Mary Ambree

Mary Ambree
An illustration of The Ballad of Mary Ambree.
An illustrated ballad telling the story of Mary Ambree
Years activefl. 1584
Known forMilitary captain who inspired songs and stories

Mary Ambree (fl. 1584) was an English army captain from Antwerp[1] who participated in the liberation of the Belgian city Ghent during the war against Spain.[2] While she has not been recorded extensively in history, she was featured in ballads and referenced in culture from the 1620s onwards.[3] Notably, one ballad about Ambree was one of the most popular ballads of the 17th century.[4]

In 1584 the Spanish captured Ghent, and Ambree, along with several other Dutch and English volunteers, fought to liberate the city. It was said that she was avenging her lover, Sir John Major, a sergeant major who died during the siege.[2][3]

English and folklore professor Dianne Dugaw dates the story of Ambree based on a ballad about her being listed on 1590s' song sheets. Dugaw believes that this would have originally been a "news song" which told the public about current events.[1]

"Then captains courageous, whom death could not daunt,
Did march to the siege of the city of Gaunt,
They mustered their soldiers by two and by three,
And the foremost in battle was Mary Ambree."[5]

  1. ^ a b Back Page 296 Dianne Dugaw, "Warrior Women and Popular Balladry, 1650-1850", retrieved 1 July 2022
  2. ^ a b Commire, Anne, ed. (2002). "Ambree, Mary (fl. 1584)". Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Waterford, Connecticut: Yorkin Publications. ISBN 0-7876-4074-3. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
  3. ^ a b Percy, Thomas (1767). Reliques of ancient English poetry: consisting of old heroic ballads, songs, and other pieces of our earlier poets, (chiefly of the lyric kind.) Together with some few of later date. Vol. 2. London: Printed for J. Dodsley in Pall-Mall.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Black-letter copy in the Pepys Collection, from Mary Ambree, in Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, edited By Thomas Percy.