Poetry Codex

Medieval

Anonymous (English and Scottish Ballads)

traditional; texts recorded c. 15th–18th century

The popular ballads of England and Scotland are anonymous narrative songs, passed on by voice for generations before collectors wrote them down, mostly between the 15th and 18th centuries, so each ballad often survives in several differing versions. They tell of elves and ghosts, outlaws, border raids, feuds and unhappy lovers in plain, repeated formulas and refrains.

This archive follows the selection of Arthur Quiller-Couch in The Oxford Book of Ballads (Clarendon Press, 1910), which gathers 176 ballads in seven books, from the supernatural and romantic pieces to the outlaw, historical and later broadside ballads. The editor keeps the Scots spellings of his sources.

Poems (292)

  1. Thomas the Rhymer
  2. Tam Lin
  3. Sir Cawline
  4. Sir Aldingar
  5. Cospatrick
  6. Willy’s Lady
  7. The Queen of Elfland’s Nourice
  8. Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight
  9. The Riddling Knight
  10. May Colvin
  11. The Wee Wee Man
  12. Alison Gross
  13. Kemp Owyne
  14. The Laily Worm
  15. King Orfeo
  16. King Henry
  17. The Boy and the Mantle
  18. King Arthur and King Cornwall
  19. The Marriage of Sir Gawain
  20. Bonnie Annie
  21. Brown Robyn’s Confession
  22. The Cruel Mother
  23. Binnorie
  24. The Broomfield Hill
  25. Earl Mar’s Daughter
  26. Proud Lady Margaret
  27. Clerk Saunders
  28. The Daemon Lover
  29. Clerk Colven
  30. Young Hunting
  31. The Great Silkie of Sule Skerrie
  32. The Wife of Usher’s Well
  33. The Unquiet Grave
  34. Hynd Horn
  35. Hynd Etin
  36. Erlinton
  37. Earl Brand
  38. The Douglas Tragedy
  39. Glasgerion
  40. King Estmere
  41. Fair Annie
  42. The Lass of Lochroyan
  43. Young Bekie
  44. Young Beichan
  45. Childe Waters
  46. Childe Maurice
  47. Brown Adam
  48. Jellon Grame
  49. Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
  50. Lord Ingram and Childe Vyet
  51. Fair Janet
  52. Old Robin of Portingale
  53. Lord Thomas and Fair Annet
  54. Rose the Red and White Lily
  55. Leesome Brand
  56. Babylon
  57. Prince Robert
  58. Young Andrew
  59. The Gay Goshawk
  60. Willie’s Lyke-Wake
  61. Fair Margaret and Sweet William
  62. The Twa Brothers
  63. The Cruel Brother
  64. Edward, Edward
  65. Lord Randal
  66. The Twa Corbies
  67. The Three Ravens
  68. The Nut-Brown Maid
  69. Fause Foodrage
  70. The Fair Flower of Northumberland
  71. Young John
  72. Lady Maisry
  73. Bonny Bee Ho’m
  74. Sir Patrick Spens
  75. The Lord of Lorn
  76. Edom o’ Gordon
  77. Lamkin
  78. Hugh of Lincoln
  79. The Heir of Linne
  80. Fair Mary of Wallington
  81. Young Waters
  82. The Queen’s Marie
  83. The Outlaw Murray
  84. Glenlogie
  85. Lady Elspat
  86. Jamie Douglas
  87. Katharine Johnstone
  88. Johnie Armstrong
  89. Clyde Water
  90. Young Benjie
  91. Annan Water
  92. Rare Willy drowned in Yarrow
  93. The Duke of Gordon’s Daughter
  94. The Bonny Earl of Murray
  95. Bonny George Campbell
  96. St. Stephen and King Herod
  97. The Maid and the Palmer
  98. The Cherry-Tree Carol
  99. The Carnal and the Crane
  100. Jolly Wat
  101. I Saw Three Ships
  102. The Twelve Good Joys
  103. The Angel Gabriel
  104. The Three Kings
  105. The Innocents
  106. Dives and Lazarus
  107. The Holy Well
  108. The Seven Virgins
  109. The Birth of Robin Hood
  110. Adam Bell, Clym of the Clough, and William of Cloudesley
  111. A Little Geste of Robin Hood and his Meiny
  112. Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne
  113. Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar
  114. Robin Hood and the Butcher
  115. Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford
  116. Robin Hood and Alan a Dale
  117. Robin Hood and the Widow’s Three Sons
  118. Robin Hood’s Golden Prize
  119. The Noble Fisherman
  120. The Death of Robin Hood
  121. Durham Field
  122. The Battle of Otterburn
  123. Chevy Chase
  124. Northumberland Betrayed by Douglas
  125. Sir Andrew Barton
  126. The ‘George-Aloe’
  127. The ‘Golden Vanity’
  128. John Dory
  129. Willie Macintosh
  130. The Bonnie House o’ Airlie
  131. Johnnie of Cockerslee
  132. Kinmont Willie
  133. Jock o’ the Side
  134. Hobbie Noble
  135. Archie of Cawfield
  136. Jamie Telfer in the Fair Dodhead
  137. Dick o’ the Cow
  138. Hughie the Graeme
  139. The Lochmaben Harper
  140. The Fire of Frendraught
  141. The Death of Parcy Reed
  142. Baby Livingston
  143. The Gypsy Countess
  144. The Baron of Brackley
  145. The Dowie Houms of Yarrow
  146. Lord Maxwell’s Last Goodnight
  147. Helen of Kirconnell
  148. The Lament of the Border Widow
  149. Lady Alice
  150. Lord Lovel
  151. The Trees So High
  152. The Brown Girl
  153. Barbara Allan’s Cruelty
  154. The Gardener
  155. The Lowlands o’ Holland
  156. The Spanish Lady’s Love
  157. The Bailiff’s Daughter of Islington
  158. The Blind Beggar’s Daughter of Bednall-Green
  159. The Loving Ballad of Lord Bateman
  160. Mary Ambree
  161. The Lady turned Serving-Man
  162. The Simple Ploughboy
  163. Cawsand Bay
  164. The Greenland Fishery
  165. The Old Cloak
  166. Widdicombe Fair
  167. Get up and Bar the Door
  168. King John and the Abbot of Canterbury
  169. The Children in the Wood
  170. The Suffolk Miracle
  171. Bessie Bell and Mary Gray
  172. Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard (1894 text)
  173. The Hunting of the Cheviot
  174. The Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bednall Green
  175. Sir Andrew Barton (1894 text)
  176. Leoffricus
  177. Edward, Edward (1894 text)
  178. Young Waters (1894 text)
  179. Sir Patrick Spence
  180. Child Waters
  181. Adam Bel, Clym of the Clough, and William of Cloudesle
  182. The Brave Earl Brand
  183. The Nutbrown Maid
  184. Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne (1894 text)
  185. Old Robin of Portingale (1894 text)
  186. Captain Car, or Edom o' Gordon
  187. The Wee Wee Man (1894 text)
  188. There Was a Maid Came Out of Kent
  189. Thomas the Rhymer (1894 text)
  190. Willy's Lady
  191. Clerk Saunders (1894 text)
  192. Lord Donald
  193. Fine Flowers in the Valley
  194. Young Hunting (1894 text)
  195. The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow
  196. Græme and Bewick
  197. The Gay Goss-Hawk
  198. Brown Adam (1894 text)
  199. Young Beichan and Susie
  200. Lizzie Lindsay
  201. The Birth of Robin Hood (1894 text)
  202. The Baron of Brackley (1894 text)
  203. Child Vyet
  204. Robin Hood and the Monk
  205. The Bonny House o' Airly
  206. Bonny James Campbell
  207. The Laird o' Drum
  208. The Death of Queen Jane
  209. Johnny Scott
  210. The Weary Coble o' Cargill
  211. The Broken Token
  212. Young Roger of the Valley
  213. The Golden Glove
  214. Sir Arthur and Charming Mollee
  215. Undaunted Mary
  216. The Wiltshire Wedding
  217. Green Broom
  218. As Johnny Walked Out
  219. The Roving Journey-Man
  220. Thyme and Rue
  221. The Bailiff's Daughter of Islington
  222. Robbie Tamson's Smiddie
  223. Cupid's Garden
  224. Saddle to Rags
  225. The Week's Work
  226. Farmer's Boy
  227. Tommy Linn
  228. The Mermaid
  229. Captain Ward and the Rainbow
  230. Greenland Whale Fishery
  231. Golden Vanitee
  232. The Yorkshire Horse-Dealer
  233. Widdicombe Fair (1894 text)
  234. The Gay Lady That Went to Church
  235. Jephthah Judge of Israel
  236. King Cophetua and the Beggar-Maid
  237. Willow, Willow, Willow
  238. Corydon's Farewell to Phillis
  239. Gernutus the Jew of Venice
  240. Titus Andronicus's Complaint
  241. King Leir and His Three Daughters
  242. The Frolicksome Duke, or the Tinker's Good Fortune
  243. Winifreda
  244. Richard of Almaigne
  245. On the Death of K. Edward the First
  246. The Turnament of Tottenham
  247. For the Victory at Agincourt
  248. The Not-Browne Mayd
  249. Gentle Herdsman, Tell to Me
  250. As Ye Came from the Holy Land
  251. A Ballad of Luther, the Pope, a Cardinal, and a Husbandman
  252. John Anderson My Jo
  253. Little John Nobody
  254. Lady Anne Bothwell's Lament
  255. Brave Lord Willoughbey
  256. The Winning of Cales
  257. Corydon's Doleful Knell
  258. The Complaint of Conscience
  259. Plain Truth and Blind Ignorance
  260. The Wandering Jew
  261. The Old and Young Courtier
  262. The Downfall of Charing-Cross
  263. The Sale of Rebellious Houshold-Stuff
  264. Old Tom of Bedlam
  265. King Ryence's Challenge
  266. King Arthur's Death
  267. The Legend of King Arthur
  268. A Dyttie to Hey Downe
  269. The Ew-bughts, Marion
  270. The Legend of Sir Guy
  271. The Willow Tree
  272. The Lady's Fall
  273. The Bride's Burial
  274. Dulcina
  275. The Lady Isabella's Tragedy
  276. The King of France's Daughter
  277. A Lover of Late Was I
  278. The King and the Miller of Mansfield
  279. Queen Dido
  280. Robin Good-fellow
  281. The Fairy Queen
  282. The Birth of St. George
  283. St. George and the Dragon
  284. Love Will Find Out the Way
  285. George Barnwell
  286. The Spanish Virgin, or Effects of Jealousy
  287. Constant Penelope
  288. Valentine and Ursine
  289. The Dragon of Wantley
  290. St. George for England (First Part)
  291. The Wanton Wife of Bath
  292. The Auld Good-Man

See Anonymous (English and Scottish Ballads) in the full archive →