The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Vol. 2

by Francis James Child

Published between 1882 and 1898, this definitive collection compiles all the extant ballads with all known variants and features the Child's commentary for each work.  Volume II includes Parts III & IV of the original set — ballads 54–113:"Sir Patrick Spens," "Johnie Scot," "Child Maurice," "Fair Margaret and Sweet William," more.
   

Genres: Poetry, Music

544 pages, Paperback

First published September 8, 2003

About the author

Francis James Child (1825-1896) was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of English and Scottish ballads now known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor of rhetoric and oratory at Harvard University, where he produced influential editions of English poetry. In 1876 he was named Harvard's first Professor of English, a position which allowed him to focus on academic research. It was during this time that he began work on the Child Ballads.

The Child Ballads were published in five volumes between 1882 and 1898. While Child was primarily a literary scholar with little interest in the music of the ballads, his work became a major contribution to the study of English-language folk music.

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Read selections of the work for a module on Ballads and Popular Romance