[2] Lord Thomas (or Sweet Willie) is in love with Fair Annet, or Annie, or Elinor, but she has little property.

The oldest known text, entitled "A tragical Story of Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor", was printed in London in 1677.

Related English ballads which share stanza composition as well as narratives of heartbreak-induced death include Fair Margaret and Sweet William and Lord Lovel.

[4][5] Several Norse variants of this ballad exist, although the man does not reject the woman on advice of his friends in them.

[6] The grave plants that grow together are a motif to express true love, also found in many variants of Barbara Allen and of Tristan and Iseult, and in the legend of Baucis and Philemon.