The Unquiet Grave

"The Unquiet Grave" is an English folk song in which a young man mourns his dead love too hard and prevents her from obtaining peace. It is thought to date from 1400 and was collected in 1868 by Francis James Child, as Child Ballad number 78. [Francis James Child, "Scottish and English Popular Ballads", [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch078.htm "The Unquiet Grave"]

There are many different versions of this ballad.

ynopsis

A man mourns his true love for "a twelve month and a day". At the end of that time, the dead woman complains that his weeping is keeping her from peaceful rest. He begs a kiss. She tells him it would kill him and sends him away.

Variants

Many verses in this ballad have parallels in other ballads: "Bonny Bee Hom", "Sweet William's Ghost" and some variants of "The Twa Brothers". [Francis James Child, "The English and Scottish Popular Ballads", v 2, p 234, Dover Publications, New York 1965]

The motif that excessive grief can disturb the dead is found also in German and Scandinavian ballads, as well as Greek and Roman traditions. [Francis James Child, "The English and Scottish Popular Ballads", v 2, p 234-6, Dover Publications, New York 1965]

The version noted by Cecil Sharp ends with "When will we meet again? / When the autumn leaves that fall from the trees / Are green and spring up again." This verse has several meanings: those particular leaves will never be "green and spring up again"; the next spring, those leaves will be replaced by other leaves (so this can be interpreted as saying "we will meet next spring, when you, too, will die"); and, at the same time it is a metaphor for the resurrection of the body.Fact|date=May 2007

Recordings

Kate Rusby, Lau, Joan Baez, Steven Wilson, The Dubliners, Barbara Dickson, Shirley Collins, Circulus, Faith and the Muse, Ween, Gryphon and more recently [http://www.thestimulantsmusic.com/TRAD1.htm The O'Faolain Brothers] , have recorded versions of this song.

A single movement viola concerto by Australian composer Andrew Ford used the melody of the ballad as its foundation. Written in 1997, the concerto is pieced together from melodic fragments of the ballad and it is only in the final few minutes that the full theme emerges.

References

*Cecil J. Sharp (Ed) (1975) "One Hundred English Folksongs (For Medium Voice)", Dover, ISBN 0-486-23192-5