Mary Hamilton (Ballad) (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! "Mary Hamilton" and "The Fower Maries" are two common names for a famous, apparently fictional sixteenth century ballad from Scotland. In all versions of the song, Mary Hamilton is a lady in waiting to the Queen of Scots - but precisely which Queen is a mystery. In all cases, she has had a sexual relationship with the King of Scots that has resulted in the birth of a child. Mary has killed the baby - sometimes by drowning, sometimes by exposure - and the remainder of the song recounts essential thoughts about her life and impending death. Most versions of the song set the events in Edinburgh, but the Joan Baez version, which is the probably the best known, is set in Glasgow.