Lady Alice is Child ballad 85.[1] It may be a fragment of a longer ballad that has not been preserved.[2]
Synopsis
Lady Alice sees a corpse being carried by and is told it is her lover. She asks the bearers to leave the corpse, saying that she herself will be dead by sundown the next day. The two are buried apart, but roses from his grave grow to reach her breast, only to be severed by a passing priest.[2]
Variants
Lord Lovel, Child ballad 75, uses equivalent themes.[3]
Commentary
The entwined flowers appear also in Barbara Allen, Lord Thomas and Fair Annet, and Fair Margaret and Sweet William.
References
- ^ Francis James Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads, "Lady Alice"
- ^ a b Waltz, Robert B.; Engle, David G. (2017). "Lady Alice". Folklore The Traditional Ballad Index: An Annotated Bibliography of the Folk Songs of the English-Speaking World. California State University, Fresno. Retrieved 2017-10-10.
- ^ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 2, p 279, Dover Publications, New York 1965
External links
- George Collins American variant
- Earl Colvin American variant