I would always sneak a folksong reference into the history courses I taught. My first conference paper was entitled 'English folk song and the Aspirations of the Working Class' and I included verses from a couple of songs in my PhD thesis.

My most effective use of folk song came when I was teach the History of Crime and Punishment on our Criminology degree course and had to cover for an absent colleague. I gave an impromptu lecture on songs including broadside ballads purporting to be the last words of the condemned man, songs about poaching, and transportation etc. This resulted in one student writing her final year dissertation on crime and punishment as represented in folk song. It was highly praised by the extrenal examiners for the originality of the topic.