"Matty Groves" is a border ballad probably originating in Northern England that describes an adulterous tryst between a man and a woman that is ended when the woman's husband discovers and kills them. This song exists in many textual variants and has several variant names. The song dates to at least the 17th century, and under the title "Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard" is #81 in Francis James Child's The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. It is included in the Roud Folk Song Index as #52. Child published fourteen examples, the Roud Index contains 302 instances and Cecil Sharp is listed as the collector for 22 of them. This ballad appears in Wit and Drollery (1658). A copy was also printed on a broadside by Henry Gosson, who is said to have printed between 1607 and 1641. It is quoted in several old plays earlier than this. Circa 1611 it is quoted in a play by Beaumont and Fletcher, "Knight of the Burning Pestle". It was collected from Jean Ritchie, Jean Robertson, Sandy Paton and others. It has been recorded by John Jacob Niles, Jean Ritchie, Joan Baez, The Beers Family, Doc Watson and others. I learned it from Joan Baez and The Beers Family. This version is from Joan Baez's recording. In some other versions, Lord Arlen kills his wife after killing Matty Groves.