Ballads are stories set to music, and they usually have verses consisting of four lines each, but this can be extended to six or 8 lines, sometimes a longer verse being inserted among the shorter ones (Ballad). The ballad was originally an oral tradition, and the use of traditional motifs and phrases was relied on heavily to "flesh out" the stories of the ballad. Singers of ballads had a number of stock phrases to use when singing a ballad, and if they forgot the words at some point, and it didn't include anything important to the whole meaning of the ballad, they could insert one of these stock phrases.
This happened quite often in Scottish ballads at the end of the last century, and so two people singing the same ballad might present it slightly differently (Ballad). In the version of John Henry discussed here, "I'll die with my hammer in my hand" in verse one and "He died with his hammer in his hand" were such types of stock phrases that could be placed in the song if the words were forgotten. Then "Lord, Lord" at the end of the fourth line can also be used to flesh out the verses, and can be added if lines are forgotten.
Ballads contain a lot of dialogue, and action is often described in the first person (Ballad). Sir Patrick Spence contains dialogue: "O whar will I get guid sailor, To sail this schip of mine?" in verse one, and "Sir Patrick Spence is the best sailor, That sails upon the se" in verse two (Mostly). In the version of John Henry discussed here, the first verse begins with dialogue when "John Henry said to his Captain, I aint nothing but a man..." and in verse three, his woman, Julie Ann, says, "John Henry, you have always been a man, Lord, Lord..." (Ballad).
The theme of Sir Patrick Spence is the story of a sea captain, asked by his king to sail his ship (Mostly). The weather is foul, and one of the crewmen has seen a bad omen, the new moon in the arms of the old, which foretells danger, but S...