Willie's Fatal Visit 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 '' ...
255.
Synopsis
A woman asks after her mother, her father, her brother John, and her true love Willie. Only Willie was nearby. He came to her at night, and she took him to bed, telling the cock not to crow until daylight. It crows earlier, and she takes the moonlight for dawn. Willie goes. He meets 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 ...
along the way. By a church, she tells him that he traveled in sin and said no prayers; then she kills him, tearing his body asunder.
Origins
A version of this ballad was published in
Peter Buchan
Peter Buchan (born 4 August 1790 in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire – 19 September 1854) was a Scottish editor, publisher, and collector of ballads and folktales.
Biography
Buchan apprenticed with a , and in 1814 produced his first book, a collecti ...
's ''Ancient Ballads and Songs of the North of Scotland''.
believed that the first part of the ballad was a medley of ''
Sweet William's Ghost'' (Child ballad 77), ''
Clerk Saunders
Clerk Saunders is Child ballad 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 thei ...
'' (Child ballad 69) and ''
The Grey Cock
''The Grey Cock'' or ''Saw You My Father'' ( Roud 179) is one of the famous English/Scots Child ballads (number 248) and is sometimes known as ''The Lover's Ghost''.
It has been recorded by many singers, including Tim Hart and Maddy Prior (on '' ...
'' (Child ballad 248).
See also
*
List of the Child Ballads
References
Scottish folk songs
Songs about death
Songs about ghosts
Child Ballads
Murder ballads
Year of song unknown
Songwriter unknown
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