The Jeweled Ring- Melleneoux (KY) 1908 Niles B
[Version 12 B from The Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, 1961, a fragment. Niles says he collected this one stanza fragment titled, The Jeweled Ring, in 1908. Niles has a reputation and has even admitted (Wilgus) that he recreates ballads. This version, in my opinion, may be traditional, we just don't know. The main reason it may be a ballad recreation is: this is a very rare ballad and is not found in Kentucky or the Appalachian region. Like Child 14 "Babylon," Hind Horn has been found primarily in Canada and New England.
Yet not even Niles would make up a name like Melleneoux and it may be traditional but not a version of Hind Horn. Here it is: Caveat Emptor!
R. Matteson 2014]
The Jeweled Ring (Niles No. 12 B)- From the "singing of some members of the Melleneoux family." 1908, Kentucky.
1. When this ring is pale and wan,
My true love is surely gone.
When my love is married up,
She will fill wine in my cup.