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The Cruel Mother

Date 06 August 1973
Track ID 28692
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1973.151.A3

Original Tape ID

SA1973.151

Summary

In this ballad, a young woman kills her two babies straight after their birth, then returns to her father's hall. She later sees two children playing ball, and tells them if they were hers she would give them bread and wine. They reveal themselves to be the ghosts of the two murdered children; they are in Heaven, but she will be going to Hell.

Item Notes

7 verses of 4 lines (couplets with interlinear refrain).

See:
Greig-Duncan vol. 2, pp. 31-35
'Scotland Sings' (E. MacColl, 1953) p. 7
'Traveller's Joy' (M. Yates, 2006) pp. 58-59
'Scottish Ballads' (E. Lyle, 1994) pp. 248-249
Ord pp. 459-460
'Ballads of Scotland' vol. 2 (W.E. Aytoun, 1858) pp. 366-368
'Minstrelsy Ancient & Modern' (W. Motherwell, 1827) pp. 161-162
'Traditional Ballad Airs' vol. 1 (W. Christie, 1876) pp. 106-107
'Everyman's Book of British Ballads' (R. Palmer, 1980) pp. 54-55
'Ancient Scottish Ballads' (G. R. Kinloch, 1827) pp. 44-48, 272
'Ancient & Modern Scottish Songs' vol. 2 (D. Herd, 1869/1973) pp. 237-238
'Last Leaves of Traditional Ballads' (A. Keith, G. Greig, 1925) pp. 21-23
'Ancient Ballads and Songs' vol. 2 (P. Buchan, 1828) pp. 207-209, 211-214
'The Scots Musical Museum' vol. 4 (J. Johnson, R. Burns, 1853) p. 331, no. 320
'Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads & Songs' vol. 1 (E. Lyle, 1975) pp. 36-38
'Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads & Songs' vol. 2 (E. Lyle, 1996) pp. 92-94
'Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads' vol. 1 (B. H. Bronson, F. J. Child, 1959) pp. 276-296

Language

Scots

Genre

Song

Collection

SoSS

Classification

R9 GD193 GD194 GD1910 C20

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good