Recordings & Info 35. Allison Gross
[There are no known traditional US & Canadian versions]
CONTENTS
1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index
3) Child Collection
4) Wiki
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud Number 3212; Allison Gross (11 Listings)
Alternative Titles
Allison Cross (Lizzie Higgins)
Traditional Ballad Index: Allison Gross [Child 35]
DESCRIPTION: Allison Gross, a hideous witch, takes the singer prisoner and tries to induce him to love her. When he refuses, she turns him to a worm (with other sundry curses). He is at last freed by an elven queen
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1800 (GordonBrown/Rieuwerts)
KEYWORDS: magic witch shape-changing seduction curse
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Child 35, "Allison Gross" (1 text)
GordonBrown/Rieuwerts, pp. 206-209, "Allison Gross" (1 text, printed parallel to blank pages)
Leach, pp. 128-131, "Alison Gross" (1 text, with a Danish (?) text for comparison)
OBB 12, "Alison Gross" (1 text)
PBB 17, "Allison Gross" (1 text)
DBuchan 5, "Allison Gross" (1 text)
DT 35, ALIGROSS
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #419, "Allison Gross" (1 text)
Roud #3212
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Laily Worm and the Machrel of the Sea" [Child 36] (theme)
NOTES: The name "Allison Gross" is an interesting one, because she is a hag. According to Tauno F. Mustanoja, "The Suggestive Use of Christian Names in Middle English Poetry," in Jerome Mandel and Bruce A. Rosenberg, editors, Medieval Literature and Folklore Studies, Rutgers, 1970, p. 70, the name Allison in literature seems to have been used primarily for young and attractive women. He cites several examples, such as the pretty wife in Chaucer's Miller's Tale, and the once-attractive Wife of Bath herself, and the well-known love lyric "Alison."
However,Lowry Charles Wimberly, Folklore in the English and Scottish Ballads: Ghosts, Magic, Witches, Fairies, the Otherworld, 1928 (I use the 1965 Dover paperback edition), p, 212, claims that "The name 'Allison' is among the most common witch names"; he cites Murray, The Witch Cult in Western Europe.
We have not the data to be sure, but I suspect that the name has deeper significance than just a name. - RBW
Child Collection- Child Ballad 035:Allison Gross
Child-- Artist --Title --Album --Year --Length --Have
035 Allison Gross Allison Gross Black Ballads 2003 6:34 Yes
035 Annwn Herr Mannelig Orbis Alia 2007 4:36 Yes
035 Asonance Alison Gross Alison Gross - Scottish and Irish Folk Songs and Ballads 2000 5:37 Yes
035 Asonance Alison Gross 30 Let Na Pódiu 2008 No
035 Dave & Toni Arthur Alison Gross Hearken to the Witches' Rune 1970 2:39 Yes
035 Dunkelschön Herr Mannelig Torenvart 2006 4:25 Yes
035 Elspeth Cowie Alison Cross Naked Voice 2000 3:15 Yes
035 Elspeth Cowie Alison Cross Scots Women - Live from Celtic Connections 2001 2001 5:36 Yes
035 Ewan MacColl Allison Gross Poetry and Song, Vol. 5 1966 No
035 Folque Allison Gross Folque 1974 3:52 Yes
035 Galtagaldr Herr Mannelig Grymt 2000 6:19 Yes
035 Garmarna Herr Mannelig Miroque - Romantisches Mittelalter 2006 6:21 Yes
035 Garmarna Herr Mannelig (Sir Mannelig) Guds Spelemän (The Fiddlers of God) 1996 6:20 Yes
035 Haggard Herr Mannelig (long version) Eppur Si Muove 2004 6:54 Yes
035 Haggard Herr Mannelig (short version) Eppur Si Muove 2004 6:08 Yes
035 Haggard Herr Mannelig Miroque - Die Mittelalter Compilation, Vol X 2004 4:52 Yes
035 In Extremo Herr Mannelig Live 2002 6:22 Yes
035 In Extremo Herr Mannelig Verehrt Und Angespien 1999 4:57 Yes
035 In Extremo Herr Mannelig (acoustic version) Verehrt Und Angespien 1999 3:08 Yes
035 In Extremo Herr Mannelig Live at Fritz - Unplugged 2008 6:54 Yes
035 John Laurie Alison Gross The Jupiter Book of Ballads 1962 2:36 Yes
035 Judy Cook Allison Gross If You Sing Songs .. - Unaccompanied Songs & Ballads 1998 3:28 Yes
035 Lena Willemark & Ale Möller Mannelig Nordan 1994 4:38 Yes
035 Lizzie Higgins Alison Gross In Memory of Lizzie Higgins - 1929-1993 2006 No
035 Lizzie Higgins Allison Cross What a Voice 1985 No
035 Mad Magdalen Alison Cross Pagan Folk Against Fascism 2010 No
035 Malinky Alison Cross Last Leaves 2000 4:04 Yes
035 Malinky Alison Cross fRoots 15 2000 Yes
035 Malinky Alison Cross Songs of Witchcraft & Magic - Songs & Ballads Compiled By the Museum of Witchcraft 2007 No
035 Phønix Mangelus Pigen & Drengen (The Girl and the Boy) 2002 2:50 Yes
035 Rayneke Herr Mannelig Laut & Garstig 2007 6:03 Yes
035 Simply English Alison Gross Birds of Paradise 2003 3:12 Yes
035 Steeleye Span Alison Gross Gone to Australia - On Tour 1975-84 2001 6:30 Yes
035 Steeleye Span Alison Gross On Tour 1983 5:10 Yes
035 Steeleye Span Alison Gross Portfolio 1989 5:24 Yes
035 Steeleye Span Alison Gross Live BBC 1974 5:53 Yes
035 Steeleye Span Alison Gross Parcel of Rogues 1973 5:24 Yes
035 Steeleye Span Alison Gross Spanning the Years 1995 5:26 Yes
035 Steeleye Span Alison Gross My Father's Place Roslyn April 2 1973 1973 6:54 Yes
035 Steeleye Span Alison Gross Original Masters 1997 5:24 Yes
035 Steeleye Span Alison Gross Gaudete 2003 No
035 Steeleye Span Alison Gross Live at the Siego Club, Rimini, August 1982 1982 6:42 Yes
035 Steeleye Span Alison Gross The Best of Steeleye Span [Heritage] 1984 5:24 Yes
035 Steeleye Span Alison Gross The Collection [Steeleye Span] 1991 No
035 Steeleye Span Alison Gross The Best of Steeleye Span - EMI Gold Issue 2002 No
035 Steeleye Span Alison Gross A Parcel of Steeleye Span - Their First Five Chrysalis Albums 1972-1975 2009 Yes
035 Veslemøy Solberg Ólafur Liljurós The Strength of the Runes 1996 3:58 Yes
035 Wendy Weatherby Alison Gross A Shirt of Silk or Snow 2009 No
035 Wolfenmond Herr Mannelig Flammenspiel & Schattenklang 2004 3:50 Yes
035 Wolfenmond Herr Mannelig Mantica 2002 4:23 Yes