John Lovie

DESCRIPTION: A man loves his maid servant. His mother is opposed. She becomes pregnant. He poisons her. Her mother asks for an examination and the doctors find arsenic. The man is tried but guilt was not proven. "We'll leave him to Heaven's just judgement at last"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (Greig/Duncan2)
KEYWORDS: homicide trial pregnancy poison mother servant
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Greig/Duncan2 206, "John Lovie" (1 text)
Roud #5836
NOTES [131 words]: Greig/Duncan2 quotes an account of the trial from Bruce, The Black Kalendar of Aberdeen (Aberdeen, 1854). Margaret Mackessar died August 14, 1827. John Lovie was tried and a "Not Proven" verdict returned. - BS
Emily Lyle, Fairies and Folk: Approaches to the Scottish Ballad Tradition, Wissenschaflicher Verlag Trier, 2007, p. 106, comments briefly on two "arsenic ballads" in the Greig/Duncan collection, "John Lovie" and "The Wife o' Gateside." She points out that Scots juries were allowed three verdicts, Guilty, Not Guilty, and Not Proven -- the latter of these allowing the accused to go free but saying that there was a significant probability of guilt. In both cases, apparently, the use of arsenic was demonstrated but it could not be shown who poisoned the dead person. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD2206

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography