- Written by
- [Traditional]
- Publication date
- 1750
- Language
- English
- Roud number
- 15
- Comments
- "Pretty Polly", "The Gosport Tragedy" or "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter" or "The Ghost Ship" (Laws P36, Roud 15) is a traditional English-language folk song found in the British Isles, Canada, and the Appalachian region of North America, among other places. The song is a murder ballad, telling of a young woman lured into the forest where she is killed and buried in a shallow grave. Many variants of the story have the villain as a ship's carpenter who promises to marry Polly but murders her when she becomes pregnant. When he goes back to sea, either he is haunted by her ghost, confesses to the murder, goes mad and dies, or the ship will not sail, he denies the murder and is ripped to pieces by her ghost.
- Licensing
- Request a synchronization license
Song
Versions
Pretty Polly written by [Traditional] English
Pretty Polly written by [Traditional] instrumental
| Title | Performer | Release date | Info | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| i | Pretty Polly | Mr. Hobart Smith | February 1957 | ||
| i | Pretty Polly | Ed Spencer | 1962 | ||
| i | Pretty Polly | Tom Paley | 1962 | ||
| i | Pretty Polly | Don Reno & Red Smiley | 1963 | ||
| i | Pretty Polly | Raymond Fairchild | 1963 | ||
| i | Pretty Polly | Howard Marshall and John Williams | 1999 | ||
| i | Pretty Polly | Clarence White | 2000 | Released more than 10 years after its recording Acoustic |
|
| i | Pretty Polly | The Crooked Jades | 2001 | ||
| i | Pretty Polly | Al Petteway & Amy White | 2005 | ||
| i | Pretty Polly | Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian | September 12, 2006 | ||
| i | Pretty Polly | Matt Flinner | May 1, 2007 | ||
| i | Pretty Polly | Todd Phillips | May 1, 2007 | ||
| i | Pretty Polly | Tony Trischka | May 1, 2007 | ||
| i | Pretty Polly | David Grier | November 1, 2008 | ||
| i | Pretty Polly | Darol Anger | May 1, 2009 | ||
| i | Pastures of Plenty | Tina Raymond | April 7, 2017 | ||
| i | Pretty Polly | Doug Smith | January 22, 2019 |
Lone Green Valley / The Jealous Lover / Pearl Bryan written by [Traditional] English
| Title | Performer | Release date | Info | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Jealous Lover of Lone Green Valley | Vernon Dalhart | April 1926 | First recording on December 21, 1925 First release |
||
| Pearl Bryan | Burnett and Rutherford | January 1927 | |||
| Pearl Bryant | The Three Kentucky Serenaders (The North Carolina Ramblers) | 1928 | |||
| Pearl Bryan | Bradley Kincaid | 1929 | |||
 |
Maple on the Hill - When I Was Single - Blue Eyed Ellen | Frank Luther - Assisted by Zora Layman and Leonard Stokes | November 1938 | Medley | |
| The Jealous Lover | The Stanley Brothers | March 1949 | |||
| The Jealous Lover | Tom Paley | 1953 | |||
| Lone Green Valley | Alan Lomax | 1958 | |||
| Lone Green Valley | Mickey Miller accompanied by Bess Hawes | 1959 | |||
| Pearl Bryant | Obray Ramsey | 1961 | |||
| Pearl Bryan | The Phipps Family | February 1965 | |||
| Pearl Bryant | Doc Hopkins | 1971 | |||
| The Jealous Lover | Dudley Connell and Don Rigsby | 1999 | |||
| Cruel Knife | Spiers & Boden | 2005 | |||
| Cruel Knife | Jon Boden | September 5, 2010 |
Philadelphia Lawyer written by Woody Guthrie English
Pastures of Plenty written by Woody Guthrie English
The Ballad of Hollis Brown written by Bob Dylan English
The Ballad of Hollis Brown written by Bob Dylan instrumental
La ballade de Hollis Brown written by Hugues Aufray, Pierre Delanoë French
| Title | Performer | Release date | Info | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La ballade de Hollis Brown | Hugues Aufray | 1965 | First release |
L'histoire d'Hollis Brown written by Francis Cabrel French
| Title | Performer | Release date | Info | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L'histoire d'Hollis Brown | Francis Cabrel | October 22, 2012 | First release |
Ballada o Hollisie Brownie written by Andrzej Jakubowicz Polish
| Title | Performer | Release date | Info | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballada o Hollisie Brownie | Martyna Jakubowicz | May 18, 2018 | First release |
Kalle Holm written by Cornelis Vreeswijk Swedish
| Title | Performer | Release date | Info | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kalle Holm | Cornelis Vreeswijk | 1974 | First release |