Child Maurice [Child 83]

DESCRIPTION: Child Maurice sends his page with love-tokens to "the very first woman that ever loved me." Her husband hears the page, finds Child Maurice, kills him, and brings the head to his wife. She reveals this was her son; he repents his murder. (They also die.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1750 (Percy Folio)
KEYWORDS: death family mother wife children homicide revenge
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord)) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (19 citations):
Child 83, "Child Maurice" (7 texts)
Bronson 83, "Child Maurice" (7 versions+1 in addenda)
Bronson-SingingTraditionOfChildsPopularBallads 83, "Child Maurice" (4 versions: #1, #4, #5, #7)
Hales/Furnival-BishopPercysFolioManuscript, volume II, pp. 500-508, "Childe Maurice" (1 text)
Chambers-ScottishBallads, pp. 101-106, "Gil Morrice" (1 text)
Lyle-Andrew-CrawfurdsCollectionVolume1 2, "Bob Norrice" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast #115, p. 1, "Gill Morice" (1 text)
Whitelaw-BookOfScottishBallads, pp. 113-117, "Gil Morice"; pp. 117-120, "Chield Morice"; pp. 120-122, "Childe Maurice"; pp. 122-123, "Child Noryce" (4 texts)
Greenleaf/Mansfield-BalladsAndSeaSongsOfNewfoundland 11, "Gil Morissy" (1 text)
Percy/Wheatley-ReliquesOfAncientEnglishPoetry III, pp. 91-103, "Gill Morrice" (2 texts, one from the folio manuscript and one being the modified version printed by Percy in the Reliques)
Rimbault-Musical IllustrationsOfBishopPercysReliques LI, p. 98, "Gil Morrice" (1 partial text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
Flanders-AncientBalladsTraditionallySungInNewEngland2, pp. 238-245, "Child Maurice" (1 text, from "The Charms of Melody" rather than tradition)
Leach-TheBalladBook, pp. 273-277, "Child Maurice" (1 text)
Quiller-Couch-OxfordBookOfBallads 47, "Childe Maurice" (1 text)
Friedman-Viking/PenguinBookOfFolkBallads, p. 194, "Childe Maurice (Gill Morice)" (1 text)
Gummere-OldEnglishBallads, pp.190-194+,345 "Child Maurice" (1 text)
DT 83, GILMORIS
ADDITIONAL: James Johnson, Editor, _The Scots Musical Museum_ [1853 edition], volume III, #203, p. 212, "Gill Morice" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
MANUSCRIPT: {MSPercyFolio}, The Percy Folio, London, British Library MS. Additional 27879, page 346
Roud #53
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Sir James the Rose" [Child 213] (tune)
NOTES [48 words]: Despite the plot, which seems to have more to do with Greek tragedy than typical folklore, David C. Fowler, A Literary History of the Popular Ballad, Duke University Press, 1968, pp. 178-179, suggests that this song was influenced by "Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard" [Child 81]. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.2
File: C083

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