The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #125951 Message #2809760
Posted By: Brian Peters
12-Jan-10 - 03:26 AM
Thread Name: Taking on the Big Boys? - classic big long ballads
Subject: RE: Taking on the Big Boys? - classic big long ballads
"the exalted significance this stuff ought to enjoy as an essential part of the Literary Heritage of the English Speaking World"
The result of exalting ballads as literary treasures was that they became academic artefacts which their enthusiasts, like Francis James Child, never actually heard being sung. The folk revival (as Jim has pointed out) persuaded a lot of people that they were worth singing, and also gave a platform to those - like Jeannie Robertson et al - that had been singing them all along.