Child Ballads - Narrative

Willie and Lady Maisry

1. 'Willie, the Widow's Son,' Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 498; 'Sweet Willie and Lady Margerie,' Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 370. Version A
2. 'Willie and Lady Maisry,' Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, I. 155. Version B

'Willie and Lady Maisry' has much in common with 'Clerk Saunders.' The chief point of difference is that of Willie's killing Maisry's brother and the guard, B 22-24. Here the ballad has probably been affected by another, now represented in English only by a very corrupt version, 'The Bent Sae Brown,' which immediately follows.

This page most recently updated on 22-Mar-2011, 16:45:26.
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