The distinctive features of these ballads and songs arise largely from
the circumstances of their origin. They were originally extemporized
in the presence of an audience; on subsequent occasions reproduced
partly from memory, partly under the inspiration of new listeners and
new conditions; then transmitted from singer to singer, and reshaped
by each. Thus there was evolved a composite product defying ascrip
tion to a single author which, though crude and homely as poetry, was
admirably fitted for immediate effect upon hearers who were neither
subtle nor critical.
One of the most widely discussed phases of this folk-poetry has been
the survivals of old British ballads. Many of these old ballads were
brought by the early settlers to the American colonies and have con
tinued alive by oral transmission in their transplanted home, even after
they had ceased to exist in this way in England. Of the three hun
dred and five English and Scotch ballads known to scholars, forty-two
have been found existing down to recent times in the Southern states.
Many of them are remarkably close to original versions collected in
England and Scotland; others have so degenerated as to be hardly
recognizable. According to information available in 1916, the five most
commonly found survivals of old British ballads in the South are the
following: "Bonnie Barbara Allen," "Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight,"
"Lord Thomas and Fair Annet," "Lord Lovel," and "The Maid Freed from the Gallows." The version of " Barbara Allen" (Child, 84*) here reproduced was found among the country whites of Mississippi in 1909 by Professor E. C. Perrow. That of " Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor" (Child, 73) was reported from South Carolina in 1914. Those of " The Hangman s Tree" (Child, 95) and of "The Wife of Usher s Well" (Child, 79) were discovered by Miss Backus in the mountains of North Carolina. The version of " George Collins " (Child, 85) comes also from the mountains of North Carolina. Other Traditional Songs. Of much interest are the traditional songs native to the South which have developed where under suitable conditions the ballad- making impulse has asserted itself and created a song around an unfortunate love affair, the capture of an outlaw, a battle of the Civil War, or other suitable material. Of much interest also are the negro songs. In the life of this race music plays a large part, especially in religious exercises and in collective labor. Many of the negro s songs are taken from the whites, but more are of his own devising and show all the characteristic features of popular composition. 1 This and the following references are to the authoritative collection Professor F. J. Child s "English and Scottish Popular Ballads."
