Fair Janet (

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud. Roud's Index is a combination of the Broadsid ...

Child A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

64) is an English-language folk ballad.

Synopsis

Janet is in love with Willie, but her father insists on her marrying a French lord. They attempt to flee, but she goes into labor and can not escape. She hands their baby to Willie, for his care, and he delivers the baby to his mother and goes to the wedding. Janet is ill and dies during the dancing. In many variants, the bridegroom swears that no church bells will ring for her, and Willie that they all will. In most, Willie dies within a day, and those where he does not, the story cuts off.

Variants

Scandinavian and German ballads show many parallels with this one, although none decisive enough to point to a common origin.Francis James Child, ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'', v 2, p 101, Dover Publications, New York 1965

References

External links

''Fair Janet''
with history Child Ballads Year of song unknown Songs with unknown songwriters {{Folk-song-stub