Isaiah Thomas Broadside Ballads Project

Verses in Vogue with the Vulgar

Bateman's tragedy: being a warning to all maidens, by the example of God's judgments shewed on Jerman's wife, of Clifton in the county of Nottingham, who lying in child-bed, was borne away, and never heard of afterwards

This long-lived ballad was licensed by the Stationers’ Company in 1603. The concept of a woman reneging on her promise apparently resonated with broadside buyers for centuries (Simpson 369). Here the jilted lover hangs himself and his ghost wreaks vengeance on the girl, vengeance that is delayed only by the presence of an unborn child. Once the child is born, the woman is spirited away, never to be seen again. A moral of advice to women and a new quatrain invoking God’s vengeance close the lyric.

The flower and rule used here were also used on Invitation to Reformation and by Thomas Fleet III in 1807. This text should not be confused with Lord Bakeman. A broadside with this text was published in New London, Connecticut, around 1771 (Roud).

Additional Metadata

Date

1810-1814

Place of Publication

Boston.

Subjects

Love
Suicide
Ghosts
Grief

First Line

You dainty dames, so finely fram'ed.

Identifiers

BIB ID: 273496
OCLC Control No.: (OCoLC)ocm83935930
OCLC Control No.: (OCoLC)ocn191453470
Ford, W.C. Thomas ballads, 13
AAS General Catalog URL: http://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=273496
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Physical Dimensions

28 x 22 cm.

Transcriptions

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Related Items

Ornament for Bateman's tragedy : being a warning to all maiden's, by the example of God's judgments shewed on Jerman's wife, of Clifton in the county of Nottingham, who lying in child-bed, was borne away, and never heard of afterwards.

Citation

“Bateman's tragedy: being a warning to all maidens, by the example of God's judgments shewed on Jerman's wife, of Clifton in the county of Nottingham, who lying in child-bed, was borne away, and never heard of afterwards,” Isaiah Thomas Broadside Ballads Project, accessed February 8, 2023, https://www.americanantiquarian.org/thomasballads/items/show/45.