Sweet William's Ghost (

Child A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

77,

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 Roud. Roud's Index is a combination of the Broadsid ...

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is an English

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

and

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

which exists in many lyrical variations and musical arrangements. Early known printings of the song include

Allan Ramsay Allan Ramsay may refer to: *Allan Ramsay (poet) or Allan Ramsay the Elder (1686–1758), Scottish poet *Allan Ramsay (artist) Allan Ramsay (13 October 171310 August 1784) was a Scottish portrait Painting, painter. Life and career Ramsay w ...

's '' The Tea-Table Miscellany'' in 1740 and Thomas Percy's ''

Reliques of Ancient English Poetry The ''Reliques of Ancient English Poetry'' (sometimes known as ''Reliques of Ancient Poetry'' or simply Percy's ''Reliques'') is a collection of ballads and popular songs collected by Bishop Thomas Percy and published in 1765. Sources The basis ...

'' in 1765. Percy believed 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. The song is Aarne-Thompson type 365, "The Specter Bridegroom".

Synopsis

A lover, usually named William or a variant, appears as a

ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

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 A hellhound is a mythological hound that embodies a guardian or a servant of hell, the devil, or the underworld. Hellhounds occur in mythologies around the world, with the best-known examples being Cerberus from Greek mythology, Garmr from Nor ...

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 Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

claimed to have been told a similar story by a woman in

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

, and based his poem ''Advertisement to the Pirate'' upon it.Barry Taylor
"Lady Margaret"
/ref> 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.

Variants

The ballad shows the influence of ''

Clerk Saunders Clerk Saunders (Roud 3855, Child 69) is an English-language folk song, likely originating somewhere in England or Scotland. It exists in several variants. Synopsis Clerk Saunders and may Margaret ("may" meaning maiden and being a title rather tha ...

'' and '' Proud Lady Margaret''. 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". This form of ballad is also known in many Scandinavian variants ( TSB A 67), although the ghost returns not for its freedom from its pledge, but because the woman's grief is harming it.Francis James Child, ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'', v 2, p 228, Dover Publications, New York 1965 This ballad was one of 25 traditional works included in ''Ballads Weird and Wonderful'' (1912) and illustrated by Vernon Hill (sculptor).

References

External links

{{Authority control English folk songs Songs about ghosts Child Ballads Fictional ghosts Year of song unknown 18th-century ballads ATU 300-399

Synopsis

Motifs

Variants

See also

References

External links