Child Maurice

He brings back the head, and the lady confesses that he was her illegitimate son.

In 1776, Hannah More wrote a poem "Sir Elfred of the Bower" inspired by the song.

The ballad serves as the framework as well as the climax of the book Black is the Colour of my True Love's Heart by Ellis Peters.

The James Madison Carpenter Collection has a recording by Peter Christie, from before 1955.

Most of the recorded versions live up to the comment by Robert Burns in a letter dated September 1793: "It is a plaguy length".