William, footman to Lovemore, sweet upon Muslin, the lady’s maid. He is fond of cards, and is a below-stairs imitation of the high-life vices of the latter half of the eighteenth century.--A. Murphy, The Way to Keep Him (1760).
William, a serving-lad at Arnheim Castle.--Sir W. Scott, Anne of Geierstein (time, Edward IV.).
William (Lord), master of Erlingford. His elder brother, at death, committed to his charge Edmund, the rightful heir, a mere child; but William cast the child into the Severn, and seized the inheritance. One anniversary, the Severn overflowed its banks, and the castle was surrounded; a boat came by, and Lord William entered. The boatman thought he heard the voice of a child--nay, he felt sure he saw a child in the water, and bade Lord William stretch out his hand to take it in. Lord William[William] seized the child’s hand; it was lifeless and clammy, heavy and inert. It pulled the boat under water, and Lord William was drowned, but no one heard his piercing cry of agony.--R. Southey, Lord William (a ballad, 1804).
William and Margaret, a ballad by Mallet. William promised marriage to Margaret, deserted her, and she died “consumed in early prime.” Her ghost reproved the faithless swain, who “quaked in every limb,” and, raving,
He hy’d him to the fatal place,
Where Margaret’s body lay;
And stretch’d him on the grass-green turf
That wrapt her breathless clay.
And thrice he call’d on Margaret’s name,
And thrice he wept full sore;