Hi Stewie, how are things down under? I was under the impression that the Suzanne Thomas version was derived from Berzilla's. It's a great version.

Steve, I do realize the enormity of Steve Roud's number system- and it's the best thing out there. I still check with Keefer's folk index and Traditional ballad index (which offers an analysis and recaps the story line. The problem for Roud is reading a title doesn't work and sometimes knowing the first line doesn't help. And in the case of Died for Love knowing the text doesn't always help!!!! To know where a song/ballad should be-- you have to know the text and underlying ballads. In the case of the WPA songs, they are housed at the University of Virginia with no access but they have been catalogued. Eventually much of the collected songs with be digitized but it will done be in the next generations. The hundred thousand songs housed in US collections will no longer be mysteries.

Even now there are important songs like-- "Early, Early, by the Break of Day" as sung Robert Cinnamond of County Antrim, Ireland, recorded by Robert Kennedy, 1955-- that I don't have access to and don't know where to find. [Anyone know?]

Some books and theses in the 20s and 30s- you can't get copies of - even through libraries (in Florida the expense prohibits them from borrowing from other states). When I get one of these- I put the book on my site so other people can use it. The only way to get these books into the public's hands is to track them down and travel to the library or collection where they are-- a costly and time consuming endeavor.

Even a fairly recent version "Beam of Oak" collected by Leach in Labrador in the 1960s is not accessible- I had to buy the book- which should be here soon.

Richie