"Proud Lady Margaret" 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 '' ...
47, existing in several variants.
Synopsis
A man arrives at the heroine's castle to woo her. She is frequently critical of him, on the grounds that his clothing shows him to be no gentleman. In most variants, he taxes her with riddles such as "What's the first thing in flower?" (primrose), and in the end, she accepts his suit. He reveals that he is her brother and a
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 ...
, sometimes after she has said she will go with him and he must forbid, as it will kill her. He tells her he has come to curb her haughtiness.
Commentary
This appears to be the compound of two ballads: one of a proud princess being humbled by a clever wooer, and the other of a dead soul rebuking the living.
[Francis James Child, ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'', v 1, p 425-6, Dover Publications, New York 1965]
Many of the elements of this are found in other ballads: the riddles from "
Riddles Wisely Expounded
"Riddles Wisely Expounded" is a traditional English song, dating at least to 1450. It is Child Ballad 1 and Roud 161, and exists in several variants. The first known tune was attached to it in 1719. The title "Riddles Wisely Expounded" was give ...
", the suitor who proves to be a brother in "
The Bonnie Banks o Fordie", the lover who returns as a ghost and must forbid the beloved from following him, as in "
The Unquiet Grave".
See also
*
List of the Child Ballads
References
Child Ballads
Year of song unknown
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