The False Lover Won Back

[2] The song spread in some form from its origins in Scotland through England as far as the United States, although it is among the lesser-known ballads.

[2][3][4][5] The song has similarities to and may share an origin with other ballads, such as Child Waters.

[1][3][9][10] According to Walter Morris Hart, the ballad is somewhat unusual for its depicting a situation in which "it is the maiden who does the wooing.

"[11] Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger performed the song on their 1956 album Classic Scots Ballads.

[2] The song was also included as a bonus track on a reissue of Martin Carthy's 1972 album Shearwater.

A woman with hands clasped pursues an angry-looking man in an illustration
An illustration by Arthur Rackham of "The False Lover Won Back" in Some British Ballads (1919).