Mary Hamilton
E471658
"Mary Hamilton" is a traditional Scottish folk ballad, famously interpreted by Joan Baez, that tells the tragic story of a lady-in-waiting condemned for infanticide.
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Child ballad
ⓘ
Scottish folk song ⓘ traditional ballad ⓘ |
| associatedWithMonarchy | Scottish court NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| category |
songs about capital punishment
ⓘ
songs about crime ⓘ songs based on legend or historical events ⓘ traditional Scottish songs ⓘ |
| ChildBalladNumber | 173 ⓘ |
| collectedIn | Francis James Child collection NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin | Scotland ⓘ |
| culturalOrigin | Scottish oral tradition ⓘ |
| documentationBy | Francis James Child NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| ending | execution of Mary Hamilton ⓘ |
| firstKnownPublicationCentury | 19th century ⓘ |
| genre |
folk ballad
ⓘ
murder ballad ⓘ |
| includedInRepertoireOf | 1960s folk revival singers ⓘ |
| influence | modern folk revival repertoire ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| mainCharacter | Mary Hamilton NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| mainCharacterRole | lady-in-waiting ⓘ |
| motif |
gallows speech
ⓘ
public confession ⓘ royal lover ⓘ unwed mother ⓘ |
| narrativePerspective | first-person confession in many versions ⓘ |
| narrativeTheme |
capital punishment
ⓘ
court scandal ⓘ female tragedy ⓘ infanticide ⓘ |
| notableRecordingArtist | Joan Baez NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| performancePractice | often sung unaccompanied or with simple guitar accompaniment ⓘ |
| performedBy |
Ewan MacColl
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Joan Baez NERFINISHED ⓘ Martin Carthy NERFINISHED ⓘ Peggy Seeger NERFINISHED ⓘ The Corries NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| plotSummary | A lady-in-waiting at the royal court is condemned to death for killing her newborn child. ⓘ |
| recordedOnAlbum | Joan Baez, Vol. 2 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| recordingEra | 20th century ⓘ |
| relatedTopic |
Scottish ballad tradition
ⓘ
infanticide in folklore ⓘ women in traditional song ⓘ |
| setting | royal court ⓘ |
| subjectMatter | execution of a servant for killing her illegitimate child ⓘ |
| traditionalStatus | traditional (author unknown) ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject surface form:
Joan Baez, Vol. 2