Gary,There's a short explanation of the Laws system here
He categorized according to subject, which is what, I presume, the various letters refer.
Which is which, I don't know.
Anyone?
Jim
Mus 301
Appalachian Music
Fall 2000
Dr. R. Pen
NATIVE AMERICAN BALLAD REVIEW
G. Malcolm Laws, Jr. when confronted by the Child canon and the definitions springing from study of the Child canon, found himself trying to reconcile broadside narrative songs and native American ballads which were not absorbed within the 305 ballads of Child (or Bronson). Laws, thus evolved his own definition of the ballad which could be used to include these additional quasi—balladic narrative songs:
"A ballad is a narrative folksong which dramatizes a memorable event." Laws definition is in concordance with the previous statements except that he questions the approach—— the objective and impersonal approach as being ordinary ballad form.
If we accept Laws definition——and I do——I think we find three great bodies of narrative folksong in America——Child Ballads, Broadsides, and Native American Ballads. Laws in 1950 put together a list of 185 Native American Ballads in currency. His 1964 edition lists 256 NABS "current in tradition." Recorded sound certainly accounts for currency in part today. There are certainly more, new ones are written each day, old ones are no longer sung——but the total of 256 represented in the recent Laws catalog seems to be a reasonable number.
Laws categorizes his divisions according to subject. The subjects are devoted to particularly American experiences—— Professions, Tragedies, and Wars. Thus, the major categories are: WAR, COWBOYS AND PIONEERS, LUMBERJACKS (SHANTY BOYS), SAILORS, OUTLAWS AND CRIMINALS, MURDER, TRAGEDIES AND DISASTORS, BLACK, VARIOUS TOPICS (MISCELLANEOUS).
EARMARKS OF NATIVE AMERICAN BALLADS
1. The immediacy of the event——rather than being set in chivalric times, the event is current, or removed by several generations rather than centuries.
2. Less conventional language as the event is clearer in detail. Memory loss and negative tropism of transmission has not effected loss of parts of text that need to be substituted by conventional language. Some formulaic language has been maintained, however, as these ballads pattern themselves after their older Child ballad cousins. New conventional language arises such as pistols as the weapon of choice (calibre is always explicit)
3. Native American ballads are more explicit, Child ballads imply more than they state——the action is a symbol, the story is capable of various interpretations and conclusions. Native ballads state the story explicitly with detail and the outcome is almost always consistent.
4. There is frequently a stated moral at the end. (although this is unusual in black ballads——the blacks tend to be more dramatic and less moralistic than their white counterparts)
5. As democratic as America——The characters are generally "just folks" no ladies, kings, dragons, knights.
6. Love and its attendant treachery, jealousy, seduction, duels to the death, are not the staple of the Native Ballad Rather we find "difficulties and perils of various occupations, sordid crimes by insignificant people, of fires, and mine blasts, and railroad wrecks, of struggles against the frontier, of death by snake—bite or freezing, of trips on clipper ships——Death and struggle
7. Commercial in intent sometimes, often commissioned to capitalize on a recent event.
8. A Known author frequently
9. More subjective, confessional, emotional, sentimental
10. As with the Child ballads, the south has maintained the strongest tradition.
11. Approximately 2/5 of the Native American Ballads can be dated precisely (usually by the events to which they refer). Most are less than 100 years old. About 6 from the eighteenth century, 1800—1825 eight ballads, 1825—1850 eight ballads, 1850—1875 seventeen ballads, 1875—1900 twenty—two, and nine ballads in the twentieth century.
12. Dissemination of Native American Ballads has been less by migration (many written later than the great migration surges) and more through radio, phono. They tend to be maintained more regionally than nationally as they celebrate specific regional events rather than timeless stories of national and even international interest.
Article copy-pasted from the link cited above.
-Joe Offer-