The Famous Flower of Serving-Men

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The Famous Flower of Serving-Men or The Lady turned Serving-Man is Child ballad number 106. It is closely related to the ballad The Lament Of The Border Widow or The Border Widow's Lament.

[edit] Synopsis

A mother (or rarely, a stepmother) has her daughter's home attacked, and her husband and baby killed. The woman buries them, cuts her hair, changes her name from "Fair Elise" (or "Fair Elinor") to "Sweet William", and goes to the king's court to become his servant. She serves him well enough to become his chamberlain.

The variants split, sharply, at this point. The common variant is that the king goes hunting and is led into the forest by a white hind. When it vanishes, he is in a clearing, and a bird, the dead husband, laments what happened to his love. The king asks, and the bird tells the story. The king returns and kisses Fair Elise while she is still dressed as a man. Often her mother/stepmother is executed, and usually the king marries her.

Occasionally, the king goes hunting, and the woman laments her fate, but is overheard; when the king is told it, he marries her.

In The Border Widow's Lament, the woman laments, in very similar verses, the murder of her husband by the king; she buries him and declares she will never love another.

[edit] Versions

Ellen Kushner's novel Thomas the Rhymer includes elements not only of that ballad but also The Famous Flower of Serving-Men.

In 2005 Martin Carthy won the award for Best Traditional Track for 'Famous Flower of Serving Men' in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

[edit] External links


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