Jean Ritchie
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Jean Ruth Ritchie was an American folk singer, songwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player, called by some the "Mother of Folk". In her youth she learned hundreds of folk songs in the traditional way,
Ritchie playing the dulcimer, c. 1950s
The Cumberland Mountains
Alan Lomax
Ritchie playing the dulcimer in 1950, photo from the Library of Congress
Child Ballads
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The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and C
Jean Ritchie
…orally, from her family and community), many of which were Appalachian variants of centuries-old English, Scottish and Irish songs, including dozens of Child Ballads. In adulthood, she shared these songs with wide audiences, as well as writing some of her own songs using traditional foundations. She is ultimately…
8 Volume collection of Francis Child English & Scottish Ballads, 1860
Francis Child English & Scottish Ballads, 1860, Vol 1
The 1904 Houghton Mifflin edition of Child's English and Scottish Popular Ballads
Francis James Child collected the words to over 300 British folk ballads.