Jump to content
 







Main menu
   


Navigation  



Main page
Contents
Current events
Random article
About Wikipedia
Contact us
Donate
 




Contribute  



Help
Learn to edit
Community portal
Recent changes
Upload file
 








Search  

































Create account

Log in
 









Create account
 Log in
 




Pages for logged out editors learn more  



Contributions
Talk
 



















Contents

   



(Top)
 


1 Synopsis  





2 Commentary  





3 References  














The Clerk's Twa Sons o Owsenford







Add links
 









Article
Talk
 

















Read
Edit
View history
 








Tools
   


Actions  



Read
Edit
View history
 




General  



What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Cite this page
Get shortened URL
Download QR code
Wikidata item
 




Print/export  



Download as PDF
Printable version
 
















Appearance
   

 






From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 


The Clerk’s Twa Sons o' Owsenfordfrom The Book of British Ballads (1842)

The Clerk’s Twa Sons o OwsenfordisChild ballad 72.[1]

Synopsis[edit]

The clerk's two sons seduce the two daughters of a mayor. The mayor sentences them to hang. Their father comes to plead for them, but is unsuccessful. The daughters, if they appear, also plead without success.

On his return, the father may tell the mother that their sons will return at Christmas.

In some variants, the daughters and the parents die as well, of grief.

Commentary[edit]

This ballad appears closely related to The Wife of Usher's Well.[2] In some variants of that ballad, the wife's dead sons return to her as ghosts at Christmas; this sort of appearance may be what the father means in the variants when he speaks of their coming at Christmas.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Francis James Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads "The Clerk’s Twa Sons o Owensford [sic]"
  • ^ Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 2, p 173, Dover Publications, New York 1965

  • Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Clerk%27s_Twa_Sons_o_Owsenford&oldid=1181738860"

    Categories: 
    Child Ballads
    Year of song unknown
    Songwriter unknown
    Hidden categories: 
    Use dmy dates from October 2023
    Articles with short description
    Short description matches Wikidata
    Articles needing additional references from October 2023
    All articles needing additional references
     



    This page was last edited on 24 October 2023, at 22:39 (UTC).

    Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.



    Privacy policy

    About Wikipedia

    Disclaimers

    Contact Wikipedia

    Code of Conduct

    Developers

    Statistics

    Cookie statement

    Mobile view



    Wikimedia Foundation
    Powered by MediaWiki