The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #4913   Message #27538
Posted By: Tim Jaques tjaques@netcom.ca
06-May-98 - 07:49 PM
Thread Name: The World's Oldest Folk Song?
Subject: RE: Oldest folk
How did they get the tune for the 4000 year old chant? Were Egyptian water haulers still singing it, or did the ancient Egyptians leave some form of musical notation that we managed to decipher?

What is the oldest known folk song in English? Was, for instance, the song about King John and the Abbot of Canterbury actually written in the time of King John?

The Ballad of Robin Hood must be fairly old.