Victorian Songhunters: The Recovery and Editing of English Vernacular Ballads and Folk Lyrics, 1820-1883

Professor Gregory achieves something commendable with Victorian Songhunters; he has written a readable scholarly book. Although this is densely written, Gregory has structured the book in such an orderly manner that the reader can read it cover to cover or read selectively without losing track of the narrative trajectory.

This is an excellent resource and a fascinating insight into 63 crucial years in the history of English (and some Scottish) song collecting.

The book gives good coverage of the trend during this period from exclusive attention to the lyrics towards a realisation of the importance of collecting melodies as well….The background and context for the core material of the book is well covered.

For general readers, Gregory (history and humanities, Athabasca U., Canada) presents the history of the recovery and popularization of English traditional song during the 19th century. He begins with a discussion of early collectors up to the 19th century, and moves on to chapters on the Romantics who collected songs, such as Thomas Percy, Thomas Evans, Joseph Ritson, and others; national and regional song collectors, including William Kitchiner, Davies Gilbert, and William Chappell; members of the Percy society; commercial song publishing by those like John Broadwood and Francis Child; the resurrection and repackaging of old pop songs; ballad editing; the Ballad Society; and the late Victorian folksong revival. The appendices include a discussion of interpretation and an alphabetical listing of songs. Texts and musical examples are incorporated.