I have come to this thread very late, but may I just say how much I have enjoyed reading it (only took me about 4 hours!) As many of you have mentioned, it's great that a thread this erudite, informative, generous and (surprisingly for a lot of Mudcat) civil is around. I do hope it will continue to evolve.

There have been some wonderful links to other resources (many thanks for the OU Norma Waterson documentary) and some inspiring and thought-provoking posts, particularly from Jim Carroll (where have you been all my life?!), Brian Peters, EKanne etc - and how wonderful to hear of such commitment to and passion for singing ballads from posters like CrowSister and Maryrrf - keep it up!

I am very passionate about ballads, and traditional singing in general - like a few of you have mentioned from your own experiences, the ballad can play like a film in your head when you sing. To me, the people in the ballads and the emotions they feel are *real* (as singers like Jeannie instinctively realised and expressed). I feel that the ballads encapsulate human experiences in a far more direct and powerful way than almost any other artistic form. For instance, I have never heard quite so moving a depiction of a mother's grief than in 'Wife of Usher's Well' (and of course this can be extended to anyone's grief experience).

I could, and have on a number of other occasions, put forward my strident opinions on how I feel that many ballad (or even traditional 'folk') singers are struggling to find appreciative audiences...but reading this thread shows that there are still many of us who are care about these songs. Also, I feel that many of my feelings about the ballads I sing not being 'welcomed' in sessions and folk clubs are due to my own ego and insecurity issues, rather than the audience...but that's another thread in itself! So I will focus instead on the positives, which include singing 'Lord T and Fair Annett' at a (non-folk) open mic once - the audience was perfect, despite my trepidation. Many had not heard ballads (or much unaccompanied singing before), and reacted with a wonderful childlike (in a good way) appreciation, even hissing when Annett/Ellender denigrates the 'brown bride' and squealing when her head hit the wall! A wonderful experience.

Another positive is a friend of mine who possesses the same 'childlike' quality- I recently played her a selection of some of my favourite Child ballads, and when she had not grasped the story fully from first hearing, she asked me to tell it to her as a narrative, and listened with wide-eyed wonder. When telling her the story of Mill o' Tifty's Annie we both cried like bairns. A wonderful example of how these songs and stories still have immense power.

Thanks again to all contributors, I hope to see the discussion continuing.

Fair Ellender