Burd Isabel and Earl Patrick or Burd Bell (
Child ballad
The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as '' ...
# 257;
Roud # 107) is a traditional folk song framed with explicit warnings about loving above your station.
Synopsis
Burd Isabel, a servant, becomes pregnant. When she bears a son, Earl Patrick, the boy's father, resolves to marry her, but is persuaded not to, by his family. Soon, he marries a duke's daughter. He resolves to bring his son to his home, but first he sends his aunt (or great-aunt) and then goes himself, to the same effect: Burd Isabel refuses to give her son up.
See also
*
List of the Child Ballads
External links
''Burd Isabel and Earl Patrick''
Child Ballads
Year of song unknown
Songwriter unknown
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