minstrel: replies

[Monica Cellio]

> 	Greg has more than 12 listed on his page, 

You're right in a sense; Greg lists 14 Child ballads for which there
are pre-1600 lyrics.  (Only two of those have pre-1600 music.)

> and yes, he is missing some, 
> even from English sources alone,

Um, I thought we were talking about Child ballads.  There is exactly
one source for those: Child.  I didn't say anything about broadsides
in general; there are lots more of those.

> but let's start with #1, Riddles Wisely Expounded. 

Yup, no question on the words.  What melody do you use?  (Or do you
recite it?)  When I was younger I used "Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom",
which I think is suggested by Bronson in his book that's called something
like "Music of the Child Ballads", but I've grown unconvinced that the
standard version of that melody is plausibly period.

> But why 
> should a ballad like "Glasgerion" which I can (so far) only date to 1650 be 
> a problem? [...]
> Lack of hard evidence is not proof that something does not exist (ask any 
> theologian, or for that matter, scientist), so if you can't PROVE the song 
> is out of period, where's the beef? 

Pass me that soapbox, will you?

I didn't say period-style OOP songs are a problem.  I said they're not
period.  Many, many people in our society say "this is period" when they
really mean "this can't be proven to be modern" or "this is plausible"
or "this isn't period but it's appropriate in the SCA anyway".  This
really irks the research pedant in me.  Say what you mean, darn it!
(I'm not trying to single Adelaide out here; *lots* of people do this.)
It is *dishonest* to misrepresent the facts like this!  It's *ok* to not
know!  One of my significant research areas is viking-era clothing; do you
think we have complete, perfectly-preserved garments to work from?  No; we
work from the evidence we have and we draw conclusions.  I say that this
apron-dress is a best-guess reconstruction that's consistent with the
evidence I've seen, and will explain why I went in this direction if
someone asks, but I'll *never* say it's period.  We don't know that.

Similarly, if you've got a ballad written in 1680 that's pretty much
indistinguishable from the 16th-century examples we have, go for it!
(After all, if that's a problem so are all compositions by SCA people,
nu?)  But *don't* tell me it's period; it's not.

Ellisif



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