"Fair Charlotte" (or "Young Charlotte") (Laws G17) is an American folk ballad.
Contents
Story
The story is a cautionary tale concerning a young girl called Charlotte who refused to wrap up warmly to go on a sleigh ride to a New Year's ball. Upon arriving at the ball, her fiancé discovers that she has frozen to death during the journey.
Origins
The ballad of "Fair Charlotte" is based on a poem by Seba Smith that was first published in The Rover, a Maine newspaper, on December 28, 1843, under the title A Corpse Going To A Ball. According to folklorist Phillips Barry, Smith's composition was based on an incident recounted in an 1840 New York Observer article of the same name. A version of Smith's poem was subsequently set to music, leading to the creation of the ballad.
During the 20th century, a version of the ballad was sung by Almeda Riddle under the title "Young Carlotta".