Wilfried: 4/4, 3/4 etc are indication of the time (music). The metre refers to poetry. In my opinion, you can't expect to give definitive definition, but you must find the words to describe what you are talking about. McGrath of Harlow suggests to pay attention to the stresses more than to the syllables. I think it is a good idea. A. L. Lloyd seems to do the same in Folk Song in England. But the so called ballad metre is not an extemporary invention, and I would like to deal with it as well in an appropriate manner, not to follow a dogma, but in order to achieve an open definition that considers all aspects. The other big question being the tunes of the ballads, and of traditional music in general, and the modal scales, and the family of tunes, etc. The many ideas that all the people who posted in this thread presented are very useful to me and intersting. R