Ballads
CONTENTS (ATTACHED PAGES):
1) 305 Child Ballads (with US versions) [Under progress, all of Child's 305 ballads and narration are available, The Recordings & Info page is roughed in.]
2) Other US Ballads of English Origin [not started]
3) US Ballads (Ballads from United States of America) [not started]
4) More English and Scottish Ballads- Matteson [started]
Pretty Polly- US Ballad of English Origin
The modern definition of the ballad was captured, and largely defined, late in the nineteenth century, by the work of Francis James Child. Kittredge, in his abridgement of Child's collection of ballads, describes the ballad as
"...a song that tells a story, or - to take the other point of view -- a story told in song. More formally...a short poem, adapted for singing, simple in plot and metrical structure, divided into stanzas, and characterized by complete impersonality so far as the author or singer is concerned."
John Henry- US Ballad