Tuesday, August 11, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Ballads and Popular Song
Seventeenth-century ballads and popular songs, carrying border laments, love tragedies, outlaw stories, and oral memory into print.
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Texts
Annan WaterAnnan Water — a Scottish ballad of a lover who drowns crossing the swollen Annan Water to reach his beloved.Barbara Allen's CrueltyBarbara Allen's Cruelty — one of the most widely known English ballads, a tale of hard-hearted love and its consequences.Fair Margaret and Sweet WilliamFair Margaret and Sweet William — a ballad of love, death, and supernatural visitation.Robin Hood and Allen-a-DaleRobin Hood and Allen-a-Dale — Robin Hood rescues a young man's bride from a forced marriage to an old knight.Robin Hood's Death and BurialRobin Hood's Death and Burial — the ballad of Robin Hood's final betrayal and death at Kirklees Priory.The Bailiff's Daughter of IslingtonThe Bailiff's Daughter of Islington — a ballad of faithful love rewarded after years of separation.The Banks o' YarrowThe Banks o' Yarrow — a Scottish ballad of betrayal and murder by the banks of the Yarrow Water.The Fause LoverThe Fause Lover — a ballad of a maiden betrayed by a false lover who reveals himself as the Devil.The MermaidThe Mermaid — a ballad of supernatural enchantment and drowning.The Twa CorbiesThe Twa Corbies — a Scottish ballad in which two ravens discuss a slain knight whose body lies unattended.Waly, Waly, Love be BonnyWaly, Waly, Love be Bonny — a Scottish lament of love's inconstancy and the sorrows of a forsaken lover.