Recordings & Info 77. Sweet William's Ghost
[According to Malcolm Douglas: "Bay of Biscay (more usually Willy O) is a (probably 19th century) re-write of Sweet William's Ghost, and as such is generally categorised under Child 77 (Roud 50). It was particularly popular in Ireland, where it appeared on a number of broadsides."
According to John Moorish: Hugh Shields ('The Grey Cock') argues that the supernatural element has in fact been borrowed from a different song - an Anglo-Irish broadside song called ' Willy-O' which is a reworking of 'Sweet William's Ghost' (Child 77; Roud 50).
See: Recordings and Info No. 248 The Grey Cock for more details.
R. Matteson 2012]
CONTENTS:
1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index
3) Folk Index
4) Child Collection Index
5) Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
6) Wiki
7) Mainly Norfolk (lyrics and info)
8) Exceprt from: English Popular Ballads edited by Walter Morris Hart
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud No. 50: Sweet William's Ghost (64 Listings)
Alternative Titles
Lady Margaret
Lady Margaret and Sweet William
Traditional Ballad Index: Sweet William's Ghost [Child 77]
DESCRIPTION: (Sweet William) dies while engaged. Since he has an unfulfilled commitment, his spirit cannot rest. He goes to his sweetheart, who begs him to wed her/kiss her/etc. When she learns that he is dead, she releases him from his promise
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1740 (Ramsey)
KEYWORDS: ghost promise freedom death
FOUND IN: US(NE,SE) Canada(Newf) Britain(Scotland(Bord)) Ireland
REFERENCES (19 citations):
Child 77, "Sweet William's Ghost" (8 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
Bronson 77, "Sweet William's Ghost" (11 versions+ 1 in addenda)
Morton-Ulster 8, "Sweet William's Ghost" (1 text, 1 tune)
Percy/Wheatley III, pp. 130-133, "Sweet William's Ghost" (1 text)
Butterworth/Dawney, p. 48, "Willie the Waterboy" (1 text, 1 tune, short enough that it might be Child #77 or Child #248 or a combination or perhaps independent; Roud files it with Child #248, but Dawney with Child #77)
Davis-More 21, pp. 152-156, "" (1 text, so fragmentary that it might be some other ballad with intrusions from "Sweet William's Ghost")
Flanders/Brown, pp. 240-241, "Lady Margaret and Sweet William" (1 text, taken from the Green Mountain Songster)
Flanders-Ancient2, pp. 178-183, "Sweet William's Ghost" (2 texts, the first being the Green Mountain Songster version)
BrownII 23, "Sweet William's Ghost" (1 text)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 9, "Lady Margaret" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 390-395, "Lady Margaret" (1 text, 6 tunes)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 9, "Sweet William's Ghost" (2 texts, 9 tunes) {Bronson's #3}
Leach, pp. 256-262, "Sweet William's Ghost" (1 text plus a Danish text for comparison)
Leach-Labrador 4, "Sweet William's Ghost" (1 text, 1 tune)
Friedman, p. 47, "Sweet William's Ghost" (2 texts)
Gummere, pp. 203-205+348-349, "Sweet William's Ghost" (1 text)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 78-80, "Sweet William's Ghost" (1 text)
DT 77, WILIGHOS* WILIGHO2 (GHOSWILL? -- a very worn down version that might be derived from this piece)
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #428, "Sweet William and May Margaret" (1 text)
Roud #50
RECORDINGS:
Mrs. Gerald S. Doyle, "Lady Margaret" (on PeacockCDROM)
Mike Kent, "Lady Margaret" (on PeacockCDROM) [one verse only]
Paddy Tunney, "Lady Margaret" (on Voice03)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 5(1), "Sweet William's Ghost," unknown, n.d.
NOTES: Child versions A, B, C and G end the ghost's visit with crowing cocks; in Ireland (Morton-Ulster 8 and Paddy Tunney on Voice03) the cock may be replaced by the moor cock. The ghost/cock motif accounts for the connection, by some, of "Willy O!" to Child 77. - BS
Tom Shipley, in The Road to Middle-Earth (third edition), p. 210, notes that Herd's text of this (Child's B) mentioned "Middle-Earth," implying that this song might have been a small part of the inspiration of the world (though not the plot) created by J. R. R. Tolkien. Rather a stretch -- but interesting, the more so as Tolkien did have a strong affinity for folklore and folk song. And Shippey, pp. 214-215, notes that in the crisis of Gondor, as the Witch-King is confronting Gandalf at the gate of Minas Tirith, a cock crew -- a token of the change from the triumph of dark to the triumph of light. - RBW
Folk Index- Sweet William's Ghost [Ch 77]
Rt - Sir Ogey and Lady Elsey
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p 48 [1750s]
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p 50 [1820s]
Flanders, Helen H. & George Brown / Vermont Folk Songs and Ballads, Folklore Associates, Bk (1968/1931), p240 [1830s]
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p257
Leach, MacEdward / The Heritage Book of Ballads, Heritage, Bk (1967), p ix
Boys of the Lough. Regrouped, Flying Fish FF 225, LP (1980), trk# A.03 (Willie O)
Boys of the Lough. Boys of the Lough / Music and Song from the Boys of the Lough, Gilderoy, fol (1977), p34
Gitter, Dean. Ghost Ballads, Riverside RLP 12-636, LP (1957), trk# A.06
Killen, Lou and Sally. Bright Shining Morning, Front Hall FHR 006, LP (1975), trk# A.03
Rusby, Kate. Underneath the Stars, Compass 7 4370 2, CD (2003), trk# 11
Seeger, Peggy. Blood and Roses, Vol. 2, Blackthorne ESB 80, LP (1979ca), trk# A.02
Shute, Bill; and Lisa Null. Feathered Maiden and Other Ballads, Green Linnet SIF 1006, LP (1977), trk# A.02
Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America
by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
77. SWEET WILLIAM'S GHOST
Texts: Brown Coll / Davis, FS Va / Flanders, Ft F-S Bids, 240; Greenleaf and Mansfield, Bids Sea Sgs Newfdld, 21 / Green Mountain Songster, 34 / North American Review, CCXXVTII, 222 / Minish Mss.
Local Titles: Lady Margaret, Lady Margaret and Sweet William.
Story Types: A: Lady Margaret in her bower hears a sound and learns it is her true love William. She asks what token he has brought her, and he replies only his winding-sheet. He then leads her to his grave and shows her where he lies. She wishes to lie with him, but his parents are at his head and feet and three hell-hounds at his side. The hounds stand for drunkeness, pride, and the deluding of a maid. He embraces her, bids her goodnight, and wishes her good rest. The return of the troth is not mentioned.
Examples: Greenleaf and Mansfield.
B: The story is the same as that of Type A, except the girl does not seem to wish to lie with her ghost-lover and the parents and hounds are replaced by three deceived sweethearts, three bastards, and three maids to guide his soul. He is seeking the return of his unfulfilled troth, and she refuses to give it back until he takes her to Scotland and kisses or weds her. When he
reveals he is a ghost, she accepts the separation and gives him her troth.
Examples: Flanders.
C: The usual story is told as far as the request for the kiss, but the lover frankly states that he is a ghost and is given his troth back so he can "go above". When the girl asks if she can lie with him, he says there is no room at his head or feet, but she can lie in his arms. The rooster then crows, and she knows that her hour to die has come.
Examples: Minish Mss. (Sweet Willie).
Discussion: The Type A and B American versions follow Child C in general story outline, though Type A seems to have lost the reason for the ghost's return. Type C is a new interpretation of the story, though similarities to Child D (in the place for Margaret to lie) can be noted. The quick return of the troth and the use of the rooster at the end of the tale (Child G) are not-
able. For a discussion of variations that occur in other Child texts and of the folk-lore behind the story, see Child, II, 2269.
The North American Review, CCXXVIII, 222 fragments are cited as lines from Clerk Saunders (69). This may be explainable in that some British texts of the latter have Sweet William's Ghost as an ending. See Child, II, 156.
Sweet William's Ghost From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sweet William's Ghost is a folk song, collected by Francis James Child in 1868 as Child ballad number 77.[1] It exists in many forms but all versions recount a similar story. It was printed in Allan Ramsay's The Tea-Table Miscellany in 1740, and again in Thomas Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry in 1765. Percy suggested 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.
It is Aarne-Thompson type 365.[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:
"Fair Margaret and Sweet William"
"The Unquiet Grave"
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, 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).
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.^ a b 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
Mainly Norfolk: Sweet William's Ghost / Lady Margaret
[Roud 50; Child 77; Ballad Index C077; trad.]
Sally Killen sang Sweet William's Ghost unaccompanied in 1975 on hers and Louis Killen's LP Bright Shining Morning. Louis Killen commented in the album's sleeve notes:
Sally has this ballad from Robin Morton's Folksongs Sung in Ulster (Mercier Press, Cork, Eire, 1970), which he in turn collected from Sandy McConnell of Bellanaleek, County Fermanagh. Its drive, created through the repetitions, contrasts strongly with the better known version of this ghostly night-visiting song, Mrs. Cecilia Costello's lyrical The Grey Cock. See also #77 in Child's English & Scottish Popular Ballads.
Paddy Tunny sang this Child ballad as Lady Margaret in 1975 on his Topic LP The Mountain Streams Where the Moorcocks Crow. This track was also included on the Topic anthology O'er His Grave the Grass Grew Green (The Voice of the People Series Vol. 3; 1998).
Hughie Jones sang Sweet William’s Ghost in a January 1992 recording by Paul Adams on the Fellside anthology Voices: English Traditional Songs. Paul Adams commented in the album's sleeve notes:
Hughie regards this as one of the classic English folk songs. It is No. 77 in Child's English & Scottish Popular Ballads. Child asserts that the story has much in common with a supernatural ballad well known in Scandinavia. This particular version was given to Hughie by Bert Lloyd in 1966. As a member of The Spinners Hughie was instrumental in taking folk songs to a mass audience worldwide. He always made a point wherever possible of singing a traditional unaccompanied ballad at concerts. He now performs as a solo artist.
A 1989 recording of Peta Webb singing Sweet William’s Ghost is on her Musical Traditions CD The Magpie's Nest (2003).
Cara recorded Sweet William’s Ghost in 2010 for their album Long Distance Love.
Lyrics
Paddy Tunney sings Lady Margaret
Lady Margaret she lay on her fine feather bed,
The midnight hour drew nigh,
When the ghostly form came to her room,
And to her it did appear, appear,
And to her it did appear.
“Are you my father, the king?” she said,
“Are you my brother John?
Or are you my true love William,” she said,
Coming home from Scotland along, along,
Coming home from Scotland along?”
“I'm not your father, the king,” he said,
“Nor am I your brother John,
But I am your sweetheart William,” he said,
Coming home from Scotland along, along,
Coming home from Scotland along.”
“Oh Margaret, oh Lady Margaret,” he said,
“For love or charity,
Will you give me back the plighted troth
That once, love, I gave thee, gave thee,
That once, love, I gave thee?”
“I'll not give you back your plighted troth
Or any such a thing,
Until you bring me to my father's hall
Where ofttimes we have been, have been,
Where ofttimes we have been.”
And he took her then to her own father's hall,
And as they entered in
The gates flew open of their own free will
For to let young William in, in,
For to let young William in.
“Oh Margaret, oh Lady Margaret,” he said,
“For love or charity,
Will you give me back the treasure troth
That once, love, I gave thee, gave thee,
That once, love, I gave thee?”
“I'll not give you back your treasure troth
Or any such a thing,
Until you bring me to my own father's hall
And marry me with a ring, a ring,
And marry me with a ring.”
He took her then to yon high churchyard,
And as they entered in
The gates flew open of their own sweet will
For to let young William in, in,
For to let young William in.
“Oh Margaret, oh Lady Margaret,” he said,
“For love or charity,
Will you give me back the plighted troth
That once, love, I gave thee, gave thee,
That once, love, I gave thee?”
Then out of her pocket she drew a cross
And she laid it on his breast,
Saying, “Here is back your plighted troth,
In Heaven may your soul find rest, find rest,
In Heaven may your soul find rest.”
“Oh the winds do blow and the moorcock crow
And it's nearly breaking day,
And it's time that the living should part from the dead,
So now, my love, I must away, away,
So now, my love, I must away.”
SWEET WILLIAM'S GHOST- As sung by Hughie Jones on 'Voices'
Lady Margaret sat in her low-roof room
She was sewing all alone
Till after the parting of midnight
She heard a mournful sound
O is it my father? Is it my mother?
Or is it my brother John?
Or is it my true love, young William
From London new come home?
O it's not your father or mother, he cried
Nor yet your brother John
But I am your true love, young William
And I am not a living man
Fair Margaret, rare Margaret
And Margaret of vanity
Don't ever love any other young man
The way that you loved me
O that's a promise that I'll not give
O no, that will not I
Till I have a kiss from your sweet lips
As in my arms you lie
My lips they are so bitter, he said
My breath is earthy strong
That if you was to cuddle me in your arms
Your time would not be long
Well, he's took her by the apron string
Said, Dear love, follow me
And it's over the hills on a fine summer night
In a dead man's company
Well, they ran till they came to the low church-yard
Where the grass grows rank and green
He said, Dear love, this is the place
Where my fair body dwells in
Is there no room at your bed-head
Is there no room at your feet
Or is there no room at your right side
For a lady like me to sleep?
Three maids do lie at my right side
That I once promised to wed
Three babes do lie at my bed-foot
That these three maidens had
O what is this, poor Margaret cries
That stands at your bed-head?
They are the three hounds of Hell, he said
To guide the souls of the dead
Then up then crowed the milk-white cock
And up then crowed the grey
And he vanished in the dew-wet ground
And she went weeping away
Exceprt from: English Popular Ballads edited by Walter Morris Hart
34. CLARK SANDERS' GHOST (Herd's MS). This ballad is usually known as Sweet William's Ghost, from the name of the hero in the other versions. The present version served, in Herd's MS., as conclusion to the ballad of Clark Sanders; hence the change of name.
34, 2. Child quotes Scott's Advertisement to The Pirate, in which the latter gives an account of the actual resumption of the troth-plight, the lady touching the corpse of her lover. Scott continues: "Without going through this ceremony, she could not, according to the superstition of the country, have escaped a visit from the ghost of her departed lover, in the event of her bestowing upon any living suitor the faith which she had plighted to the dead."
34, 3. Margaret does not know that Clark Sanders is dead.
34, 5. mid-larf. "The corruption of 'middle-earth' into 'mlddlarf in Herd's version of Clark Saunders has spoilt one of the most beautiful things in ballad poetry, the ghostly regret for the living world—
Cocks are crowing on merry middle-earth, I wot the wild fowl boding Day. But this does not prove antiquity, for 'middle-earth,' though a fairly ancient term and much older as a piece of mythology, is not an unknown word In later English." W. P. Ker, On the History of the Ballads, Proceedings of the British Academy, 1909-10, p. 185.
34, 6. that ay's in strong traveling. Who die in childbirth.
34, 9. "As for the wand upon which Margaret 'strokes' her troth, it seems not unlikely that we are dealing with a confused survival of the common method by which savages and even European peasants get rid of a disease by rubbing the affected part upon a stick, a tree, or what not." Gummere, Old English Ballads, p. 349.
34, 11. It's hose an shoon an gound alane. I. e., wearing only hose, shoes, and gown.