These songs were recorded in 1937 by John and Alan Lomax in Austin. David W. Preece (1871-1956) is the son of Dick Preece of the Bull Creek clan and the father of the writer Harold Preece. The female singer is his wife Hallie May Preece (1881-1972). Thus the "toil-worn, soot-begrimed" woman whom Harold describes as singing traditional ballads like Barbara Allen may well have been his mother.