#child ballad

[linearao3]

So, a little while back, @pyrrhlc very graciously offered to send me a copy of Child Ballad he had bound, and naturally I was very hyped to accept this offer but (a) I live on the other side of the Atlantic, and (b) any packages I receive at my home address must go through my super, who is both daffy and an asshole, and has kept packages from me for time spans ranging from a week to three months to “denying he ever saw it,” so I was hesitant. But I worked out with my friend who lives in a nicer building that it could be delivered c/o her, so I was very excited about that.

Then there was some trivial misadventuring with the USPS, so I had to ask my friend to go fetch it from the post office for me. “It’s very pleasing to the eye!” she texted me, and I ran uptown to behold the wonder.

Now, the box was slightly bigger than I had anticipated, but I was initially just thinking I didn’t think Child Ballad was that long but I too would be worried about sending intricately-made art over the ocean so extra packing makes sense and joining my friend in admiring the box.

Please note the pattern of the paper. (I actually recognized it from a tumblr post of pyrrhlc’s.)

My friend and I carefully unwrapped it, at which point, she said, “you should make an unboxing video!” and I was not about to wait long enough to do anything that fancy but I did take pictures and look:

WHAT

WHAT

Friends. Comrades. Seen here now at home on my desk:

FOUR BOOKS.

Four extremely beautiful books! Plus an enclosed note with a handsome crow (the books are from the Black Crow Bindery!) which contains kind words about my fics and also edifying facts about the patterns on the covers! The Service Work ones are based on wallpaper from the 1880s! They all have pretty ribbons and handsome Baskerville typeface!

The two Service Work books also have these pretty metal corner guards which probably have a technical name I am unaware of! Tumblr won’t let me add more pictures! You can kind of see them in the others, though!

They are all very beautiful! I am very grateful! Please admire @pyrrhlc’s artistry in this as well as in his writing! I am admiring them on my bookshelf as I speak!

[skullhaver]

Which musical version of the Ballad of Tam Lin is the go-to one you hear in your head?

Fairport Convention (1969)

Anne Briggs (1971)

Steeleye Span (1992)

Mediæval Bæbes (2005)

Pentangle (2007)

Tricky Pixie (2009)

Anaïs Mitchell & Jefferson Hamer (2013)

Faun (2022)

Other (please mention in tags!)

Voting ended onFeb 2, 2024

[alltheworldsinmyhead]

kanej fandom having a collective meltdown whenever a new chapter of Child Ballad comes out is my favourite natural phenomenon

[apenitentialprayer]

Isabel sits by her window a-sewing, Aye, as the gowans grow gay, grow gay. And here’s a young elf-knight, his bright horn a-blowing, On that first morning in May, in May. On that first morning, first morning in May. “If only I had that sweet horn that’s a-blowing,” Aye, as the gowans grow gay, grow gay. “And that elf-knight lying in my bed until the morning,” On that first morning in May, in May. On that first morning, first morning in May. This maiden had scarcely these strange words a-spoken, Aye, as the gowans grow gay, grow gay. Till tap! At her window the elf-knight is a-knocking, On that first morning in May, in May. On that first morning, first morning in May. “Tis a very strange matter, I’m telling it to ya If I blow on my horn you come on all peculiar! Will you come with me to yon greenwood side? And if you say no, I’ll persuade you to ride.” He leapt on a horse and she leapt on another, Aye, as the gowans grow gay, grow gay. And they rode side-by-side to the greenwood together, On that first morning in May, in May. On that first morning, first morning in May. “Light down, light down, in the greenwood we’ve arrived!” Aye, as the gowans grow gay, grow gay. “For we have come to the place that you will die,” On that first morning in May, in May. On that first morning, first morning in May. “Have mercy, have mercy on me, kind sir!” Aye, as the gowans grow gay, grow gay. “I’d like to see my dear father and mother,” On that first morning in May, in May. On that first morning, first morning in May. “Seven young girls I have lured here and slain,” Aye, as the gowans grow gay, grow gay. “And ye shall be the eighth one of them,” On that first morning in May, in May. On that first morning, first morning in May. “Oh, sit down a while, lay your head on my knee, That we may be rested before that I die.” She stroked him so softly, his breathing grew deep; With charms in her fingers, she lulled him to sleep. Then she wrapped his dark belt ‘round his wrists to restrain him, Aye, as the gowans grow gay, grow gay. Then she wrapped his dark hair ‘round his throat so to slay him, On that first morning in May, in May. On that first morning, first morning in May. “If seven young girls on this spot you have murdered,” Aye, as the gowans grow gay, grow gay. “You better lie still here and harm nobody further,” On that first morning in May, in May. On that first morning, first morning in May. On that first morning, first morning in May. On that first morning, first morning in May. On that first morning, first morning in May. On that first morning, first morning in May.

[greencheekconure27]

The Corries - Jock O'Braidosly

[childballad]

An extremely brief guide to Child ballads.

What even is a ballad? Who is this ‘child’ and why are you capitalizing that word? What are all these numbers?

This post is a short and sweet introduction to traditional ballads and Child’s 305-song collection. It’s under a cut so you’re guaranteed the most up-to-date version!

WHAT IS A BALLAD?

Broadly speaking, ballads are narrative songs with a simple, repeating melody and rhyme scheme.

While there are many variants, traditional ballads sung in the British Isles and North America are often in quatrains (four-line stanzas) where the second and fourth lines rhyme.

The first and third lines are often in iambic tetrameter, with the second and fourth lines in trimeter. "Iambic" means an emphasized syllable follows an unemphasized one: dah DAH. Lines in tetrameter have eight syllables, while lines in trimeter have six.

Here's a stanza from Tam Lin (Child #39c): 

She let her seam fall to her foot, The needle to her toe, And she has gone to Chaster's wood, As fast as she could go.

WHO WROTE 'EM? WHERE'D THEY COME FROM?

The people did! The original authors of ballads are lost to history, and the songs appear in so many variants that there's almost never an identifiable "original" version.

Many of these ballads came to America with English, Scottish, and Irish immigrants who settled in Appalachia. Various traditions mingled, new ballads were written, and old ballads were passed on in new contexts.

SO WHO'S THE CHILD?

While researchers had been anthologizing traditional ballads since the late 1700s, Francis James Child's work in collecting and organizing ballads was foundational.

The "Child Ballads" are the 305 ballads collected and analyzed in Child's 'The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'. Each ballad has a number. Variants of ballads are collected under the same number and indicated with letters (ie, Child Ballad 39c).

WHY ARE PEOPLE INTERESTED? WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?

Many of Child's ballads are dark, sad, and strange. They deal frankly with dark topics including murder, rape, and incest. There are appearances by strange men who may be serial killers or devils or fairies, depending on the variant. They're like a sprawling, strange, musical collection of fairy tales you never heard when you were in kindergarten.

SO WHERE DO I START?

OPTION A: Start with what seems interesting Start with our intro posts tag for highlights and suggested listening, then go from there. Also check out Tumblr's favorite Child ballad -- Tam Lin, #39.  It's weird, it's spooky, it's got a spirited lady protagonist rescuing her lover, it's got a lot of wonderful recordings available (and at least two novel-length adaptations). It is also our best-populated tag and has a dedicated website.

OPTION B: Start listening Listen to Anaïs Mitchell and Jefferson Hamer's album Child Ballads, put any number of the Child Ballad playlists available on Spotify on shuffle, or see if your favorite artists have recorded any of the Child ballads.

WHERE DO I LEARN MORE?

Wikipedia had a convenient table that lists each ballad by name, number, and summary. Many of the ballads also have their own Wikipedia pages, which are linked from the table.

A useful intro essay on Child Ballads and the ballads in fantasy writing by Terry Windling: part one, part two.

Child was not terribly interested in the music of ballads. Bertrand Harris Bronson wrote about and cataloged many of the traditional tunes. 

Child Ballad Recordings catalogs many recordings of the songs, neatly organized.  

You're likely to run into the Roud Folk Song Index, a sprawling, modern index of folk songs.

Mainly Norfolk is an accessible, easy-to-browse resource. While not Child Ballad focused, they do have a Child Ballad Index.

Here’s a Spotify playlist of most of the ballads, in order. 

The Center for Computer Research in the Humanities at the University of Colorado Boulder has a massive concordance available for any highly specific research purposes.

[fianaigecht]

Sang "Sheath and Knife" at the Blas student concert today and didn't screw it up too badly! (Also yes I like sitting cross-legged to sing. If I stand I fidget and I'm incapable of sitting normally on chairs.)

[seiya234]

hey hi hello I listen to too many child ballads

---

(three times three times round the gallant ship)

She had never been a Good Girl. Or a Goodwife. And as much as she loved her babies three, she could admit to herself here and now that she had never been a particularly great mother either.

Goodwives did not abandon their homestead, no matter if they had never gotten the knack of cooking or weaving. Goodwives did not abandon their lawful husbands, no matter how dull they were in conversation or in bed. Goodwives did not abandon their children to the mercies of a clueless father or a potentially cruel stepmother.

And Goodwives should never feel sweet heat between their legs as their lover destroyed the ship uponst which they stood. 

(three times three times round the gallant ship)

Perhaps he was expecting her to tremble in fear.

Perhaps he was expecting her to beg for mercy, for forgiveness. 

For her soul. 

But she had made her choices, and she would stand by them, even as the tears dried on her cheeks. 

For no matter how bad they were, it was worth it.

Worth it to have sailed these past few weeks on the choppy seas, far from home.  

Worth it to have tasted spices that bewildered her tongue, to have gone to ports filled with wonders she could have never dreamt of. 

Worth it to have rocked back and forth with him inside of her, riding her lover as she crested over and over again.

(three times three times round the gallant ship)

“those are the hills of heaven my love”

His eyes hadn’t changed, though the rest of him had, in ways that she should perhaps find alarming but was more intrigued by.

“those are the hills of hell my love”

My love.

She stood on the now broken deck of the ship, the sea water starting to swirl around her ankles and yet she stared into the eyes of her lover.

My love. 

She licked her lips, even as the water reached her knees. Sink or swim. Was he a demon? Or the demon?

“If-” her voice caught. Damnit she was better than this.

“If I forsake this earth, and come along with thee, can you promise to keep me from eternal slavery?”

Her demon lover smiled. Then he struck the mast in a final flash of fire, sending them sinking to the bottom of the sea. 

(it was, she found, better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven)