[The following note was written in 1941, probably by Alan Lomax]

This version of The Lady of Carlisle was recorded by Basil May, of Salyersville, Kentucky, a young man in his twenties, and the style of performance represents a contemporary development. The guitar has invaded the mountains in the last twenty years and has become the dominant instrument. The tonic, dominant, subdominant chord pattern of rudimentary guitar playing has strongly affected the old melodies, forcing their conformity to the conventional major-minor patterns; the strict two-four and three-four rhythms of the accompaniments sometime distort a ballad from its cavalier form. Both these effects are evident in The Lady of Carlisle. Nevertheless native folk styles of guitar playing and ballad singing have developed out of this apparent conflict; these styles, lumped uncritically under the invidious term “hill-billy”, are contributing greatly to our present-day folk music