Clerk Saunders (Roud 3855, Child 69) is an English-language folk song, likely originating somewhere in England or Scotland.
[2] Clerk Saunders and may Margaret ("may" meaning maiden and being a title rather than a name) are walking in the garden.
Her seven brothers catch them and argue over what to do, but the youngest kills him without a word, and Margaret finds him dead in the morning.
The woman who attempts to conceal her lover, and the family members who find him, are common ballad motifs.
[4] There are also variants on Sweet William's Ghost (Child 77, version F) in which the name Clerk Saunders is used, and with content akin to the end of the song.