Songbooks: The Oxford Book of Ballads

Subject: The Oxford Book of Ballads
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 24 Nov 07 - 11:37 AM

Just found a copy of the Oxford Book of Ballads by Arthur Quiller-Crouch.

It has dozens and dozens of English / Scottish ballads in it, some of which look familiar. Is this a good find and source of songs or a Victorian anthology of written verse?

Subject: RE: The Oxford Book of Ballads
From: katlaughing
Date: 24 Nov 07 - 11:53 AM

It comes up in many threads. There is more info about it AND "The New Oxford Book of Ballads" in THIS LIST. Sounds like a great find!

Subject: RE: The Oxford Book of Ballads
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 24 Nov 07 - 12:58 PM

Thanks for the link, it looks like a list to keep me busy for the rest of my life!

Cheers

Les

Subject: RE: The Oxford Book of Ballads
From: Francy
Date: 24 Nov 07 - 01:41 PM

I have a copy of another book that might be of interest.......circa 1983 "The Oxford Book Of English Traditional Verse" chosen and edited by Frederick Woods.Frank of Toledo

Subject: RE: The Oxford Book of Ballads
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 24 Nov 07 - 06:10 PM

The material in Quiller-Couch is taken from other print sources such as Child, Scott, Percy and so on (beside including a fair number of literary 'ballad imitations'); so a lot of it will certainly look familiar. 'Q' was a poet and master anthologist, but considered the traditional ballad merely as interesting, anonymous 'folk poetry', so included no useful source or contextual information, and no music. His Oxford Book of Ballads is interesting as a literary curiosity, but should be considered obsolete as a source of information. It has been superceded by a new Oxford Book of Ballads (1969) edited by James Kinsley which, while it doesn't go into great detail, nevertheless acknowledges print and MS sources and provides music where such is available. It is a vastly superior work.

Subject: RE: The Oxford Book of Ballads
From: masato sakurai
Date: 24 Nov 07 - 07:04 PM

Quiller-Couch's book is available online. There are some that are not contained in Child's collection.

The Oxford Book of Ballads ([1910], 1966) at Internet Archive.

The Oxford Book of Ballads [e-book] at Bartleby.

Subject: RE: The Oxford Book of Ballads
From: Joe Offer
Date: 24 Nov 07 - 07:17 PM

The 1910 (Quiller-Couch) edition of the Oxford Book of Ballads is old enough to be undisputably in the public domain, so it is available online at http://www.bartleby.com/243/.

I get frustrated with the Quiller-Couch book because it has no background or source information. The 1969 Kinsley book is far more satisfying, although it certainly isn't one of my favorite books. In his preface to his 1969 edition, Kinsley says that most of the ballads in the two Oxford books can also be found in Child, but that the Oxford books were meant to be a popular collection of the best of the English ballads.

-Joe-

---

Dang. Masato beat me.

Subject: RE: The Oxford Book of Ballads
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 25 Nov 07 - 10:45 AM

Thanks to all, most informative. Many of the "Ballads" are so long I guess they were never songs as such. Twa Corbies is in their with more or less the same words that most of us sing and I got from Folk Songs and New Songs compiled by Alasdair Clayre who gives the source as:

"Words traditional in Scotland. Tune based on an ancient Breton melody Al Alar'ch (The Swan) set to these words by R. M. Blythmanof Thurso, and printed in Norman Buchan's 101 Scottish Songs.

Subject: RE: The Oxford Book of Ballads
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 25 Nov 07 - 12:32 PM

When did Quiller-Couch die?

Subject: RE: The Oxford Book of Ballads
From: GUEST,Kevin Sexton
Date: 25 Nov 07 - 12:36 PM

See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Quiller-Couch

Subject: RE: The Oxford Book of Ballads
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 25 Nov 07 - 01:00 PM

Not to be confused with Billy Bunter's form master.

Subject: RE: The Oxford Book of Ballads
From: Art Thieme
Date: 25 Nov 07 - 03:18 PM

In the very early 1960s Pete Leibundguth operated a rather beat little music store at 1500 E. 57th Street in Chicago. About '62 I convinced him to sell his only copy to me. (He had been keeping it for himself and it seemed to be quite rare then.)

Subject: RE: The Oxford Book of Ballads
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 25 Nov 07 - 03:23 PM

Do you get any songs from it Art?

Les

Subject: RE: The Oxford Book of Ballads
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 03:53 AM

I have spent some time mooching through the Ballads. It seems to place what most of us call traditional songs much closer to the written practice of poetry. Is that where most of our ballads actually come from?