The Cruel Mother

Music written by: [Traditional]
Publication date: 1776
Language: English
Comments: In this ballad, a mother murders her illegitimate child or children and, after committing the deed, comes across a child or children who, the murderess says, she would well care for if the child or children belonged to her. The children respond that when they were her's she murdered them. The ballad does not appear to be based on any specific historical incident.

This ballad is collected as Child 20 and Roud 9. Similar ballads exist in, at least, Denmark and Germany, which may all have a common poetic source. The ballad spread from the British isles to North America, where it is found in both the Canadian maritime provinces and throughout the United States. Variants of this ballad are known under several names, including "The Greenwood Side".
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Versions

The Cruel Mother written by [Traditional] English

Title	Performer	Release date	Info
The Cruel Mother	Shep Ginandes	1953
The Cruel Mother	Paul Clayton	1956
Greenwood Side	Bob Gibson [US]	1956
The Cruel Mother	Ewan MacColl	1956
The Cruel Mother	John Langstaff	March 1957
The Cruel Mother	Robin Hall	1960
The Cruel Mother	Shirley Collins	1960
The Cruel Mother	Alfred Deller with Desmond Dupré	1961
The Cruel Mother	Bonnie Dobson	January 1962
The Cruel Mother	Jean Redpath	1962
The Greenwood Sidie	Ian and Sylvia	July 1963
Cruel Mother	Judy Collins	October 1964	Live
The Cruel Mother	Hedy West	1967
The Greenwood Side	Joan Baez	1967
The Greenwood Sidee	Kaleidoscope [US]	1967
The Cruel Mother	Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger	1967
The Cruel Mother	Dave and Toni Arthur	1970
Cruel Mother	Martin Carthy	1971
The Cruel Mother	Frankie Armstrong	1972
The Cruel Mother	Dave Burland	1972
The Cruel Mother	Tom Gilfellon	1972
The Cruel Mother	The Spinners [GB]	1974
The Cruel Mother	Cecilia Costello	1975	Released more than 10 years after its recording
Down by the Greenwood Sidey-O	Peggy Seeger	1977
Down by the Greenwood Side	Nana Mouskouri	1979
Cruel Mother	Shanna Beth McGee	1980
Cruel Mother	David Ruthstrom	1980
The Cruel Mother	The John Renbourn Group	1982
The Cruel Mother	Bert Deivert	1983
The Cruel Mother (Child #20)	Cindy Mangsen	1987
The Cruel Mother	Heather Heywood	1987
The Cruel Mother	Steeleye Span	1989
The Cruel Mother	Helen Bonchek Schneyer	1992
Cruel Mother	Tory Voodoo	May 13, 1997
Cruel Mother	Maddy Prior	1997
The Cruel Mother	Kate Burke & Ruth Hazleton	November 11, 1998	Unverified
The Cruel Mither	Rebecca Pidgeon	1998
The Cruel Mother	Lothlórien	2000
The Cruel Mother	Maureen Jelks	2000
The Cruel Mother	Emily Smith	November 2002
The Cruel Mother	June Tabor	September 2003
Greenwood Sideo (Cruel Mother)	Ruth Price with Sadie Greenwood	2003
The Cruel Mother	Ed Rennie	October 25, 2004
The Cruel Mother	Alasdair Roberts	March 22, 2005
The Cruel Mother (Child 20)	Carl Peterson	2006
The Cruel Mother	Chris Foster [GB]	April 23, 2008
Down by the Greenwood Side	Kerfuffle	June 23, 2008
All Alone and Lonely	Brian Peters	2008
Cruel Mother	Bella Hardy	August 2009
Cruel Mother	Jon Boden	August 8, 2010
The Cruel Mother	Pete Coe	2010
The Cruel Mother	Christine Cooper	2011
The Cruel Mother	Rayna Gellert	October 2, 2012
The Cruel Mother	Lucy Ward	June 10, 2013
The Cruel Mother	Fiona Hunter	2013
Greenwood Sidey	Anna & Elizabeth	March 17, 2015
Cruel Mother	Graham Coxon	July 14, 2015
The Cruel Mother	Vanishing Faces	November 19, 2021

Krutá matka written by Jan Lašťovička Czech

		Title	Performer	Release date	Info
		Krutá matka	Asonance	November 1994	First release

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