Maid and the Palmer, The [Child 21]

DESCRIPTION: A woman comes to a well, where she meets a man who asks of her a drink. She says she can offer him none because her leman/husband is away. The man tells her that she has no leman, and goes on to tell of her sins and assigns a punishment
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1750 (Percy Folio)
KEYWORDS: Jesus religious adultery homicide children
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Ireland
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Child 21, "The Maid and the Palmer" (2 texts)
Bronson's (21 in addenda), "The Maid and the Palmer" (2 versions in addenda)
Bronson-SingingTraditionOfChildsPopularBallads 21, "The Maid and the Palmer" (2 versions: #1, #2)
Buchan/Moreira-TheGlenbuchatBallads, pp. 89-90, "The Maid of Coldingham" (1 text)
Leach-TheBalladBook, pp. 106-107, "The Maid and the Palmer" (1 text)
Quiller-Couch-OxfordBookOfBallads 99, "The Maid and the Palmer" (1 text)
Grigson-PenguinBookOfBallads 3, "The Maid and the Palmer" (1 text)
Whiting-TraditionalBritishBallads 37, "The Maid and the Palmer" (1 text)
Niles-BalladBookOfJohnJacobNiles 15, "The Maid and the Palmer" (1 text, which Niles identifies with Child 21, but the fragment is so short that it could equally be part of Child 20)
DT 21, MAIDPALM MAIDPAL2*
ADDITIONAL: Frederick J. Furnivall, _Bishop Percy's Folio Manuscript: Loose and Humorous Songs_, printed by and for the Editor, London, 1868, pp. 96-98, "Lillumwham" (1 text)
MANUSCRIPT: {MSPercyFolio}, The Percy Folio, London, British Library, MS. Additional 27879, page 461
ST C021 (Full)
Roud #2335
RECORDINGS:
Steve Gardham, "The Maid and the Palmer" (Piotr-Archive #49, recorded 07/22/2021)
John Reilly, "The Well Below the Valley" (on Voice03)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jesus Met the Woman at the Well" (subject)
cf. "See the Woman at the Well" (subject)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Samaritan Woman
The Well Below the Valley
Jesus Met the Woman at the Well (?)
Seven Years
NOTES [261 words]: For the story of Jesus and the Woman of Samaria, see John 4:5-26.
The second part of the song, in which the woman is given a penance in the form of a series of transformations, has no parallel in the Biblical story, although such transformations are attested elsewhere -- notably in "The Cruel Mother" [Child 20]. In fact, I wonder if the ending of this song in the Percy text might not be taken from Child 20.
David C. Fowler, The Bible in Middle English Literature, University of Washington Press, 1984, p. 115, offers another speculation: That the opening of the song was supposed to feature the "maid" going to the well as a penance (an idea based on a legend of Mary Magdalene, which is a pet motif of Fowler's). Her penance is not complete or sufficient, so she is given another penance. The problem with this is that it introduces a whole new plot which completely violates the first part of the existing song, which retells the story of the Woman of Samaria, who had five husbands, "and the one you have now is not your own" (John 4:18). For that matter, had she already been given a penance, and accepted it (even if she hadn't completed it), she would surely not need to be told of her sins!
Fowler, p. 118, does make the valid observation that the term "palmer," for one who had made a pilgrimage (especially to Jerusalem), largely went out of use after the Reformation when the whole concept of Pilgrimage mostly went out the window. Which hints at either an early date for the song or an odd mechanism of survival. Might it be originally Catholic? - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: C021

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