Origins:
The origin of the word "ballad" strikes me as odd. According
to Webster's dictionary, the word ballad derives from the old Provencal
word for a song sung while dancing, and that word from the Latin "balare"...to
dance. (Hence "ballet.")
Dancing has been something of a red-headed stepchild, (acknowledged but
not embraced), in Kentucky during my lifetime. That could be the reason
that I did not witness any traditional or spontaneous dances while learning
the ballads. Maybe I just wasn't in the right place at the right time....or
it could be that the fusion of balladry and dance WAS common long ago,
merely muffled during my time by discouraging social mores. Be that as
it may... this spring I sang several ballads at a party on a hill not
far from where I live and a number of people danced. I think if they
had known the lyrics, they might have sung along. Ballad and Ballet may
well join hands once again.
The ballads that I sing have stories. They tell the stories of events,
(usually events where someone does something wrong,) that happened in
an imagined past, and continue to happen in imagination. Continuity is
the defining quality...the story told by the ballad renews its significance
as it passes through the lives of its singers and through the times the
singers live in. The relationship of the details of the story to events
described by historians is seldom, if ever, the point of singing a ballad.
A Finnish folklorist, Aado Lintrop, wrote; "It is not enough to merely
recognize the places and beings of the supernatural world; to gain full
control over the vision, it must be described in words - to sing or retell
it. For singing or retelling one's experience means giving a more traditional
form to an individual experience."
Here's a link to a site with information about broadsides, with links
to several sites containing general information about ballads:
The Contemplator's
Short History of Broadside B...
concerning ownership:
The ballads can raise peculiar issues concerning ownership
in our very commercialized society. The printing press was still a new
invention when the "broadsides," printed sheets of paper bearing the
words to traditional ballads, were offered for sale. I think that it
is interesting that early efforts at printing were directed toward bibles,
ballads, and playing cards!
For much of their journey the ballads passed through families and friends
who had little or no thought of their value in terms of money. They were
valuable by being beautiful and useful, and I suspect most singers were
happy to share them as freely as the air.
So here is my take: You are welcome to sing whatever I personally have
contributed to these ballads, either lyrics or music, whenever and however
you wish, and I wish you great success! For me, art is both what we share
and how we share it.
I have cited on these pages the individuals who have contributed to my
way of singing these ballads. In every case their knowledge was shared
very graciously. If you want to use their work for any reason, contact
them and gain their consent. In some cases their work is protected, and
usage of it limited, by copyright law.
The ballads on this site that are not specifically detailed as to their
sources are my own invention, after the manner of traditional material,
or are constructed from uncopyrighted material. I should note that I
am not a ballad scholar...much of what I sing (and write) is sheer fancy.
If you are searching for a firm foundation, move farther from the shore.
"Whether a poular ballad lives or dies depends not so much on the quality of
its ancestors as on its ability to evoke new associations that touch the values
and concerns of successive generations. Those who would use the word "traditional"
to denote something that has not kept up with the times fail to recognize
that tradition - at least popular tradition - sustains only what is alive."
Edith Randam Rogers
If you would like more information on this subject, or anything pertaining
to The Ballad Project, feel free to email me at: dand31@webtv.net
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