Episodes
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When a Christmas carol is also a folk ballad you know it's not going to be the usual angels/shepherds/kings extravaganza. This one doesn't disappoint, with a lovely garden, a jealous Joseph and a fruit-related miracle.
But, as ever, all is not as it seems. Continuing the theme of weird Christianity from last month's episode, we get to explore medieval mystery plays and alternative gospels, and in 5th Century Syria we discover a scholarly and forthright Mary who doesn't need an angel to fight her battles for her.
Have a wonderful Christmas!
Music
Verse from Jean Richie’s recording of The Cherry Tree Carol, KentuckyThe Cherry Tree Carol, collected by Maud Karpeles and Patrick Shuldham-Shaw from John Partridge of Cinderford, Gloucestershire (Verse 1)
Verse from a Jean Richie version, Kentucky, recorded by Joan Baez
Instrumental: Version arranged by D Gilbert and W Sandys (19th Century)
Benedicamus Domino (Plainsong, anon)
The Cherry Tree Carol, version sung by Shirley Collins, 1959
Orthodox Chant and Ney (flute) from FreeSounds
References
Royston, Pamela L (1982) "The Cherry-Tree Carol": Its sources and analogues https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2022/1762/15(1)%201-16.pdf?sequence=1https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/post-biblical-period/the-origins-of-the-cherry-tree-carol/
https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/sugano-n-town-plays-banns-proclamation
https://www.academia.edu/29076122/The_Origins_of_The_Cherry_Tree_Carol_How_a_Christmas_carol_links_the_modern_Middle_East_and_medieval_England
https://dokumen.pub/mary-and-joseph-and-other-dialogue-poems-on-mary-9781593338398-2011007425-1593338392.html
https://mainlynorfolk.info/lloyd/songs/thecherrytreecarol.html
https://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Notes_On_Carols/cherry_tree_carol-notes.htm
https://balladindex.org/Ballads/C054.html
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This unusual song was a feature of the 60s and 70s folk revival - a real show stopper and something of a curiosity. But underneath it lies a thousand years of European folklore, and a further thousand years of vivid theology.
So, my friends, we're going on a metaphysical journey to the underworld. Have you been charitable in your life? Did you give a cow to the poor, or 'hosen and shoon' to a beggar? Did you judge rightly? Have you been moving your neighbours' boundary stones? Better take stock, because the journey is long and dangerous.
We're going over the thorny moor and the high Gjallarbrui; we're glimpsing heaven and hell and as for the final judgement, we've got a ringside seat. There are angels and ghosts and, surprisingly, gossip.
This is a song that has to be experienced rather than studied, so follow me. We're going to have a weird time.
MusicL’Homme Arme, 15th Century song by Johannes Regis
Sainte Nicholas, 12th Century song by Godric of Finchale
Marglit og Targjei Risvollo, traditional Norwegian song
Draumkvedet, traditional Norwegian ballad
Chiamando, un’astorella, 14th Century Italian song
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence is based on the Cherubic Hymn in the Orthodox Christian tradition and dates back to least 275 AD. The English translation from Greek was made by Gerard Moultie and set to a traditional French tune, Picardy.
The Lyke Wake Dirge (traditional version)
The Lyke Wake Dirge, tune by Harold Boulton, arranged by Malcolm Lawson
The Lyke Wake Dirge, set to the 14th Century song Ad Mortem Festinamus
References
Mainly Norfolk: The Lyke Wake Dirge (Roud 8194; TYG 85) (mainlynorfolk.info)
Draumkvedet in translation: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/draumkvedet-dream-poem.html
Harald Foss - Draumkvedet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k7ne8YMIIs
Gardiner, E. (2021). Visions of Heaven and Hell: A Monastic Literature. The Downside Review, 139(1), 24-43. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0012580621997061#body-ref-fn107-0012580621997061
Isaacson, Lanae H. “‘Draumkvædet:’ The Structural Study of an Oral Variant.” Jahrbuch Für Volksliedforschung, vol. 25, 1980, pp. 51–66. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/849056. Accessed 31 Oct. 2023
Carlsen, C (2012) Old Norse Visions of the Afterlife (PhD Thesis, University of Oxford) https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:9b3b8518-912e-4425-8748-dea135e695d0/download_file?file_format=application%2Fpdf&safe_filename=THESIS02&type_of_work=Thesis
John Aubrey’s Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme https://archive.org/details/remainesgentili01aubrgoog
Dante’s Divine Comedy: https://www.owleyes.org/text/dantes-inferno/read/canto-13
The Lyke-Wake Dirge: the revival of an Elizabethan song of the afterlife
https://earlymusicmuse.com/lyke-wake-dirge/
Hurdy Gurdy sample, battle sounds, stormy ambience and various owls from FreeSound
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The sheep are all sheared and we’re dancing and drinking in the warm June sun. We’re transported back to simpler and more innocent times with more than a whiff of nostalgia for the loss of our connection to the land.
And yet nothing is ever quite as straightforward as it seems, and this song is no exception. While delving into its theatrical past I once again get into that most thorny of issues – what is a folk song, and what should we do with them today?
But mostly I have lots of fun singing about sheep.
Music
Instrumental version was collected by John Broadwood in c.1843
The original stage version, The Sheepsheering Song: https://www.vwml.org/search?view=search&q=rn812
Sheep-shearing song, collected by the Hammond brothers: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4434118
Cecil Sharp – Folk Songs from Somerset: https://archive.org/details/FolkSongsFromSomerset/page/n3/mode/2up (my version takes a few liberties)
The Horses Go Fast: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4434118?read-now=1&seq=2#page_scan_tab_contents
References
Mainly Norfolk on The Sheep Shearing Song: https://mainlynorfolk.info/steeleye.span/songs/thesheepshearingsong.html
Eric Saylor: Folksong revival in the early 20th Century https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-music/articles/folksong-revival-in-the-early-20th-century
https://www.efdss.org/learning/resources/beginners-guides/35-english-folk-collectors/2446-efdss-cecil-sharp
Shudofsky, M. M. (1943). Charles Johnson and Eighteenth-Century Drama. ELH, 10(2), 131–158. https://doi.org/10.2307/2871662
John Francmanis (2002) National Music to National Redeemer: The Consolidation of a 'Folk-Song' Construct in Edwardian England. Popular Music 21 (1) 1-25
As always, I’m grateful to the contributions of those who have posted on Mudcat over the years.
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It's the first of May and we have a May Mini episode about the song Staines Morris, also known as the Maypole Dance. But did you know it started life in a puritan era farce? It was a joy to find out more about one of my favourite songs, and I hope you'll like it as much as I do.
Thanks as always go to Mudcat Cafe and Mainly Norfolk websites without which I hardly know where I would start my research, and to Stones Barn who gave me the confidence to sing again.
Other references:
Stanes Morris in Playford (including the dance moves): https://playforddances.com/dances/stanes-morris/Acteon and Diana full text: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A34847.0001.001/1:6?rgn=div1;view=fulltext
Popular Music of the Olden Time by William Chappell: https://archive.org/details/popularmusicofol01chapuoft/page/126/mode/2up
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A chance meeting in a meadow, a false young man and a philosophical ending… it’s that folk favourite the Banks of the Sweet Primroses, beloved of collectors and Broadside publishers alike. In fact it’s part of the history of so many folk song collectors that we’ve taken the opportunity to follow one of them on their collecting expedition.
But what really happened in that meadow and why did the young man get such a dressing down? We’ve got all the theories and a few of our own, and even a potential Civil War origin for the song itself. And while we’re out walking in the morning fields there’s a perfect opportunity for some gratuitous medieval weirdness.
Oh yes, we’re back!
Music
The Banks of the Sweet Primroses (instrumental) was collected from W. Buckland of Buckinghamshire in 1943 by Francis Collinson and is found in the New Penguin Book of English Folk Song.
The Banks of the Sweet Primeroses (sung, first verse only) was collected and arranged by Cecil Sharp. It appears in Cyril Winn, A Selection of Some Less Known Folk-Songs vol.2 pp.64-65
Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy was sung for me by Phil Beer at Shrewsbury Folk Festival 2022.Maids Looke Well About You can be found here. The tune used is Cold and Raw
Medicines To Cure The Deadly Sins can be found here. The tune used is The Agincourt Carol.
The extract of Peggy Gordon sung by Isobel Anderson has been used with her permission. You can find her albums on bandcamp and they’re highly recommended https://isobelanderson.bandcamp.com/
References
The Hammond Brothers:
https://www.williambarnessociety.org.uk/the-hammond-brothers/
https://www.efdss.org/learning/resources/beginners-guides/35-english-folk-collectors/2441-efdss-henry-and-robert-hammondFolk Songs from Dorset: https://archive.org/details/folksongsfromdor00hamm
Purslow, Frank (1968) The Hammond Brothers’ Folk Song Collection. Folk Music Journal 1(4) 236-266
Marina Russell on Tradfolk: https://tradfolk.co/tradfolk-101/female-source-singers/
Vaughan Williams' collection of the song:
http://blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/2008/08/vaughan-williams-and-essex.html
http://www.patrickcomerford.com/2015/03/through-lent-with-vaughan-williams-32.html
https://carolinedavison.substack.com/p/vaughan-williamss-journey-into-folk-9de
An early broadside version of the Sweet Primroses from the Bodleian Library: http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/static/images/sheets/10000/06733.gif
The definition of a broken token ballad was written by Chat GTP after some training, and read by Steven Shaw.
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The Wexford Carol - also known as the Enniscorthy Carol - is said to be one of Europe's most ancient Christmas songs, but the truth is even more interesting. In this festive episode I take a look at the singing traditions that produced this lovely song, and put out a little theory of my own.
Thank you for following the podcast during 2022, I'll keep making episodes while people keep listening.
Have a wonderful Christmas!
Music
Wexford Carol (instrumental)
All You Who Are To Mirth Inclined (recorder consort)
Carol for St Sylvester - W. Devereaux
O Viridissima Virga (extract) - Hildegard von Bingen
The Wexford Carol
References
The video that started it all off - Aileen Lambert sings The Enniscorthy (Wexford) Carol in St Aiden's Cathedral, Enniscorthy: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=440082454271246
Oldest version of The Sinners Redemption, from the Roxburghe Collection c. 1634 https://ebba.english.ucsb.edu/ballad/30252/imageDetails of the Sheffield Carols tradition from Tradfolk: https://tradfolk.co/customs/customs-customs/sheffield-carols/
List of the Kilmore Carols with original source books: https://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Images/Wadding_Devereux/christmas_carols_of_waddinge_and.htm
Copy of “A Pious Garland” http://snap.waterfordcoco.ie/collections/ebooks/177052/177052.pdf
Facsimile of “A Garland of Old Castleton Christmas Carols” https://recordoffice.wordpress.com/2015/12/06/advent-calendar-day-6/
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You don't find many traditional songs where the woman becomes pregnant out of wedlock and yet it all turns our wonderfully. But then Willy O' Winsbury is not your run of the mill folk song. King’s daughter Janet knew what she wanted… and it seems that her father wanted it too. Once he’d established that Willy wasn’t too foreign that is. He especially noticed his blond hair and milky white skin… oh dear.
As well as picking up on some of these themes, the episode looks at the twists and turns of this song’s journey over time and the real events that may (or may not) have prompted it. There’s also a review of medieval virginity tests and musings on why a light scorching of the nether regions might actually be a good outcome, all things considered.
Music
L’Homme Armé (Anon) Medieval popular song
De moi doleros vos chant (Gillebert de Berneville) 13th Century song
Lord Thomas of Winesberrie (Kinloch – Ancient Scottish Ballads – see below)
Instrumental: Fair Margaret and Sweet William (ballad from the Percy/Parsons correspondence) 1770s – though the tune may be more recent
Johnny Barbary (tune from Bertrand Harris Bronson – see below)
Fause Foodrage
Willie O’Winsbury
References
Mainly Norfolk have an excellent overview of the song and its recorded versions: https://mainlynorfolk.info/anne.briggs/songs/willieowinsbury.html
Kinloch, George Richie (1827) Ancient Scottish Ballads: https://archive.org/details/ancientscottishb00kin/page/90/mode/2up
Karpeles, Maud (1934) Folk Songs From Newfoundland
Fresno State University’s Traditional Ballad Index: https://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/C100.html
Child, Francis James (between 1882-98) The English and Scottish Popular Ballads v2 (Child 100) https://archive.org/details/englishscottishp21chilrich/mode/2up
Bronson B H (1976) The Singing Tradition of Child’s Popular Ballads https://archive.org/details/singingtradition0000bron/page/n5/mode/2up
Bronson B H (1959) The Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads
http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT7/CP25(1)/CP25_1_194_8-10/IMG_0334.htm A legal document relating to the lease of property by Thomas, son of William de Winsbury
Cartwright, Jane (2003) Virginity and Chastity Tests in Medieval Welsh Prose in Bernau A, Evans R and Salih S (2003) Medieval Virginities University of Toronto Press.
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Many of us know The Keeper as a slightly odd - but fun - song from our school days. All together now:
JACKIE BOY!
MASTER!
No need to shout! reprimands a weary teacher.
But away from the sanitised and bowdlerised versions of our childhoods lurks a dark song of sexual pursuit. You didn’t really think all those does were female deer, did you?
We talk about Camus, the band Andrew has been a part of for four decades, and explore its influences from the Northumbrian, Shetland and Irish traditions. The band’s version of The Keeper combines different versions and makes some deliberate choices. They often run a competition for keen-eared listeners at their gigs, and if you listen to this episode you will get the answer, and if you then go to one of their gigs you’ll win a free CD!
As we talk about this traditional song and its themes, we also chat about the time that Andrew asked Martin Carthy about guitar tunings in a folk club toilet, and a rare sighting of Steve Roud at St Neots' folk club (but did he join in with the chorus?)
Andrew is a Northumbrian piper and we chat about the way that the lockdown brought together the national and international Northumbrian piping community, creating such a surge of competition entries that the queen of Northumbrian pipes Kathryn Tickell herself had to get involved.
If you’ve ever wondered how this podcast got started, stay tuned because all is revealed! This leads to a chat about children’s songs on which Andrew – or Professor Burn as he’s also known – is an expert. Will you, like me, suddenly remember those childhood skipping songs? And, in a world of wonderful diversity, what new songs from around the world can we hear in today’s playgrounds?
Music
The Keeper (trad) performed live by Camus at the Ely Folk Club. You can see a video of this recording here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uB0EVItk8wRoaring Boys (Brian Cleary) performed by Camus. You can see a video of this recording here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOxoCBwxaUQ
Equinox Hornpipe (Andrew Burn) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Optcf45MD_Q
There are also excerpts from two sets of tunes from Camus’ 2021 EP Time and Again:
Da Day Dawn (trad), Christmas Day I’ da Morning (trad), Da Alamoutie (trad). Three traditional Shetland tunes. Three Day Week/Alan Burn’s Memorial Jig (Andrew Burn).Time and Again can be found on various streaming services, please visit the band’s website for all the links, and there's a preview of the forthcoming album here.
Other links
The Mudcat thread that Andrew references, featuring Malcolm Douglas, can be found here.The Opie archive can be found here.
You can find out more about Professor Andrew Burn’s research interests here.
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Our first ever live show was recorded on 4th September 2022 as part of the Folk at the Folk Festival. This is a field recording of an acoustic show in a beautiful but very echoey space with the bells of Gloucester Cathedral occasionally in the background, so the audio is a little different from usual.
Sainte Nicholas by Godric of Finchale (12th Century)Account of Eleanor and Rosamond from the French Chronical of London (14th Century)Fair Rosamond (trad - New England)Extract from The Knight's Tale by Geoffrey ChaucerExtract from The Lark Ascending by George MeredithThe Lark Ascending/Lark in the Morn (tune)Letter to The Times from G. Henry Latchmore concerning Cecil Sharp (1931)Version of Lark in the Morning collected by Cecil Sharp (1 verse)Version of Lark in the Morning collected by Vaughan WilliamsDoffin Mistress (trad)Extract from the diary of Samuel PepysBarbara Allan's Cruelty from the Roxburge Collection (1 verse)Barbary Ellen (compiled from two Appalachian versions)I Dreamed a Dream (Ashley Hutchings)
Features the following:Thanks go to my family, especially Steven Shaw, for listening to all of these songs and tunes endlessly over the summer.
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Sitting in a quiet(ish!) part of the site, near the river, Jo tells us why The Castle of Dromore is so special to her and her daughter.
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I met up with Louisa on the final day of the festival. Her favourite song is the beautiful The Flower of Magherally, and she sang a wonderful verse with the unorthodox accompaniment of a drumming workshop.
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We're in the bar at Shrewsbury Folk Festival. Katie Whitehouse talks about running a management agency for folk artists, and why Reg Meuross's song England Green and England Grey will be a folk song for future generations.
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Backstage at Shrewsbury Folk Festival, Marion talks about the music of the late Sandy Denny, and why The Lady is her favourite folk song.
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Backstage at the Turtle Doves stage of the Shrewsbury Folk Festival, Phil Beer told me why he loves the song Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy.
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Irish singer Molly Donnery shares her favourite folk song, My Belfast Love, shortly before going on stage with The Haar at Shrewsbury Folk Festival.
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Singer songwriter Reg Meuross shares his favourite folk song, Bob Dylan's Girl from the North Country
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In the first of a mini-series of short interviews at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival, Iain talks about his favourite folk song Flower of Scotland and sings a very beautiful version.
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Put on your Sunday best, we're going to the fair!
A handsome young man, a moonlight tryst and a young woman is left to bear the consequences. It's an age old tale, but why did it become so popular in the early 19th Century? We might have the answer.
We're also looking more widely at English fairs through the ages; the fun, strange and sometimes scandalous things that happen there, and the songs people sing about them.
This episode features bit of mild swearing thanks to our cheeky friend Samuel Pepys.
Music
Brimbledon Fair is from Folk Songs From Somerset by Cecil Sharp
Selby Fair words are from the Bodleian Library Ballad Index, but I made the tune up
The Ewan MacColl version of Bartholomew Fair can be found here
The full words of Jockey to the Fair can be found at the Bodleian Library here
The tune behind the Thomas Hardy extract is Brigg Fair
The full version of Ramble Away is the one I learned from Shirley Collins' recorded version
You can find the full lyrics of Answer to Young Ramble Away (if you really want to!) here and the tune is a Derrydown Fair variant that I found on Mudcat.
References
There are some great discussions about Ramble Away on the Mudcat Cafe, and the Mainly Norfolk website has a very informative summary about the song.
The episode features extracts from A tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain 1724-1727 by Daniel Defoe (which also features on the Mainly Norfolk website), from the Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy and the diaries of Samuel Pepys.
Vic Gammon (1982) Song, Sex and Society in England 1600-1850 Folk Music Journal 4 (3) 208-245 https://www.jstor.org/stable/4522105 -
It's another epic ballad this week as I catch up with Franz Andres Morrissey to learn more about this song, that was originally collected in Scotland. We also chat about the ups and downs of the Swiss folk scene, have a good old gossip about Robert Burns, and I learn where Martin Carthy gets his tunes from.
Brown Adam, or Broun Edom, is a rare song with some old, even pre-Christian, themes and motifs. It unfolds in true storytelling style and includes such colourful characters as a False Knight, a faithful Lady, and Brown Adam himself, a magnificent young Smith. Shenanigans ensue and there's quite a bit of gratuitous bird shooting before the story moves on. Who needs Netflix when you've got songs like this?
Franz is an academic (though he carries it lightly) and an experienced folk musician, and we talk about his book, Language, the Singer and the Song. We also discuss his play which tells the stories of slavery through words and song.
His band Taradiddle (https://taradiddle.ch) has just recorded an album that will be out soon, and there's a rumour that there'll be tour dates announced shortly.
You can hear more of Franz's music on Soundcloud.
Music
Brown Adam was performed and produced by by Franz. The episode also features three live recordings by Taradiddle: Benediction Song, Who's The Fool Now, Hey Ca' Thro and Leaving Limerick. You can find more here. There's also a snippet of the song that Franz and I recorded together remotely, Now Westlin Winds.
Acknowledgements
Franz and I met through The Barnstoners, a self-organising group of musicians who have all been to the fabulous Stones Barn run by Maddy Prior and Rose-Ellen Kemp up in Cumbria. It goes without saying that we're big fans of theirs and recommend them highly. -
Bessy (or Betsy) Bell and Mary Gray were two bonny lasses, and they may even have been historical figures, but the plague came from yon borough town and slew them both regardless. And thus was created a most romantic and picturesque place of pilgrimage.
Bessy Bell is also a tune and we take a look at it's surprising history, from being scrawled in a book of sermons to the part it played in the heyday of a theatrical phenomenon.
The tune we sing today isn't the traditional one; a quite different tune accompanied this song for a couple of hundred years. And yet there's a far better tune lurking in an old broadside, and I'm giving it a world premiere as the tune for Bessy Bell and Mary Gray.
Music
Instrumental version of Betsy Bell and Mary Gray (trad)
Betsy Bell and Mary Gray in the style of Maddy Prior and Martin Carthy
Harp improvisation
Bessy Bell tune (trad)
Go To Bed Sweet Muse (Robert Jones)
Bessy Bell to the tune of A Health To Betty (trad)
Beggar's Opera Overture (Johann Christoph Pepusch)
'Twas Within A Furlong of Edinburgh Town (tune from Playford but sometimes attributed to Henry Purcell; words quite possibly by D'Urfey, arranged by Jayne Morrison)
Betsy Bell and Mary Gray - full song (trad)
FX from Freesound contributors djangoaltona, inchadney, boodabomb and bruno-auzet
References
Francis James Child (1904) English and Scottish Popular Ballads https://archive.org/details/englishscottishp1904chil/page/n13/mode/1upLetter written by Major Barry: http://journals.socantscot.org/index.php/arch-scot/article/view/168/166
Highland Notebook, Robert Carruthers: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CZsHAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
Bertrand Harris Bronson (1976) The Singing Tradition of Child’s Popular Ballads: https://archive.org/details/singingtradition0000bron
Fourpence Halfpenny farthing, from A Pepysian garland : black-letter broadside ballads of the years 1595-1639, chiefly from the collection of Samuel Pepys (1922) https://archive.org/details/pepysiangarlandb00pepyuoft/page/322/mode/2up
Bessy Bell from Orpheus Caledonius https://digital.nls.uk/special-collections-of-printed-music/archive/91483447
Oxford Book of Nursery Rhymes: https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary0000opie/page/n9/mode/2up
Julie Bumpus (2010) BALLAD OPERA IN ENGLAND: ITS SONGS, CONTRIBUTORS, AND INFLUENCE: https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=bgsu1276055885&disposition=inline
Miscellaneous works of that celebrated Scotch poet Allan Ramsay: https://deriv.nls.uk/dcn23/1056/7480/105674805.23.pdf
Edinburgh Literary Journal, 1829 https://www.proquest.com/openview/f7929bf2f574263f/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2773 - Show more
