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"The Maid on the Shore" also known as "The Fair Maid by the Sea Shore",
"The Sea Captain", "The Broomfield Hill" or "The Mermaid"
It is found in The Roud Folk Song Index #181. It is similar in theme to
Child 289 "The Mermaid".
Martin Carthy commented in his original recording's sleeve notes: Bronson in his Tunes of the Child Ballads lists "Fair Maid on the Shore" as a variant on the Broomfield Hill theme, where a young girl extricates herself from a nasty predicament by employing a mixture of guile and magic. The story of a siren, whether benevolent, malevolent or just plain amoral, is quite widely diffused in Europe but is not so common in England.It was printed in Folk Songs of Peggy Seeger (1964). It was recorded by A.L. Lloyd, Peggy Seeger, Martin Carthy, Stan Rogers, Roberts and Barrand and others. |