
story of the woman who was drowned - a very supernatural concept.
In order to understand why there are these two different endings (and, more generally, why there are often so
many different versions of ballads) we have to understand the emotional core of ballads. The emotional core
is what the singer feels is the important message of the song and therefore remembers. In the transmission of
a ballad, the stanzas that are closest to the "emotional core" will be remembered while the stanzas farthest
from the "emotional core" will be forgotten. Ballads often served to teach and set examples of morality as
well as entertain, so balladeers took the stories seriously. Thus if two people see two different "emotional
cores" in the same ballad, then the ballad will consequently develop in two completely different ways.
In English culture and in the United States ballad singers have chosen to focus on the punitive element. They
believed that the most important message that a listener could take from the story is the enforcement of moral
actions through the punishment of those who violate them. It has been suggested that the English version was
popular in U.S. due in large part to the puritanical religious beliefs of the early settlers.
In the Scottish version the singer focuses on the supernatural element. Belief in the supernatural – things like
fairies, second sight, and ghosts – is quite common throughout Scotland. Thus a fascination with someone

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revealing their own murder when their hair is made into a musical instrument would seem perfectly in line
with the emotional core of a Scottish singer. This version has been popular mostly in Scotland – but it has not
migrated with the people. Although many Scots migrated to America, they dispensed with superstition and
interest in the supernatural when they entered the "rational" industrial culture of the United States.