Doss, Dustin

21M.223/L.023Perry/Ruckert
October 23, 2014

Critiques of the Individual and the Culture: an Analysis of

The Cruel Mother
First identified in the early 1600s, The Cruel Mother (Child Ballad #20) is a
tragic, even gruesome ballad containing elements of mysticism and hints of class-based social
criticisms. I am specifically choosing to analyze Version H of The Cruel Mother as recorded in
Childs The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. In choosing version H for analysis, I sought
out a version which captured in full the ballads central narrative, while retaining a unique
identity with its own imagery and technical elements. I found that this version best achieved
these goals, and maintained a language that was neither overtly archaic nor obviously
modernized.
Version H was collected by William Motherwell in Kilbarthan, Scotland, 1825, and
indeed, most variants seem to be Scottish in origin. The earliest recorded references to The
Cruel Mother are from a broadside printed in 1638, though by the end of the 17th century it was
found in London, where it almost certainly gained much of its widespread popularity. (Cazden
251) The many variants of this ballad often make reference to specific towns or counties in their
first stanzas, indicating the extent of its spread: these include London, Edinburgh, Lurk, and
York, among others.

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The central story of The Cruel Mother, relatively invariant across the 17 versions Child
lists, is as follows: A young woman is pregnant out of wedlock. She goes to the forest, gives
birth, and immediately kills and buries her babies. Sometime later, she sees some children
playing and begins to talk with them. These children reveal that they are in fact the ghosts of her
murdered children, and that she will suffer in hell for their murders.
This gruesome narrative contributes to a core of feeling that I feel is a surprisingly
complex social commentary. In general, there is a clear sentiment of pity for the children and
judgment against the titular Cruel Mother who murdered them. In this sense, the ballad almost
reads as a morality tale against both the lustful behavior which led to the mothers pregnancy and
her selfish reactions which led her to infanticide. Indeed, the conclusions of damning the mother
to hell, O mother dear, but hell is deep; Twill cause thee bitterlie to week, enforce this feeling
of condemnation against the mother.
On a higher level, however, this ballad seems to be also criticizing the social institutions
which led to the mothers feelings of desperation. Specifically, the class difference between the
mother and clerk likely contributed to her extreme reaction. In that, there is a nucleus of feeling
of pity for the motherpity that a lack of support by her family, lover, and culture led to her
murdering her children. Additionally, other versions emphasize to a much greater degree the
anguish the mother suffered in her pregnancy and delivery in the greenwood side. Each of these
greatly contributes to a feeling of reserved pity for the mother in The Cruel Mother.

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Including those elements both shared and unique to version H, The Cruel Mother
employs some specific structural and technical elements which act to enhance the feelings of pity
and criticism expressed. First, the technical aspects: the rhyme scheme of the ballad follows a
fairly typical ABAB pattern of four stanzas, with the second and fourth phrases of each stanza
making up the burden. This rhyme scheme is not perfectly maintained: for example, stanza 2
ends its first and third lines with away and tree respectively. However, the use of rhyme is
substantially more consistent in the dialogue of the poem. This may serve to differentiate these
segments, and perhaps emphasize the somewhat magical nature of the interaction between
mother and dead children.
In at least two or three distinct segments, The Cruel Mother also uses incremental
repetition to emphasize certain ideas or phrases. In the second and third stanzas, the mother is
stated to set her foot to a tree and set her foot to a stone. This repetition creates an image of
the mother bracing herself, both in a literal physical sense and in a metaphorical emotional sense
for the murder of her children. Later, in the dialogue between mother and children, there is a
repetition of the phrases O bonnie babes and O mother dear from the mother and children
respectively. There is somewhat of an ironic feeling here: the mother and children addressing
each-other quite congenially, despite the inherent tension of the childrens murder. In the context
of the ballad, this leads to somewhat of a distancing from the personal guilt and sentiment
towards the mother or her children on an individual level and instead increases the scope to
criticize the culture at large.

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In addition to these technical elements, particular story elements in Child version H of

The Cruel Mother, both those uniquely added and those uncommonly omitted, contribute to its
unique power and effect. From the very beginning, this version describes the mother as a lady
brisk and smart, attributing a great intelligence and potential to this central character. As is
common, she is stated to be pregnant with the children of her fathers clerk, who plays little other
role in the story. Of note, though, is the early enforcing of the class difference between the
mother and her lover. While not directly implying an aristocratic status, the descriptor lady
does carry a certain proud level of sophisticationand her fathers clerk, while educated, was
clear in a lower class than was his employer. It is likely that this discrepancy in social status
contributed to the guilt and dishonor she felt at her pregnancy.
Within the year as she nears the conclusion of her pregnancy, the mother travels to a
greenwood where she births three boys. Little attention is given in the ballad to the birth itself,
even as compared to other versions. The setting of the down by the greenwood sidie, however,
is notable: in commonplace, the greenwood is a setting common for stories of ruffians and
criminals; it is beyond the sight of civilization and the law. This foreshadows the immoral intent
of the mother. Indeed, soon after giving birth, the mother took the ribbons off her head and
tied the little babes hand and feet. This image, of the mother tying her babies with her own hair
ribbons, is a strong one. The ribbons seem to all at once symbolize the mothers morality, purity,
and innocence. Indeed, as she disposes of her children, it is exactly these traits which she
sacrifices in favor of positive social standing for herself and her lover. This moment then serves
as a sort of turning point for her character, and begins to shift the feeling of pity away from the
mother and towards her children.

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Moving forward, the scene becomes even more gruesome. In many versions of The
Cruel Mother, she is said to stab her babies to death with a penknife; here, however, she simply
howkit [dug] a hole before the sun and laid those three bonnie babes in it. This is further
cemented by the mother placing a marble stone for dukes and lords to walk upon over the
graves of her children. The specific reference here to the gentry literally walking over the bodies
of the murdered children suggests a placement of the weight of responsibility for their murder
not only on the mother but also on her culture which led to it.
At this point, there is an unspecified jump in time: Where han ye been a this time?, the
mother asks her childrens ghosts. The childrens speech and play suggests that at least four or
five years have passed. In any case, she sees three boys playing ball over her fathers castle
wa, an exposition which is common to almost all versions of this ballad. Of particular unique
detail in this version, however, is the clothing the children are wearing: red, green, and nothing at
all, which are directly stated to symbolize the innocence of their blood, their death they had
been in, and their [murder] when they were born, respectively. This very specific, outwardly
stated symbolism is unusual in that it is a more direct commentary on the story than is typical. To
be fair, it still holds the stoic character of ballad narration, but even so, these stanzas have a sense
of emotion outside of the narrative itself. Likely this reflects the societal problems of begging
mothers and starving infants at the timeproblems which caused the image of murdered
children to be particularly emotionally powerful to audiences (Fulford 309-327).

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The final stanzas of the ballad follow the format of the Cruel Mother story in a fairly
typical manner. The mother states that she would dress the children in the satins so fine, were
they hers. The children respond that they are in fact her murdered children, and point out the
hypocrisy of her offering them these fineries for which she initially murdered thema jab
emphasizing the critical feelings the ballad puts forth towards both the mother and the classstructure at large. Finally, the ballad concludes with the children informing the mother that
hells for thee, suggesting an inescapable and fated punishment for her actions.
Though the narrative is fairly conclusive, it leaves some unanswered questions left after
the conclusion of the ballad; the most significant of these are listed here:
1. Previous to her travel to the greenwood, how did the mother hide her pregnancy from her
father and family?
2. The marble stone she uses to cover her childrens grave has no clear origin: did the
mother bring it with her? If so, why did she expend such effort?
3. Does the clerk have knowledge of his children? How does he react to the mothers
actions?
4. What follows after the conclusion of the ballad? Do the children simply disappear,
leaving the mother with this haunting knowledge of her fate? Does she die then and
there?
Some ballads conclude with the mother taking her own life, but version H leaves this
question to the imagination of the audience, creating what I feel is a more powerful and
uncertain effect about her ultimate fate.

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While clearly and literally inspiring judgement towards the eponymous Cruel Mother,
the ballad at its core acts as a more broad criticism towards the treatment of women,
preoccupation with purity, and obsession with preservation of equality in the upper-classes which
lead to such behavior. Both the characterization of the mother and the emphases of the ballads
structure create a dual sense of pity and disgust towards her in consideration of the infanticide
she carried out and her ultimate resulting fate. These emotions, in combination with the
ambiguities present, create a sense of mystery which make The Cruel Mother unique and led to
its continuation in the popular ballad culture of Scotland, England, and beyond.

Word Count: 1795

Bibliography
Cazden, Norman, Herbert Haufrechtt, and Norman Studer. Folksongs of the Catskills. Albany:
SUNY Press, 1982. 251-257. Print.
Fulford, Tim. "Fallen Ladies and Cruel Mothers." The Eighteenth Century: Theory and
Interpretation. Vol. 47. Lubbock, Texas: Texas Tech UP, 2004. 309-327. Print.
Child, Francis James. "The Cruel Mother." The English and Scottish Popular Ballads: In Five
Volumes. Ed. Mark F. Heiman. Corr. 2nd ed. Northfield, Minn.: Loomis House, 2001.
299-314. Print.

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