The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #131826   Message #2979007
Posted By: Stilly River Sage
03-Sep-10 - 12:32 AM
Thread Name: Child Ballads survived in oral trad.
Subject: RE: Child Ballads survived in oral trad.
And don't forget Appalachia and the Ozarks - lots of hidey holes for some of these songs.

I learned many of the Child Ballads from my father (John Dwyer) who learned them from books and records and other singers. I don't sing, but I do love to read threads like this. And I have tons of recordings and a several shelves of folksong books that my reference-librarian father collected over the years.

I think the important aspect of all of this is keeping these songs in play. They may reach a plateau when they are found in a print or recorded version, but they invariably change a little when they become your own through repeated performances. Don't worry if you learned them from a durable source - just keep them in play. :)

Maggie Dwyer (Stilly River Sage)