Phillips Barry (1880-1937)
[Phillips Barry was one of the leading collectors and ethnomusicologists of early 1900s, his articles began appearing in the Journal of American Folk-Lore in 1903. He was involved in the Childish (pun intended) race to collect ballads (with Reed Smith of SC) and represented New England or the north as the oldest repository of ballads in America. Along with Louise Pound, he rejected the "communal" transmission theory of ballads and song and proposed a theory of "communal re-creation," the passing of the ballad or song by the individual who changed and remodeled the ballads in the process of learning them.
Barry was the principle editor British Ballad From Maine and later of Bulletin of the Folksong Society of Northeast and his article and notes reflect his depth of knowledge that rivaled his contemporaries (Kittredge; Belden) and paid homage to Child.
Attached to this page (on the left hand column) is an excellent 1973 article, Phillips Barry and Anglo-American Folksong Scholarship by R. Gerald Alvey, which details his life's work and theories. I've also included many of his published articles and reviews. R. Matteson 2011]
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Phillips Barry (1880-1937)
by George Herzog
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 51, No. 202 (Oct. - Dec., 1938), pp. 439-441
PHILLIPS BARRY
BY GEORGE HERZOG
Phillips Barry died on August 29, 1937, in Framingham Center, Mass. With his passing a richly productive life came to a much regretted end, and the field of balladry in America lost its foremost student. Mr. Barry was born in Boston, in I880, and pursued his undergraduate and graduate studies at Harvard University. His interests covered fields as varied as Balladry and Folk Music, Comparative Literature and Philology, Ancient Greek Music, the Early History of New England, and Theology. The men whose lectures at Harvard contributed most to stimulating and shaping his interest in folk literature were Professors George L. Kittredge, Leo Wiener, and Kuno Francke.
A course with Francke in 1902-03, in the History of the German Romantic Movement, left a profound impression on him. Soon after he began to search for ballads in New England, and was rewarded with finds which continued to grow with the years. Throughout his life a large share of his activity was devoted to classical and medieval studies, conducted in part with
Wiener. Articles in American Speech, the Notes of the Modern Language Association, and other philological journals bear witness to his interest in English philology. His publications, however, were concentrated largely on his studies of balladry.
In the early years of this century little attention was paid to W. W. Newell's discovery on American soil of a few ballads (Journal of American Folklore I899 and I900). It was generally held that the art of making ballads was a matter of the dim past, and that songs of this type, perpetuated by tradition, did not exist in this country. It was chiefly through Mr. Barry's efforts that these views were amended. Today the number of ballad-collectors is ever increasing in this country, and we have many authoritative collections of American versions of British folksong.
Mr. Barry, and Professor Louise Pound, attacked the theory of "communal ballad origin" according to which ballads were supposed to have originated through improvisation, by a group acting in concert. Mr. Barry suggested instead a theory of "communal re-creation," a process according to which songs created by individuals and handed down by tradition became remodeled and changed by practically each individual who sang them. The protagonists of the communal origin theory in time modified their views considerably, and emphasis has turned from theorizing to patient research.
A point he continually stressed was the importance of conceiving and studying folksong as a practically indissoluble union of poetry and music. He emphasized equally the significance of the study of regional variants.
Although his own collecting activities were limited to New England, his wide knowledge of sources, American or European, gave him a perspective few others could or can approach. Together with Louise Pound, and his collaborator, Mrs. Fannie H. Eckstorm, he has shown that the Cowboy songs which in the first decade of this century were hailed as examples of regional American folk creation, communally created, were for the most part sentimental songs whose authors and even printing dates could be
traced in the East. In later years his articles showed an increasing interest in American folksongs other than the transplanted British ballads.
He shared his extensive knowledge as generously as he gave of his enthusiasm to the findings of others. His vast resources, both of zeal and of erudition, are well known to those who were privileged to collaborate with him. It is much to be regretted that he never found the opportunity to write a general book on American folksong; his preferred technic was working in miniature. British Ballads from Maine, in collaboration with Mrs. Fannie H. Eckstorm and the late Mary W. Smyth, is a model of a
regional study of balladry. In I930 he founded, and then edited, the Bulletin of the Folk-Song Society of the Northeast. Most of the contents he contributed himself. In his book-review section he raised a voice of healthy and straightforward criticism and appraisal, a voice which was greatly needed and will be greatly missed.
Phillips Barry's more important writings on folksong and folklore:
American ballads (with others; Bulletin of the Folk-Song Society of the Northeast 5-12, I933-37).
American folk music (Southern Folklore Quarterly I:2:29-47, I937).
The ballad of Lord Randall in New England (JAFL I6: 258-64, I903).
Ballads and ditties (BFSSNE 2: 5--8, I931).
Ballads old and new (BFSSNE 4: 9--6, 1932).
British ballads (with others; BFSSNE 5-II, I933-36).
British Ballads from Maine (with Fannie H. Eckstorm and Mary W. Smyth, Yale University Press, I929).
Communal recreation (BFSSNE 5: 4-6, I933).
Folk-music in America (JAFL 22: 72-8i, I909).
A garland of ballads (JAFL 23: 446-54, I910).
Greek music (The Musical Quarterly 5: 4: 578-613, I919).
Irish come-all-ye's (JAFL 22:374-88, I909).
Irish folk-song (JAFL 24: 332-43, I9II).
The music of the ballads (in British Ballads from Maine, pp. XXI-XXXVII).
Native balladry in America (JAFL 22: 364-73, I909).
Negro folk-songs from Maine (BFSSNE 8--o, I934-35).
Notes on the songs and music of the Shakers (BFSSNE I: 5-7, 1930).
Notes on the ways of folk-singers with folk-tunes (BFSSNE I2: 2-6, I937).
The origin of folk-melodies (JAFL 23: 440-45, I910).
Polish ballad (BFSSNE 0--II, I935-36).
Some aspects of folk-song (JAFL 25: 274-83, 1912).
Some traditional songs (JAFL I8: 49-59, I905).
Songs and traditions of the Miramichi (BFSSNE 0o-I2, I935-37),
Songs of the Pigwacket Fight (BFSSNE 4-6, I932-33).
Springfield Mountain (BFSSNE 2, 5, 7-12, I931-37).
Swedish ballad (BFSSNE 7: I4, I934).
Traditional ballads in NewEngland (JAFL I8: 123-38, 191-2I4, 291-304, 1905).
The transmission of folk-song (JAFL 27: 67-76, I914).
The Two Sisters (BFSSNE 3: I-I14, I931).
Book Reviews (in the Bulletin of the Folk-Song Society of the Northeast):
Annabel M. Buchanan, Choral compositions (12, I937).
Louis W. Chappell, John Henry: A folk-lore study (8, I934).
Arthur K. Davis, Traditional ballads of Virginia (i, I930).
Helen H. Flanders, A garland of Green Mountain song (9, I935).
Helen H. Flanders and George Brown, Vermont folksongs and ballads (4, I932).
Harvey H. Fuson, Ballads of the Kentucky Highlands (3, I93I).
Mellinger E. Henry, Songs sung in the Southern Appalachians (10, I935).
John Huston, Frankie and Johnny (2, I93I).
George P. Jackson, White spirituals in the Southern Uplands (7, I934).
John A. and Alan Lomax, American ballads and folk-songs (i 1, 1936).
Maurice Matteson and Mellinger E. Henry, Beech Mountain folk-songs and ballads (12, I937).
George Milburn, The Hobo's Hornbook (i, I930).
John Ord, The bothy songs and ballads of Aberdeen, Banff and Moray, Angus and the Means (3, I93I).
Cecil J. Sharp, English folk-songs from the Southern Appalachians, 2d. ed. (6, 1933).
Archer Taylor, Edward and Sven I Rosengard (5, I933).
In preparation for the press: The Maine Woods Songster. 2d volume of Maine material.
Unfinished research: The Three Sisters ballad (in many European tongues), Little Musgrave, and others.
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Barry, Phillips, 1880-1937, collector. Songs and ballads from Maine: Guide.
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
© 2006 The President and Fellows of Harvard College
Descriptive Summary
Repository: Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
Location: b
Call No.: MS Am 2497
Creator: Barry, Phillips, 1880-1937, collector.
Title: Songs and ballads from Maine,
Date(s): 1843-1935.
Quantity: 1 box (.5 linear ft.)
Abstract: 19th and 20th century songs and ballads collected from the state of Maine by American ballad scholar, Phillips Barry.
Processing Information:
Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt
Acquisition Information:
*54M-226F Gift of Mrs. Phillips Barry, Cambridge, Massachusetts; received: 1955 Mar. 29.
Historical Note
Phillips Barry (1880-1937) was an American ballad scholar. He studied folklore, theology and classical and medieval literature at Harvard and founded the Folk-Song Society of the North-East and edited its Bulletin from 1930 until his death. He collected mainly in New England and collaborated with scholars in Vermont and Maine. (from: Grove Music Online)
Scope and Content
Includes autograph manuscript transcripts of ballads and autograph music notation of songs, compiled in the state of Maine between 1843 and 1935. Transcribers include: Lewis Pierce, Rosallie S. Wood, and Susie Carr Young. These notebooks apparently then were collected by Philliips Barry.
Container List
(1) Pierce, Lewis. Songs book : autograph manuscript notebook, 1843-1848 1 folder.
Text transcripts of ballads with index of songs at end. Also includes some financial records and lists of titles of books.
With manuscript note on inside cover: "picked up in Woodstock," [Maine?].
(2) Wood, Rosallie S. Songs : autograph manuscript notebook, 19??-1935. 1 folder.
Text transcripts of ballads with index of songs at end. Includes some explanations of origins of songs; mentions Maine locations of Brewer, Bangor, Clifton, Leonard's Pond, the blueberry bog called Chemo, and others.
Wtih inscription on cover: "From Mother to Rosallie."
With note on last page: "1935 Rosallie S Wood."
Includes one loose sheet.
(3) Young, Susie Carr. 25 fragments and old Mother Goose melodies (12) : autograph manuscript notebook, circa 1928. 1 folder.
Includes music notation and words.
Cover annotated: "Noted by Mrs. Susie Carr Young of Brewer, Maine in 1928. Chiefly from her mother and grandmother.
In a Presser's music writing book stamped: "From Andrews Music House Co, Bangor, Maine."
(4) Young, Susie Carr. Mrs. Susie C. Young's songs III : autograph manuscript notebook, circa 1928. 1 folder.
Includes loose sheet: "1846 ... Laura Holyoke Holmes by Annie B. Holmes."
In a Presser's music writing book stamped: "From Andrews Music House Co, Bangor, Maine."
(5) Young, Susie Carr. Songs sung by Mary Diana Fowler Carr : autograph manuscript music notebook, circa 1928. 1 folder.
Mary Carr was Susie Carr Young's mother.
Includes music notation and words. Inscribed on cover: "For Mr. Barry."
Includes loose sheet: "Jokes which father told that may go with the Arkansas Traveler."
In a Presser's music writing book stamped: "From Andrews Music House Co, Bangor, Maine."
(6) Young, Susie Carr. Songs traditional in the Carr, Soper, Viles and Fowler families of Orland, Me & Hampden, Me. : autograph manuscript notebook, circa 1928. 1 folder.
Annotated on cover: "Noted by Mrs. Susie Carr Young, 1928."
In a Presser's music writing book stamped: "From Andrews Music House Co, Bangor, Maine."