Willie's Fatal Visit is
Child ballad 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 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's ''Ancient Ballads and Songs of the North of Scotland''.
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 ...
believed that the first part of the ballad was a medley of ''
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 ballad 77), ''
Clerk Saunders'' (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 '' Su ...
'' (Child ballad 248).
See also
*
List of the Child Ballads
The Child Ballads is the colloquial name given to a collection of 305 ballads collected in the 19th century by Francis James Child
Francis James Child (February 1, 1825 – September 11, 1896) was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, ...
References
Scottish folk songs
Songs about death
Songs about ghosts
Child Ballads
Murder ballads
Year of song unknown
Songwriter unknown
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