Sweet William's Ghost

Last updated

Sweet William's Ghost (Child 77, Roud 50) is an English Ballad and folk song which exists in many lyrical variations and musical arrangements. [1] Early known printings of the song include Allan Ramsay's The Tea-Table Miscellany in 1740 and Thomas Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry in 1765. Percy believed that the last two stanzas of the version he published were later additions, but that the details of the story they recounted (specifically the death of Margaret upon William's grave) were original.

Contents

The song is Aarne-Thompson type 365, "The Specter Bridegroom". [2]

Synopsis

A lover, usually named William or a variant, appears as a ghost to his love, usually Margaret or a variant. He asks her to release him from his promise to marry her. She may insist that he actually marry her, but he says that he is dead; she may insist that he kiss her, but he says that one kiss would kill her; she may insist on some information about the afterlife, and he tells her some of it; he may tell her that his promise to marry her is a hellhound that will destroy him if she does not free him. In the end she always releases him from his promise, although in some versions she then dies upon his grave.

Motifs

Sir Walter Scott claimed to have been told a similar story by a woman in Shetland, and based his poem Advertisement to the Pirate upon it. [3] He recounted the story of a woman who, finding her lover dead in London, touched his hand to free herself from the visit of his ghost. [4]

Variants

The ballad shows the influence of Clerk Saunders and Proud Lady Margaret . [5]

Other ballads with a similar theme include

A Canadian version of this ballad exists entitled "Lady Margaret", similar in structure to an American ballad of the same name based upon "Fair Margaret and Sweet William". [3]

This form of ballad is also known in many Scandinavian variants (TSB A 67), although the ghost returns not for its freedom from its pledge, but because the woman's grief is harming it. [6]

This ballad was one of 25 traditional works included in Ballads Weird and Wonderful (1912) and illustrated by Vernon Hill (sculptor).

See also

Related Research Articles

Sir Aldingar is Child ballad 59. Francis James Child collected three variants, two fragmentary, in The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. All three recount the tale where a rebuffed Sir Aldingar slanders his mistress, Queen Eleanor, and a miraculous champion saves her.

"The Elfin Knight" is a traditional Scottish folk ballad of which there are many versions, all dealing with supernatural occurrences, and the commission to perform impossible tasks. The ballad has been collected in different parts of England, Scotland, Ireland, the US, and Canada. As is the case with most traditional folk songs, there have been countless completely different versions recorded of the same ballad. The first broadside version was printed before 1674, and the roots of the song may be considerably older.

Young Beichan Traditional song

"Young Beichan", also known as "Lord Bateman", "Lord Bakeman", "Lord Baker", "Young Bicham" and "Young Bekie", is a traditional folk ballad categorised as Child ballad 53 and Roud 40. The earliest versions date from the late 18th century, but it is probably older, with clear parallels in ballads and folktales across Europe. The song was popular as a broadside ballad in the nineteenth century, and survived well into the twentieth century in the oral tradition in rural areas of most English speaking parts of the world, particularly in England, Scotland and Appalachia.

Lord Thomas and Fair Annet Traditional song

Lord Thomas and Fair Annet, also known as Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor, is an English folk ballad.

Child Waters is Child ballad number 63, existing in several variants.

"Fair Margaret and Sweet William" is a traditional English ballad which tells of two lovers, of whom either one or both die from heartbreak. Thomas Percy included it in his folio and said that it was quoted as early as 1611 in the Knight of the Burning Pestle. In the United States, variations of Fair Margaret have been regarded as folk song as early as 1823.

"The Fair Flower of Northumberland" is a folk ballad.

Fause Foodrage is a Scottish murder ballad of the 17th or 18th century. It was first printed by Walter Scott in Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (1802). Scott cited Elizabeth, Lady Wardlaw as the ballad's probable author.

Fair Janet is Child Ballad number 64.

Lord Lovel is number 75 of the ballads anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century, and exists in several variants. This ballad is originally from England, originating in the Late Middle Ages, with the oldest known versions being found in the regions of Gloucestershire, Somerset, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, and Wiltshire.

Lady Alice is Child ballad 85. It may be a fragment of a longer ballad that has not been preserved.

"Gil Brenton" is Child ballad 5, Roud 22, existing in several variants.

"Riddles Wisely Expounded" is a traditional English song, dating at least to 1450. It is Child Ballad 1 and Roud 161, and exists in several variants. The first known tune was attached to it in 1719. The title "Riddles Wisely Expounded" was given by Francis James Child and seems derived from the seventeenth century broadside version "A Noble Riddle Wisely Expounded".

Erlinton is #8 of the Child Ballads, the collection of 305 ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, collected by Francis James Child in the late nineteenth century. The collection was published as The English and Scottish Popular Ballads between 1882 and 1898 by Houghton Mifflin in ten volumes and later reissued in a five volume edition.

"Earl Brand" is a pseudo-historical English ballad.

"Young Andrew" is a folk song catalogued as Child ballad 48.

Clerk Saunders is Child ballad 69. It exists in several variants.

Fair Mary of Wallington or Fair Lady of Wallington is Child ballad 91 and number 59 in the Roud Folk Song Index. Child lists at least seven variants of the ballad. The first variant is titled "Fair Mary of Wallington", while another variant is titled "The Bonny Early of Livingston".

"Proud Lady Margaret" is Child ballad 47, existing in several variants.

"Young Johnstone" is Child ballad 88, a border ballad that exists in several variants. The ballad tells the story of a woman killed either by her brother or lover, depending on the variant.

References

  1. ↑ Francis James Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads, "Sweet William's Ghost"
  2. ↑ D. L. Ashliman, Specter Bridegrooms: folktales of Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 365
  3. 1 2 Barry Taylor, "Lady Margaret"
  4. ↑ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 2, p 227, Dover Publications, New York 1965
  5. ↑ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 2, p 226-7, Dover Publications, New York 1965
  6. ↑ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 2, p 228, Dover Publications, New York 1965
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.