The Wife of Usher's Well
First recording and first release by Buell Kazee (January 16, 1928 / 1928)
- Written by
- [Traditional]
- Language
- English
- Comments
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"The Wife of Usher's Well" is a traditional ballad [Roud 196; Child 79; Ballad Index C079; Mudcat 77241; trad.] that originated in the border area of Scotland and England, and known under several different names, including "Lady Gay" and "The Three Little Babes". It was first collected in Sir Walter Scott's "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border" (1802). It migrated to Appalachia in the United States and was collected by Francis Child as his ballad 79. As originally collected by Scott, the ballad was incomplete. Thus, the song was an ideal candidate for reworking and lyrical variation.
The basic story told in the ballad is of a woman who sends her three children off, in many versions to school, and the woman learns soon thereafter that the children have died. The mother grieves and calls for her children's return. (Some scholars contend that the wife of Usher's Well is a witch and casts a spell to bring the children back.) The children do come back on Martinmas Day, but not as the flesh and blood the mother had desired. The children tell their mother that they are dead and cannot stay. The implication of the ballad is that, like the situation in the The Unquiet Grave, the children cannot rest in peace due to their mother's excessive mourning.
It appears that when the ballad came to Appalachia, a new version of the ballad arose with a Christian theme. The dead boys return on Christmas, instead of Martinmas, and they tell their mother that they are happy to return to their savior. - Licensing
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