Mar 7, 2022
The Red Barn Murder | 278
“Come all you Thoughtless Young men, a Warning Take by Me, And Think on My unhappy Fate to Be Hanged on a Tree; my Name is William Corder, to You I Do declare, I Courted Maria Marten, most Beautiful and Fair.
I Promised I would Marry Her upon a Certain Day, instead of That, I Was resolved to Take her Life away. I Went into her Father's House the 18th Day of May, Saying, my Dear Maria, we will Fix the Wedding Day.
If You will Meet me At the Red barn, as Sure as I have Life, I Will take You to Ipswich Town, and There make You, my Wife; I Then went Home and Fetched my Gun, my Pickaxe And my Spade, I Went into the Red-barn, and There I Dug her Grave.”
So began a ballad printed in a broadsheet in 1827 detailing the infamous Red Barn Murder. It's the tale of the killing Maria Marten by William Corden. And this story is a doozy! We are talking Bastard Kids, Cross Dressing, and of course; Murder! But, let's not forget the ties to Spring-heeled Jack, Mole Spuds. Public Execution, Mole Sp…