The Maid and the Palmer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Maid and the Palmer or The Samaritan Woman is Child ballad 21 and a murder ballad.

[edit] Synopsis

A palmer begs a cup from a maid who is washing at the well, so that he could drink from. She says she has none. He says that she would have, if her lover came. She swore she had never had a lover. He says that she has borne nine babies and tells her where she buried the bodies. She begs some penance from him. He tells her that she will be transformed into a stepping-stone for seven years, a bell-clapper for seven, and spend seven years in hell.

In some variants, the children were incestously conceived.

[edit] See also

• The Cruel Mother

[edit] External links

• The Maid and the Palmer
• The Maid and the Palmer
• The Well Below the Valley, a variant