Bodley Ballads search tip.

Subject: BS: Bodley Ballads search tip.
From: GUEST,Bruce O.
Date: 12 Aug 00 - 02:35 PM

It has finally dawned on me! I guess I'm getting dense in my old age. Probably most figured it out long ago, so this note is really just for dolts like me. I could have saved many hours of searching for ballads on the Bodley Ballads website (in Mudcat's Links) if this had occurred to me several months ago.

The reason for two boxes under Search for keyword in title, first line, or tune (direction) on the Bodley Ballads website is that you can put one keyword in the first box and another in the 2nd box (but only one word per box). This greatly simplifies searching when there are no uncommon words you know in the title, first line, or tune (direction).

Subject: RE: BS: Bodley Ballads search tip.
From: Mary in Kentucky
Date: 12 Aug 00 - 02:43 PM

Bruce, can you recommend some books for tunes? As best I remember, the Bodley Ballads only has words. I'm not familiar with the Penquin Book or the Oxford English Ballads, etc. so can someone list several? Also you mentioned one time about a book that gives the Child ballad tunes (expensive book). Can that be obtained in a reference library?

Mary (who is usually more interested in tunes than words)

Subject: RE: BS: Bodley Ballads search tip.
From: GUEST,Bruce O.
Date: 12 Aug 00 - 03:33 PM

I assume you mean collections of songs with their tunes. There are many books of tunes alone. For most folk songs there's no standard text and very often no standard tune. A text from one source and a tune from another usually don't fit well. Bertrand Bronson's 'The Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads' is collection of (almost) all the tunes (with texts for most) for the Child Ballads, but the Child ballads are a small fraction of the total of English language folk songs.

There are good anthologies like Lomax's 'Folk Songs of North America', but I usually steer clear of anthologies if I am not sure of the practices of the editor. Too often they have conflated texts, and carefully selected tunes. There are many books of primary collections (songs collected by the editor or editors with their tunes) and a complete listing would take months or years to do. Although it isn't very far along yet, I suggest you find 'The Traditional Ballad Index' in Mudcat's Links and click on the 'Bibliography'. Steve Roud's folk song index is much more complete, but that's not on the internet.

Subject: RE: BS: Bodley Ballads search tip.
From: Mary in Kentucky
Date: 12 Aug 00 - 03:49 PM

Thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: Bodley Ballads search tip.
From: Margaret V
Date: 12 Aug 00 - 09:22 PM

Bruce, thank you very much indeed for the tip. I have always felt like I wasn't quite understanding the search function at Bodley Ballads, and generally bumbled along as best I could, but now I have a better chance of success. Thanks a lot! Margaret