John Spiers

Typically, there are numerous versions of this story of child marriage, although the unusual twist in the tale is that it is the husband who is the child, and his wife is yearning for a partner of greater maturity.
There is a theory that this ballad is based on the marriage of the Laird of Craigston to Elizabeth Innes c. 1633. The Laird of Innes obtained guardianship of the boy and then married him to his daughter for the sake of acquiring estates. The boy died about a year later in 1634.
This version was learnt from Martin Carthy.