From liner notes, pp. 12-13: ...In the district of Bragança, where this selection was recorded, ballads are sung during religious celebrations, for entertainment during evening family gatherings around the fireplace, and as work songs, especially during threshing and harvest. In this context, ballads are sung by two people or two groups in alternation and at fixed times corresponding to the canonical hours. In general, a specific ballad is associated with each canonical hour.

The ballad recorded in this selection describes the kidnapping and rape of a young girl....As is often the case in Hispanic balladry, a segment of another ballad ("Santa Iria") is incorporated into the version recorded here, extending from line 26...up to line 36.

This ballad is in strophic form. Two textual lines are set to a musical phrase which is repeated throughout.