Clerk Saunders
Clerk Saunders is an English-language folk song, likely originating somewhere in England or Scotland. It exists in several variants.
Synopsis
Clerk Saunders and may Margaret are walking in the garden. He persuades her to go to bed with him before their marriage, saying that he will let himself in and she can cover her eyes, so that she can swear that she did not let him in or see him. Her seven brothers catch them and argue over what to do, but the youngest kills him without a word, and Margaret finds him dead in the morning. They bury him.In some versions his ghost appears at her window and tells her she must release him from his promise. She demands a kiss, but he tells her it would kill her. She frees him.
Variants
The woman who attempts to conceal her lover, and the family members who find him, are common ballad motifs. Willie and Lady Maisry has much in common with it.There are also variants on Sweet William's Ghost in which the name Clerk Saunders is used, and with content akin to the end of the song.
Recordings
Frequently recorded by some of the best known names in the English and Scottish folk traditions. Well-known recordings include:- Jean Redpath on her 1980 album, Lowlands
- Emily Smith on her 2014 album, Echoes
- Malinky on their 2005 album, The Unseen Hours
- Eliza Carthy on the 1996 album, Heat Light and Sound
- June Tabor on her second solo album, Ashes and Diamonds from 1977
- Martin Simpson on Kind Letters and various collections