Maude Ivory Baird

Maude Ivory Baird
Biographical Information
Age	8–9 (TBOSAS)
Occupation	Musician
Home	The Seam in District 12
Relatives	Unnamed parents Barb Azure Baird (cousin) Lucy Gray Baird (cousin) Two unnamed cousins (Lucy Gray's siblings) Unknown relations Lenore Dove Baird † Burdock Everdeen † Katniss Everdeen Primrose Everdeen †
Fate	Deceased
Physical Information
Gender	Female
Eye Color	Green (film)
Hair	Blonde (film)
Appearances
Book Appearances	The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Book Mentioned	Sunrise on the Reaping
Movie Appearances	The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Portrayed by	Vaughan Reilly Josie Hope Hall (singing)

"One hearing's all my cousin Maude Ivory needs. That child never forgets anything with a tune."

—Lucy Gray Baird about Maude Ivory's remarkable ability

Maude Ivory Baird was a member of the Covey and the younger cousin of Lucy Gray Baird and Barb Azure Baird. She performed in the Hob with the rest of the Covey and was said to have an amazing singing voice. After her performance, she would step off the stage to accept spare money and other donations from the audience. Maude Ivory made her appearance in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes at no more than eight or nine years old.

Quick Answers

Who is Maude Ivory in the context of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes?

In The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Maude Ivory Baird is a young performer from District 12. She is part of the Covey, earning a living through performances. She is recognized for her exceptional singing talent. She is the younger cousin of Lucy Gray Baird and Barb Azure Baird. She has a notable fondness for butter, prompting Tam Amber to gift her a butter churn.

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Is Maude Ivory related to Katniss Everdeen?

Maude Ivory Baird is speculated to be a direct ancestor of Katniss Everdeen, potentially her paternal grandmother or great-grandmother. Both Maude and Katniss share a musical talent and the ability to memorize songs quickly. Maude's knowledge and preference for the wild herb 'katniss' could have influenced the naming of Katniss Everdeen.

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What is the significance of Maude Ivory's singing voice in the story?

Maude Ivory Baird, part of the Covey, is renowned for her exceptional singing voice. She performs at the Hob, captivating audiences with her sweet, squeaky voice. She has a unique talent for remembering any tune after a single hearing. Her performances are a crucial income source for the Covey, as she gathers donations post-performance. Her surname, 'Baird', signifies a professional singer who narrates stories through songs, underscoring her singing voice's significance.

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Biography

Maude Ivory performing at the Hob

Maude Ivory grew up in District 12 with the Covey, performing around the district to make a profit and stay alive. She and the rest of the Covey were so distraught about Lucy Gray being chosen at the reaping that they didn't perform for the entire time she was in the Capitol. Maude Ivory was especially affected; she was fine during the day, but ever since Lucy Gray was taken away, Maude Ivory woke up screaming from nightmares. This continued even after her cousin's return.

During the Covey's first performance after Lucy Gray returned, Maude Ivory wore a pink dress and curtsied before introducing her fellow Covey members behind the microphone. Later, she sang "Oh My Darling, Clementine", inviting audience members to join in on the chorus. When the show ended, Maude Ivory passed around a basket for the audience to make donations, and was delighted when Coriolanus Snow gave her some of Mrs. Plinth's homemade popcorn balls. She pointed Coriolanus out to Lucy Gray, who was joyful that he had arrived.

When Billy Taupe Clade showed up after the performance, Maude Ivory defended Lucy Gray and ordered him to leave. Later, when Coriolanus Snow and Sejanus Plinth visited the Covey at their home, they heard Maude Ivory singing while cracking nuts outdoors in an old dress. She fetched Barb Azure and led the boys to the Meadow to meet Lucy Gray, then headed back to the house with Sejanus and the bread he handed her. However, they encountered Billy Taupe again, and Maude Ivory was irritated that Sejanus hadn't helped her shell nuts. After Billy Taupe left, she took Sejanus out to milk the Covey's goat Shamus, then went inside again to eat once they were done.

The next time the Covey performed in the Hob, Maude Ivory was again gifted popcorn balls by Coriolanus, and she sang him Lucy Gray's ballad because of it. Not long later, Coriolanus and Sejanus went to visit the Covey again, this time accompanying them to the lake. During the walk, Maude Ivory complained of pain caused by the shoes she was wearing, and was carried by the others while she sang and theorized about Lucy Gray's fate in the ballad. When they arrived at the lake, Maude Ivory took Sejanus to pick berries and explained the Covey's unique names to him and Coriolanus. While she napped, Clerk Carmine Clade gifted her a blue feather to put in her hair. She and Tam Amber later went to the Hob to trade berries for new shoes.

During a performance, Maude Ivory had the entire audience caught up in a sing-along when Mayfair and Billy Taupe's murders took place in the shed. She was the one to find the bodies, screaming hysterically and shaken up by the discovery. The next weekend, at Commander Hoff's birthday party in the mess hall at the Peacekeepers' base, Maude Ivory wore a buttercup yellow dress and led the audience in singing a birthday song for the commander.

Maude Ivory eventually died and was buried in the Covey's secret graveyard. Haymitch Abernathy came across Maude Ivory's grave while looking for that of Lenore Dove. Like all of the Covey members, Maude Ivory's grave was marked with a snippet of her name poem.

Personality and traits

Maude Ivory was confident, as she was the one who introduced the rest of the Covey at the start of their performances. She was also quite sweet, making her a crowd favorite at the Hob, where she played the drums and sang. She was said to be able to remember anything with a tune after only hearing it once.

In the film, it is evident that she is around 12 years old and not a few years younger.

Maude Ivory and Barb Azure

Physical description

Maude Ivory performing

Maude Ivory was a short, little girl with a wispy frame. During performances, she was seen wearing fancy, colorful dresses and she often curtsied or pirouetted to show thanks. Maude Ivory also had a sweet, squeaky voice.

Etymology

Maude is an Old German name meaning "powerful battler", taken from the poem "Maude Clare" by Christina Rossetti. The latter part, Ivory, is the material used for piano keys. Her surname, Baird, is derived from the word "bard", meaning "poet" or a professional singer who tells stories through song. It is also only one letter off from "bird", which the Covey are often compared to in the novel.

Trivia

• Since some of the Covey's songs survived into the trilogy through Katniss Everdeen, who learned them from her father, it's been theorized that the Everdeens are descendants of the Covey— probably through Maude Ivory, who shared Katniss's ability to memorize music after a listen or two. Francis Lawrence, the director of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes film, supports this theory himself. Sunrise on the Reaping confirms that the Everdeens are distantly related to the Covey.
• Maude Ivory was "crazy for butter", so much so that Tam Amber fashioned her a butter churn for her birthday. However, her date of birth is never stated.
• She was afraid of snakes.
• In the film, her singing voice was provided by Josie Hope Hall.
• She may be Lenore Dove's mother as they were both related to Lucy Gray Baird, Lenore Dove's mother was stated to have died in childbirth and Maude Ivory was dead by the time of Sunrise on the Reaping with Lenore Dove being buried near her.