Clerk Saunders 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 '' ...

69. It exists in several variants.

Synopsis

Clerk Saunders and may Margaret ("may" meaning maiden and being a title rather than a name) are walking in the garden. He persuades her to go to bed with him before their marriage, saying that he will let himself in and she can cover her eyes, so that she can swear that she did not let him in or see him. Her seven brothers catch them and argue over what to do, but the youngest kills him without a word, and Margaret finds him dead in the morning. They bury him. In some versions his

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

appears at her window and tells her she must release him from his promise. She demands a kiss, but he tells her it would kill her. She frees him.

Variants

The woman who attempts to conceal her lover, and the family members who find him, are common ballad motifs. '' Willie and Lady Maisry'' has much in common with it. There are also variants on

Sweet William's Ghost Sweet William's Ghost (Child 77, Roudbr>50 is an English Ballad and folk song which exists in many lyrical variations and musical arrangements. Early known printings of the song include Allan Ramsay's ''The Tea-Table Miscellany'' in 1740 and Tho ...

(Child 77, version F) in which the name Clerk Saunders is used, and with content akin to the end of the song.

Recordings

Frequently recorded by some of the best known names in the English and Scottish folk traditions. Well-known recordings include: *

Jean Redpath Jean Redpath MBE (28 April 1937 – 21 August 2014) was a Scottish folk singer, educator and musician. Career Jean Redpath was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, to musical parents. Her mother knew many Scots songs and passed them on to Jean and her ...

on her 1980 album, ''Lowlands'' * Emily Smith on her 2014 album, ''Echoes'' *

Malinky Malinky is a Scottish folk band specialising in Scots song, formed in autumn 1998. Career Early years The original members were Karine Polwart from Banknock, Stirlingshire (vocals, guitar, bouzouki), Steve Byrne from Arbroath (vocals, guita ...

on their 2005 album, ''The Unseen Hours'' *

Eliza Carthy Eliza Amy Forbes Carthy, MBE (born 23 August 1975) is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing the fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians singer/guitarist Martin Carthy and singer Norma Waterson. Life and ca ...

on the 1996 album, ''Heat Light and Sound'' *

June Tabor June Tabor (born 31 December 1947 in Warwick, England) is an English folk singer known for her solo work and her earlier collaborations with Maddy Prior and with Oysterband. Early life June Tabor was born and grew up in Warwick, England. As ...

on her second solo album, ''Ashes and Diamonds'' from 1977 *

Martin Simpson Martin Stewart Simpson (born 5 May 1953) is an English folk singer, guitarist and songwriter. His music reflects a wide variety of influences and styles, rooted in Britain, Ireland, America and beyond. He builds a purposeful, often upbeat voi ...

on ''Kind Letters'' (2005) and various collections

Depictions

''Clerk Saunders'' is the subject, and title, of paintings by

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman Hun ...

in the

Tate Collection Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

and

Elizabeth Siddal Elizabeth Eleanor Siddall (25 July 1829 – 11 February 1862), better known as Elizabeth Siddal, was an English artist, poet, and artists' model. Significant collections of her artworks can be found at Wightwick Manor and the Ashmolean. Siddal ...

, currently in the collection of the

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Vis ...

References

External links