Illustration by Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale: She had Mary Seaton, and Mary Beaton, And Mary Carmichael, and me The History Behind the Ballad of Mary Hamilton byJone Johnson Lewis Updated July 20, 2019 A folk ballad, possibly no older than the 18th century, tells a story about a servant or lady-in-waiting, Mary Hamilton, at the court of a Queen Mary, who had an affair with the king and was sent t..