Fair Margaret and Sweet William

Fair Margaret & Sweet William from The Book of British ballads (1842)

"Fair Margaret and Sweet William" (Child 74, Roud 253) is a traditional English ballad which tells of two lovers, one or both of whom die from heartbreak.[1] Thomas Percy included it in his 1765 Reliques and said that it was quoted as early as 1611 in the Knight of the Burning Pestle.[2] In the United States, variations of Fair Margaret were regarded as folk song as early as 1823.[3]

  1. ^ Child, Francis James (1965). English and Scottish Popular Ballads. Vol. 2. New York: Dover Publications. pp. 199–203.
  2. ^ Lesley Nelson-Burns, "Fair Margaret and Sweet William: Version 2"
  3. ^ Flanders, Helen Hartness; Brown, George (1968). Vermont Folk-Songs & Ballads. Hatboro, PA: Folklore Associates, Inc. pp. 240–1.