The Child Ballads are the colloquial name given to The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. This collection is a massive archive of the folk tradition in Western Europe, and by collecting it Child created a song book that would shape the music of the 20th century.
Biography of James Francis Child
James Francis Child was born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA in 1825. Despite being born into poverty, he earned admission into Harvard. He later went on to become a professor there.
During a leave of absence, Child traveled to Europe and studied English drama and Germanic philology--the study of language and literature. This interest developed into a desire to collect the folk traditions of Britain.
Child's final and greatest collection, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, was published over ten volumes from 1882 to 1898. Later on, it was put into five quartos.
In 1893, Child was in a severe carriage accident. He never fully recovered, possibly due to his heavy workload with the collection. He died on Sept 11, 1896, and is buried in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Structure of the Child Ballads Catalog
The Child Ballads are separated into eight books, each covering a specific type of ballad.
- BOOK I. Ballads involving Superstitions and Magic.
- BOOK II. Tragic Love-ballads.
- BOOK III. other Tragic Ballads.
- BOOK IV. Love-ballads not Tragic.
- BOOK V. Ballads of Robin Hood, his followers, and compeers.
- BOOK VI. Ballads of other Outlaws,
- BOOK VII.Historical Ballads,
- BOOK VIII. Miscellaneous Ballads, especially Humorous, Satirical, and Burlesque
As is often the case with oral tradition, a ballad often becomes retold until different songs develop from the same source. Child takes this into account. Child writes in the preface to The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, “the rule has been to select the most authentic copies, and to reprint them as they stand in the collections, restoring readings that had been changed without grounds, and noting all deviations from the originals.”
Instead of listing the text for the infinite versions of each song, he catalogs a few lyrical changes rather than entire songs from the same wellspring. For example, Child include “The Three Ravens” (Child Ballad 26), but not its well known variant “The Twa Corbies.”
Even with omitting variant songs, the alternate lyrics can be exhausting. For example, “Lord Rendal,” (Child 12), has 20 alternate versions, not even counting the variant songs.
Impact of The English and Scottish Popular Ballads on Folk Music
The Child Ballads was the first thorough collection of English and Scottish Folk music. By collecting this vast knowledge in one book, Child created a reference for all musicians since.
Many of the songs collected in the Child Ballads have become the canon of 20th century Folk. For example, “Barbara Allen” (Child 84), has been covered by everyone from Pete Seeger and Joan Baez to The Grateful Dead to John Travolta. Bob Dylan used the format and melody of “Lord Rendal” (Child 12) in his song “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall,” making it a modern variant of the ancient ballad.
Did James Francis Child understand the impact that his collection would have? As a professor of literature, Child must have understood the importance of recording our history, art, and culture. He dedicated the rest of his life to this work, and the result of this work changed music forever.
Additional Sources
Child, Francis J. The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. 1886-1898. Www. sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/chtitle.htm
Nelson, Lesley. Francis J. Child Ballads: Biography, Lyrics, Tunes, and Historical Information. 1999. www. contemplator.com/child/index.html
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