Mary Ambree

Mary Ambree was an English army captain from Antwerp who participated in the liberation of the Belgian city Ghent during the war against Spain. Notably, one ballad about Ambree was one of the most popular ballads of the 17th century.

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Legacy Anbree was a popular subject of ballads during the 17th century from 1620s onwards. She was also referenced in many works and by various writers and other artists. Because of her notoriety, Ambree became an "archetype of gender disguise".

Ambree was the subject of the ballad "The valorous acts performed at Gunt by the brave bonnie lass Mary Ambree, who in revenge of her lovers death did play her part most gallantly. The tune is, The blinde beggar, &c." preserved by Thomas Percy in the Pepys Collection. The ballad provided the title for Rudyard Kipling's well-known novel Captains Courageous. The first lines of this ballad are quoted in The First Part of the Return from Parnassus from The Three Parnassus Plays A female French Legionnaire in the book Sowing Glory by P.C. Wren was referred to by the pseudonym of "Mary Ambree" in order to protect her identity. Ambree is mentioned in The Scornful Lady Jonathan Swift references Ambree in A Tale of a Tub Ballad sang and Mary Ambree referenced in Jamestown Season 2 Episode 6.