Chronological Sequence

Students of traditional song are, in general, less interested in determining the fixed point of origin of a particular variant of a folk song than in tracing the development over time of a song or family of songs. For this reason, it seems worthwhile introducing another set of concepts used in archaeological dating.

Archaeological dating is carried out using a combination of two independent logical systems, Relative Dating and Absolute Dating.

Relative Dating methods provide a Chronological Sequence which, in archaeology, can be reasonably straightforward for a single excavation where the stratigraphic layers provide a natural sequence by the association of items within a layer and the superposition of layers. Constructing a sequence across more than one site is more difficult, though it can be done using a statistical technique known as seriation. This provides a way of ordering materials into a sequence based on methods such as the stylistic analysis of pottery, and was first employed by Sir Flinders Petrie in the late 19th Century. This kind of analysis is, in part, subjective, though its results can be objectively tested. The sequences produced were initially roughly delineated and little more than good educated guesses. However, the result of serious study and refinement over more than a hundred years has led to a situation in which, where they have been tested by objective methods, these techniques have been generally borne out.

Absolute Dating provides a fixed time scale by anchoring certain key items or events to an absolute calendar date. Absolute dates can either be determined directly (for example from a dated coin or document) or indirectly. Indirect determination can be achieved either by association with a dated object within a context or by cross dating, based on using objects whose ages are known to infer dates for similar items in undated contexts.

The main aims of dating in studying folk song are rather different than for archaeological research. Archaeologists are mainly interested in producing an accurate calendar dating as a global context within which they can describe their particular finds. Whilst an absolute date for a folk song may be interesting, the emphasis on the origins and development of a particular song or song family mean that the determination of a Chronological Sequence, and the associated dependencies, becomes a primary goal in itself.

Below, I'll illustrate the first stages of setting up a sequence using an example. Note that the sequence is by no means fully established and that it is essentially speculative, neither have I used any objective or statistical methods so far. However, I'll give reasons (in summary) for what I've done and it is based on quite a lot of work in comparing the texts I've been able to find (amounting to 200 hours or more). Comments are very welcome, but please hold your breath and read the posts again before you make them too flippant!