Recordings & Info 52. The King's Dochter Lady Jean
[The only known traditional US version of this ballad titled "Queen Jane" was sung by Sara Cleveland. It was recorded by Sandy Patton in the early 1960s. The title "Queen Jane" is usually associated with the ballad, "The Death of Queen Jane"- a different Child ballad entirely. [Listen: Sara Cleveland]
CONTENTS:
1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index
3) Child Collection Index
4) Wiki
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud Number 39: (40 Listings)
Alternative Titles
Fair Rosie Ann
Lady Jean
Traditional Ballad Index: King's Dochter Lady Jean, The [Child 52]
DESCRIPTION: The king's daughter goes to the wood, where a man meets her and rapes her. After he is through, they exchange names. He is her brother came back from the sea! She stabs herself. She is carried home and dies. When he sees her body, he dies in her arms
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1826 (Lyle-Crawfurd1)
KEYWORDS: royalty incest rape suicide
FOUND IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber,Bord)) US(MA)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Child 52, "The King's Dochter Lady Jean" (4 texts)
Bronson 52, "The King's Dochter Lady Jean" (5 versions plus 2 in addenda)
GreigDuncan7 1395, "Fair Rosie Ann" (7 texts, 3 tunes) {A=Bronson's #3, B=#4, C=#5}
Lyle-Crawfurd1 36, "Lady Jean" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 52, KINGDAUJ KNGDAU2
Roud #39
RECORDINGS:
Sara Cleveland, "Queen Jane" (on SCleveland01) {Bronson's #1.1 in addenda}
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf "The Bonnie Hind" [Child 50] (plot)
cf. "Sheath and Knife" [Child 16] (plot, lyrics)
cf. "Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie" [Child 14] (plot)
cf. "Lizie Wan" [Child 51] (theme)
NOTES: On the scientific evidence that brothers and sisters raised apart are particularly likely to fall in love, and some further speculation as to why, see the notes to "Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie [Child 14]."
For the links Emily Lyle sees between this ballad and "Tam Lin" [Child 39], see Emily Lyle, Fairies and Folk: Approaches to the Scottish Ballad Tradition, Wissenschaflicher Verlag Trier, 2007, pp. 123-126, or the brief summary in the notes on "Tam Lin." - RBW
Child Collection Index
Child No.--- Artist --Title-- Album-- Year--- Length-- Have Recording
052 Alex Robb Fair Rosy Ann The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
052 Colleen Cleveland Queen Jane The Gwilym Davies Collection No
052 Elizabeth Robb Fair Rosy Ann The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
052 J.C. Cowie Fair Rosy Ann The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
052 Jo Miller Lady Jean Old Songs & Bothy Ballads - There's Bound to Be a Row 2010 No
052 John Strachan Fair Rosie Ann & Bonny Baby Livingston Hamish Henderson Collects - Songs, Ballads and a Story from the School of Scottish Studies Archives 2005 2:15 Yes
052 Johnny Mowat Fair Rosy Ann The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
052 Maureen Jelks Fair Rosie-Anne Eence Upon a Time - Scots Songs & Ballads 2000 8:07 Yes
052 Maureen Jelks Fair Rosie Ann Scots Women - Live from Celtic Connections 2001 2001 7:44 Yes
052 Miss Nicol Fair Rosy Ann The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
052 Mrs Alex Rogers Fair Rosy Ann The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
052 Peter Christie Fair Rosy Ann (1) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
052 Peter Christie Fair Rosy Ann (2) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
052 Sara Cleveland Queen Jane Ballads and Songs of the Upper Hudson Valley 1968 4:29 Yes
052 Tim Eriksen Queen Jane Soul of the January Hills 2010 No
052 Willie Mathieson Fair Rosie Ann The Elfin Knight - The Classic Ballads 1 1976 No
052 Willie Mathieson The King's Daughter Classic Ballads of Britain & Ireland - Folk Songs of England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales, Vol 1 2000 :53 Yes
The King's Dochter Lady Jean: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The King's Dochter Lady Jean" is Child ballad 52. [1]
Synopsis
The heroine goes to the woods. A man meets her, tries to woo her, and rapes her. He asks her name, and they learn that they are brother and sister. In some variants, he kills her; in most, she goes home, and is tasked by her family for why she ails, and she and her brother both die when they meet there.
Variants
Other ballads on this theme include "Sheath and Knife", "The Bonny Hind", and "Lizie Wan".[2]
The opening section parallels that of "Hind Etin" and "Tam Lin".[3] See also The Bonnie Banks o Fordie
References
1.^ Francis James Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads, "The King's Dochter Lady Jean"
2.^ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 1, p 185, Dover Publications, New York 1965
3.^ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 1, p 450, Dover Publications, New York 1965