Lizie Wan

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"Lizie Wan" is Child ballad 51 and a murder ballad. It is also known as "Fair Lizzie".

Synopsis[edit]

The heroine (called variously Lizie, Rosie or Lucy) is pregnant with her brother's child. Her brother murders her. He tries to pass off the blood as that of some animal he had killed (his greyhound, his falcon, his horse), but in the end must admit that he murdered her. He sets sail in a ship, never to return.

Parallels[edit]

This ballad, in several variants, contains most of the ballad "Edward", Child 13.[1]

Other ballads on this theme include "Sheath and Knife", "The King's Dochter Lady Jean", and "The Bonny Hind".[2]

In popular culture[edit]

The Ballad of Lizie Wan was the inspiration for the title song from English recording artist Kate Bush's album The Kick Inside. It is directly referenced in an early demo recording of the song in the second verse: "You and me on the bobbing knee / Welling eyes from identifying with Lizie Wan's story."[3] The final version of the song replaces the direct reference and describes the ballad as "old mythology."

A dark ambient version of the song, titled "Lucy Wan," appeared on the 1993 album Murder Ballads (Drift) by Martyn Bates and Mick Harris.[4]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 1, p 167, Dover Publications, New York 1965
  2. ^ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 1, p 185, Dover Publications, New York 1965
  3. ^ XxXscarletsatineXxX, Kate Bush - The Kick Inside, archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2019-01-12
  4. ^ Eclipse Review: M.J. Harris & Martyn Bates - Murder Ballads (1994−1998), retrieved 2021-10-13

External links[edit]

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