I remember reading Alfred Noyes’s The Highwayman when I was in junior high or high school. I didn’t know what a murder ballad was back then, and it doesn’t quite qualify as one. It’s certainly a romance, albeit one with an unhappy ending.
Bess’s solution was a shock to me. I remember that from my first reading.
Loreena McKennitt put it to music on her 1997 album The Book of Secrets, and it’s glorious.
Thanks for the reminder; I read that years ago, and I just read it again.
If you’d like an antidote with a better ending, may I suggest the classic Irish folk song, Whiskey in the Jar, which I sing myself. There are lots of recordings on YouTube including Metallica (? Metallica??). I think I’d recommend the one by The Dubliners.
Thanks, I’ll try it!