The variations in the several versions of this charming ballad, which has perhaps no superior in English, and if not in English perhaps nowhere, are not material. An exceedingly popular Scandinavian ballad (Grundtvig, No. 267) is manifestly of the same source, though the story is told in a very different way, the cruel trials to which the woman's love is put being entirely lacking. Another Scandinavian ballad (Grundtvig, No. 249) has a limited resemblance to 'Child Waters,' and there is a Piedmontese ballad (Nigra, No. 35) which has a good many similar incidents.
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