"Lizie Wan" is

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 '' ...

51 and a

murder ballad Murder ballads are a subgenre of the traditional ballad form dealing with a crime or a gruesome death. Their lyrics form a narrative describing the events of a murder, often including the lead-up and/or aftermath. The term refers to the content ...

. It is also known as "Fair Lizzie".

Synopsis

The heroine (called variously Lizie, Rosie or Lucy) is pregnant with her brother's child. Her brother murders her. He tries to pass off the blood as that of some animal he had killed (his greyhound, his falcon, his horse), but in the end must admit that he murdered her. He sets sail in a ship, never to return.

Parallels

This ballad, in several variants, contains most of the ballad "

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

", Child 13. Other ballads on this theme include "

Sheath and Knife "Sheath and Knife" (Roud 3960, Child 16) is a folk ballad. Synopsis A woman is pregnant with her brother's child. He takes her to the greenwood to have her child, but she dies (or he kills her at her request). He buries her and laments her deat ...

", "

The King's Dochter Lady Jean "The King's Dochter Lady Jean" is Child ballad No. 52. Synopsis The King's youngest Daughter, Jane, is sitting in her bower one day when she is overcome with the urge to gather nuts from the King's forest. She goes to the forest to do so when a fo ...

", and "

The Bonny Hind "The Bonny Hind" is Child ballad number 50 (Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve ...

In popular culture

The Ballad of Lizie Wan was the inspiration for the title song from English recording artist

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights (song), Wuthering Heights", ...

's album ''

The Kick Inside ''The Kick Inside'' is the debut Album#Studio, studio album by English art rock singer Kate Bush. Released on 17 February 1978 by EMI Records, it includes her UK No. 1 hit, "Wuthering Heights (song), Wuthering Heights". The album peaked at No. 3 ...

''. It is directly referenced in an early demo recording of the song in the second verse: "You and me on the bobbing knee / Welling eyes from identifying with Lizie Wan's story." The final version of the song replaces the direct reference and describes the ballad as "old mythology." A dark ambient version of the song, titled "Lucy Wan," appeared on the 1993 album ''Murder Ballads (Drift)'' by

Martyn Bates Martyn Bates (born 1960) is an English singer, musician and songwriter. Bates grew up listening to English folk music before as a teenager becoming excited by punk, getting involved in the more diverse and experimental post-punk scene. After rele ...

and

Mick Harris Michael John Harris (born 4 October 1967) is an English musician from Birmingham. He was the drummer for Napalm Death between 1985 and 1991, and is credited for coining the term "grindcore". After Napalm Death, Harris joined Painkiller with Joh ...

References

External links

''Lizie Wan''
with variants

with notes and more variants
Lizie Wan
folklorist.org {{Francis James Child Child Ballads Incest in fiction Murder ballads Sororicide in fiction

Synopsis

Parallels

In popular culture

See also

References

External links