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A fleuron depicting the ballad. The Rarest Ballad That Ever Was Seen is an English broadside ballad from the late 17th century. It tells the story of a blind beggar's daughter from Bednal-Green and her marriage to a knight. In the story, the main character Bessee is the most beautiful woman in her town.
One of his most popular and amusing compositions that he recorded himself was titled "The Ballad of Bethnal Green", [3] which was also recorded by Beatrice Lillie. [ 4 ] Roberts was five times the winner of an Ivor Novello Award , four for songwriting and one for services to the British Music Industry.
Blind Beggar and his Dog is a bronze statue of 1958, by the sculptor Elisabeth Frink, based on the famous ballad The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green. It stands in the enclosed garden of Tate House, a residential development for the elderly on the Cranbrook Estate in the London district of Bethnal Green. It is a Grade II* listed structure.
In some versions of the ballad, the beggar was an impoverished noble, Henry de Montfort. In the legend, de Montfort was wounded and lost his sight in the Battle of Evesham in 1265. He was nursed to health by a baroness, and together they had a child named Besse. He became the "Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green" and used to beg at the crossroads.
The ballad recounts how Bess leaves Bethnal Green to seek her fortune, and stays a short time at the Queen's Arms inn at Romford. There, her beauty quickly attracts four suitors, three of whom lose interest when she declares her background, while the fourth, a knight is unconcerned by her father's status.
The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green: ballad opera: 2 acts: 3 April 1741, London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane: Robert Dodsley: Seven of the nine songs survive. 1741: The Rehearsal: incidental music for a play: 4 acts: 21 November 1741, London, Royal College of Music: George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham: Only one duet survives. 1742: The Judgment ...
In the case of The Beggar's daughter of Bednal Green (Bethnal Green), he added the historical character of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Evesham. In this version the ballad became so popular that it was used in two plays, an anonymous novel, operas by Thomas Arne and Geoffrey Bush , and Carl Loewe 's ballad "Der Bettlers Tochter von Bednall Green".
The area was mentioned in the popular Tudor (or earlier) ballad, the Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green. In the ballad, the beautiful Bess, daughter of the blind beggar, leaves Bethnal Green to find a husband, follows the main road to Bow and then proceeds to Romford, where she finds many suitors.