The Bramble Briar
Traditional
- Written by
- [Traditional]
- Language
- English
- Comments
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A ballad telling the story of two (sometimes three) brothers murdering a servant (or apprentice merchant) who is courting their sister but of whom they disapprove. They claim to have lost him or sent him on a distant job, but the ghost of the dead man appears to his lover and reveals the truth. Accused by their sister, the brothers are forced to flee.
Various versions have been discovered as broadsides. From its style and certain key phrases, the song's history is estimated to date to the early 18th Century but it has since evolved through oral tradition in both southern England and eatern USA and Canada. It is known under many titles, including Bruton Town, The Bridg(e)water Merchant, The Merchant's Daughter, The Murdered Servantman, The Cruel Brothers. The earliest broadside now known (pre 1845) is entitled The Merchant's Daughter and Constant Farmer's Son. The title adopted here for the SHS database is that used in the Roud Folksong Index (#18) and Laws Ballad M32 published by the American Folklore Society, based on early 20th Century publications.
The story told by the song has a longer history. It derives directly from one of the many English translations of "Isabella and the Pot of Basil" from the Decameron (IV, 5) by Boccaccio, a 14th Century Florentine collection of novellas. It has been conjectured that this work too was based on earlier tales. - Licensing
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