Childe Ballads

Subject: Childe Ballads
From: Mel
Date: 27 Jul 98 - 05:22 PM

Somewhere I've heard the term "Child Ballads". At first, before I began striving for folk literacy, I assumed they were talking about children's stories. Then, in college, there was that poem by Lord Byron "Childe Harold" which only confused me on the issue. I'm putting the pieces together, since the release of Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music and Greil Marcus' Invisible Empire, and I'm needing to know: Is there a collection of English Ballads collected by a man named Childe and if this book exists is it available?

Subject: RE: Childe Ballads
From: Doctor John
Date: 27 Jul 98 - 05:33 PM

It's a surname - Francis Child, I think who collected and published a series of ballads, often referred to by number. The book should still be available as a muti-volume paperback: try your bookseller for "The English and Scottish Popular Ballads" "Childe" as in C. Harold or Rowland refers to a young man of noble birth; archaic usage.

Subject: RE: Childe Ballads
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 27 Jul 98 - 07:03 PM

G'day,
Professor Francis James Child of Harvard Uni published "The English and Scottish Popular Ballads" in five volumes between 1882 and 1898. They contain words to 305 ballads, with many variants of each, and with extensive notes on the origins of each.

In those days a ballad meant "a folk song that tells a story". For example Child #2 is "The Elfin Knight", a very old ballad of which "Scarborough Fair" is a more recent version.

Volume V has about 50 tunes; "The Singing Tradition of Child's Popular Ballads" by Bertrand Harris Bronson has hundreds of tunes for these ballads including many variants unknown to Child. There is an abridged version of this.

Child was not a collector, he relied on others in America and the UK to provide him with the songs. This is an incredible piece of work.

Cheers,
Alan (who is now late for a meeting)

Subject: RE: Childe Ballads
From: Susan of DT
Date: 27 Jul 98 - 07:33 PM

Child and Bronson are both out of print, but available thru interlibrary loan in many places. One of our dreams is to release the two on a CD ROM, we have started but it should take something like two years to prepare.

Subject: RE: Childe Ballads
From: Bruce O.
Date: 27 Jul 98 - 08:23 PM

A set of the Dover paperback reprint edition of 1965 is now being offered at the ridiculous price of $500 on www.bibliofind.com. I have an earlier reprint by Cooper Square, hardbound in 3 vols. There appears to be no reprint currently available.

More reasonable is the single volume edition by G. L Kittredge and Child's daughter, Helen Child Sargent (1904), and thats available 2nd hand at a more reasonable price at the site noted above.

Subject: RE: Childe Ballads
From: Alan of Oz
Date: 28 Jul 98 - 02:33 AM

G'day,
I have the 1965 Dover edition, bought new in about 1975 for about $100. Wouldn't part with it though, even for $500.

Cheers,
Alan (still trying to recover from a very long and boring meeting)

Subject: RE: Childe Ballads
From: Wolfgang
Date: 28 Jul 98 - 05:18 AM

I once had the choice to buy a cheap one volume version or the full, expensive version. I bought the cheap one. I wouldn't miss the money now, had I bought the expensive one. But I often miss the full five volume Child.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Childe Ballads
From: JB3
Date: 02 Aug 98 - 04:23 AM

You certainly shook me up when I read that Bronson was out of print. I have always meant to buy the set. I checked with several web booksellers and found "The Ballad as Song", by Bertrand Harris Bronson, ISBN: 0520013999, hard-cover edition, 324 pages, $38.50, from Barnes & Noble. Is this the same as the several-volume paper-back set that I have seen in friends' collections? I fear it is the condensed one mentioned above. In any case, is there a better place to order it? The above price doesn't include shipping and handling.

Thanks,

June

Subject: RE: Childe Ballads
From: JB3
Date: 02 Aug 98 - 04:44 AM

I do see the Bronson for $28 at the bibliofind site (great site!), but would appreciate answer to my other question. -JB3

Subject: RE: Childe Ballads
From: Bill D
Date: 02 Aug 98 - 10:10 AM

No, this is not the same thing, what they are selling seems to be just a book 'about' ballads by Bronson....it is unfortunate, but the sets of books of ballads, both the Child set and the Bronson set with tunes are quite expensive now...(I have also the 1880's set of Child's original collection which were published as part of the "British Poets" series...wonder what THAT would bring on this crazy market?)It will be someone's luck, that a year after they spend some outrageous sum on a used set, there will be a reprint come out...

Subject: RE: Childe Ballads
From: Bruce O.
Date: 02 Aug 98 - 11:57 AM

I got a 2nd hand copy of Bronson's 'The Ballad as Song' about a month ago for about $10. This is not related to 'The Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads'. I don't know of any abridged version of this work. I've been watching some internet used book sellers ads for a couple of months now looking for any volumes of 'The Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads' and haven't seen any volumes offered for sale.

Subject: RE: Childe Ballads
From: Charlie Baum
Date: 02 Aug 98 - 10:18 PM

Bruce--
"The Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads" by Bronson comes/came in a hardbound 5-volume set, published by Princeton University Press in 1972, and also a one-volume paperback abridgement put out by Princeton University Press in 1976.
--Charlie Baum

Subject: RE: Childe Ballads
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 03 Aug 98 - 12:07 PM

Sadly, though, the one-volume paperback contains only a subset of the 5-volume set

Subject: RE: Childe Ballads
From: Susan-Marie
Date: 03 Aug 98 - 12:58 PM

All in all, Susan of DT, it appears we await your CD ROM version with great expectation.

Subject: RE: Childe Ballads
From: Bruce O.
Date: 03 Aug 98 - 01:00 PM

Thanks Charlie, I didn't even know about the abridged edition of Bronson's work. Yesterday I stumbled across an adv. on the internet for 2 volumes (not further specified) of Bronson's 'Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads' for $350.