"Prince Robert", also known as "Lord Abore and Mary Flynn", 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 '' ...

number 87, existing in several variants, and a murder ballad.

Synopsis

Prince (or Earl or Lord) Robert married against his mother's wishes and went to beg her blessing. She prepared a wine cup with poison, put it to her lips without drinking, and gave it to her son. He died. The bride was summoned on the pretext of a meal and told the news, and that she will get nothing of his property. She wants none of his property but the ring on his finger that was promised to her, but even that is denied her. She dies, and they are buried together.

Motifs

Francis James Child Francis James Child (February 1, 1825 – September 11, 1896) was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of English and Scottish ballads now known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor of r ...

noted that other ballads included a mother who poisoned her son over a match, but considered none to compare to this one. ''

Willie's Lady Willie's Lady is Child ballad number 6 and Roud #220. The earliest known copy of the ballad is from a recitation transcribed in 1783. A variant of this ballad was one of 25 traditional works included in ''Ballads Weird and Wonderful'' (1912) and i ...

'' also revolves about the mother's hostility. The poisoner who feigns drinking her own poison is also found in the Scottish fairy tale '' Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree''.

Traditional Recordings

Only two traditional recordings of the ballad have been recorded, both by Tom Munelly in

Co. Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. One was performer was Jim Kelly and the other was Frank Feeney, although it seems that Kelly learnt his version from Feeney.

References

Child Ballads Murder ballads Fictional princes {{Folk-song-stub