“Fair Margaret and Sweet William” recorded by Francis
James Child
HS / English
Ballad, Identity, Love Tragedy
Share the following (or a similar) definition of tragedy:
a dramatic composition, often in verse, dealing with a serious or somber theme, typically
that of a great person destined through a flaw of character or conflict with some
overpowering force (fate or society) to downfall or destruction.
Discuss tragedies that students have read and studied.
Listen to a recording of this ballad as sung by a classic singer. As a group, list on the
(interactive) whiteboard adjectives that describe the tone of the ballad.
Distribute the text and have students examine it without “reading” it. Based on their first
hearing of “Fair Margaret,” ask students to describe what kind of text a “ballad” is. Have
students number the stanzas (1-18) on their copies of the text.
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Then read the entire ballad aloud while students identify unfamiliar words or phrases in
each stanza. Have a volunteer record this vocabulary on the (interactive) white board.
Share as appropriate: Francis James Child (1825-1896) was an American scholar,
educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of folk songs known as the
Child Ballads. Child was professor of rhetoric and oratory at Harvard University, where
he produced influential editions of English poetry. In 1876 he was named Harvard's first
Professor of English, a position that allowed him to focus on academic research. It was
during this time that he began work on the Child Ballads. The Child Ballads were
published in five volumes between 1882 and 1898. They are a major contribution to the
study of English-language folk music.
“Fair Margaret and Sweet William” is a traditional English ballad, which tells of two
lovers, of whom either one or both die from heartbreak. In England, it was quoted as
early as 1611 in print. In the United States, variations of “Fair Margaret” were recorded
as early as 1823. It is one of the most common of traditional ballads, known by many
titles and sung in many versions.
Refer to the list of unfamiliar words or phrases on the whiteboard (be sure to include
bower, repair, grimly, waket, spake, winding sheet, wan, over night, morrow). Provide
definitions for these archaic terms:
bower: bedroom
repair: to go to or go into
grimly: grim
waketh: waked
spake: spoke
winding sheet: a sheet in which a corpse is wrapped for burial
wan: pale or weak
the over night: overnight
the morrow: tomorrow
And discuss as an entire class the meaning of all unfamiliar terms, especially in context.
Also the generic meaning of a folk song or ballad: A narrative poem, often of folk origin
and intended to be sung, consisting of simple stanzas. Ballads seldom have authors
because they have been passed down through oral tradition for many generations.
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Have students listen to a version of the ballad again (the same one as in the Launch
Activity). Then have them read the text in pairs, taking turns reading each stanza aloud.
Next have each student identify the following on his or her copy of the text:
1. The scariest stanza (with a star)
2. The saddest stanza (with an exclamation point)
3. The most mysterious stanza (with a question mark)
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 What title could you give this ballad that would capture the nature of the
story? (round-robin response)
 What in the narrative suggests that title? (spontaneous discussion)
 Why do you think Sweet William goes to visit Lady Margaret (stanzas 1-4)
if he’s planning to marry someone else? What in the song makes you think
this?
 Why does Lady Margaret come to visit Sweet William and his bride in their
bride chamber?
 Why does Sweet William’s bride dream of “white swine” and “blood” on
her wedding night?
 Why does Sweet William kiss Lady Margaret’s corpse?
 This ballad has been sung from generation to generation since at least the
1600s and crossed the ocean with the first settlers to this country. What in
the ballad has kept it alive for so long?
 What current events, either in your life or in the life of the community,
would make a good tragic ballad? Why?
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Revisit the definition of tragedy from the Launch Activity. Have students list things they
said, heard, or thought during the seminar that might relate to this definition.
Is the ballad “Fair Margaret and Sweet William” a valid example of a literary tragedy?
After reading and discussing “Fair Margaret and Sweet William,” write an essay in which
you address the question and argue that the ballad IS or IS NOT a valid example of a
tragedy. Support your position with evidence from the text. (Argumentation/Analysis)
(LDC Task#: 2 )
Revisit the original definition of a literary tragedy from the Launch Activity. Suggest that
students use this (or a similar) definition as the basis for their arguments. Invite
participants to talk in pairs for two minutes to share thoughts about what the writing task
is asking.
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Allow a few minutes for all to sketch an outline for their writing. Draft an outline for their
writing and refine their thinking.
Challenge all to draft their arguments by comparing the ballad to the definition in detail.
Refer to the original text of the ballad in order to illustrate all key points.
Have participants work in pairs to read their first drafts aloud to each other with
emphasis on reader as creator and editor. Listener says back one point heard clearly
and asks one question for clarification. Switch roles. Give time for full revisions resulting
in a second draft.
Once the second draft is complete, have participants work in groups of three-four and
this time take turns reading each other’s second drafts slowly and silently, marking any
spelling or grammar errors they find. (Have dictionaries and grammar handbooks
available for reference.) Take this opportunity to clarify/reteach any specific grammar
strategies you have identified your students needing. Give time for full revisions
resulting in a third and final draft.
Invite a local singer in for an evening of ballads with students and their families OR
provide the ballads through technology (including YouTube). Show or play multiple
versions of “Fair Margaret and Sweet William” and then have the two groups of students
summarize their arguments on the question of whether this ballad is or is not a literary
tragedy. Collect and save the final versions of the student essays to use as exemplary
arguments with future classes.
Terry Roberts
National Paideia Center
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“Fair Margaret and Sweet William”
As recorded by Francis James Child
SWEET WILLIAM would a wooing ride,
His steed was lovely brown;
A fairer creature than Lady Margaret
Sweet William could find none.
Sweet William came to Lady Margaret’s bower,
And knocked at the ring,
And who so ready as Lady Margaret
To rise and to let him in.
Down then came her father dear,
Clothed all in blue:
‘I pray, Sweet William, tell to me
What love’s between my daughter and you?’
I know none by her,’ he said,
‘And she knows none by me;
Before tomorrow at this time
Another bride you shall see.’
Lady Margaret at her bower-window,
Combing of her hair,
She saw Sweet William and his brown bride
Unto the church repair.
Down she cast her iv’ry comb,
And up she tossed her hair,
She went out from her bower alive,
But never so more came there.
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When day was gone, and night was come,
All people were asleep,
In glided Margaret’s grimly ghost,
And stood at William’s feet.
‘How d’ye like your bed, Sweet William?
How d’ye like your sheet?
And how d’ye like that brown lady,
That lies in your arms asleep?’
‘Well I like my bed, Lady Margaret,
And well I like my sheet;
But better I like that fair lady
That stands at my bed’s feet.’
When night was gone, and day was come,
All people were awake,
The lady waket out of her sleep,
And thus to her lord she spake.
‘I dreamed a dream, my wedded lord,
That seldom comes to good;
I dreamed that our bower was lin’d with white swine,
And our bride-chamber of blood.’
He called up his merry men all,
By one, by two, by three,
‘We will go to Lady Margaret’s bower,
With the leave of my wedded lady.’
When he came to Lady Margaret’s bower,
He knocked at the ring,
And who were so ready as her brethren
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To rise and let him in.
‘Oh is she in the parlor,’ he said,
‘Or is she in the hall?
Or is she in the long chamber,
Amongst her merry maids all?’
‘She’s not in the parlor,’ they said,
‘Nor is she in the hall;
But she is in the long chamber,
Laid out against the wall.’
‘Open the winding sheet,’ he cry’d,
‘That I may kiss the dead;
That I may kiss her pale and wan
Whose lips used to look so red.’
Lady Margaret [died] on the over night,
Sweet William died on the morrow;
Lady Margaret died for pure, pure love,
Sweet William died for sorrow.
On Margaret’s grave there grew a rose,
On Sweet William’s grew a briar;
They grew till they joined in a true lover’s knot,
And then they died both together.
(Source - http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch074.htm)
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