The Maid and the Palmer

"The Maid and the Palmer" or "The Well Below The Valley" (Roud 2335, Child ballad 21) is a murder ballad. Because of its dark and sinister lyrics (implying murder and, in some versions, incest), the song was often avoided by folk singers.
Synopsis.
A palmer (pilgrim) begs a cup from a maid who is washing at the well, so that he could drink from. She says she has none. He says that she would have, if her lover came. She swears she has never had a lover. He says that she has borne six babies and tells her where she buried the bodies. She begs some penance from him. He tells her that she will be transformed into a stepping-stone for seven years, a bell-clapper for seven, and spend seven years in hell.
In some variants, the children were incestously conceived.
Commentary.
This ballad combines themes from the Biblical stories of the Samaritan woman at the well, and Mary Magdalene. In several foreign variants, the palmer is in fact Jesus.
The ballad "The Cruel Mother", Child ballad 20, exists in a number of variants, in some of which there are verses where the dead children tell the mother she will suffer a number of penances each lasting seven years; those verses properly belong in "The Maid and the Palmer".
Recordings.
It is claimed that Tom Munnelly was largely responsible for popularising the song. Munnelly heard it sung by a member of the travelling community, John Reilly in County Roscommon in 1963.