Any serious ballad scholarship that one wishes to do (and I have had occasion to do a little bit) pretty much has to start with the Child collection. Otherwise, you would just flail around aimlessly, attempting to duplicate the immense task that Child has already done for you. The more one understands the extent of Child's contribution, the more one realizes that he needs no defense.

And I would not be satisfied with a simple dictionary definition of "ballad" any more than an architect would be satisfied with a dictionary definition of "building." Beyond showing you how to spell it and giving you a very general idea of what the word means, it just doesn't tell you very much.

Einstein missed some things and got some things wrong, too, but he provided the basis for modern cosmology.

Don Firth