The Maid and the Palmer
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"The Maid and the Palmer" or "The Well Below The Valley" is Child ballad 21 and a murder ballad.[1]
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[edit] Synopsis
A palmer begs a cup from a maid who is washing at the well, so that he could drink from. She says she has none. He says that she would have, if her lover came. She swore she had never had a lover. He says that she has borne nine babies and tells her where she buried the bodies. She begs some penance from him. He tells her that she will be transformed into a stepping-stone for seven years, a bell-clapper for seven, and spend seven years in hell.
In some variants, the children were incestously conceived.
[edit] Commentary
This ballad combines themes from the Biblical stories of the Samaritan woman at the well, and Mary Magdalene.[2] In several foreign variants, the palmer is in fact Jesus.[3]
The ballad "The Cruel Mother", Child ballad 20, exists in a number of variants; one contains a number of verses that appear to stem from this one.[4]
[edit] Recordings
A version of Well Below The Valley can be found on Christy Moore's live album At The Point Live (1994)
[edit] References
- ^ Francis James Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads "The Maid and the Palmer"
- ^ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 1, p 228, Dover Publications, New York 1965
- ^ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 1, p 229, Dover Publications, New York 1965
- ^ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 1, p 218, Dover Publications, New York 1965
[edit] External links
- The Maid and the Palmer
- The Well Below the Valley, a variant
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