Border Ballads: A Selection (Fyfield Books) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1857547101 ISBN 13: 9781857547108

Publisher: Fyfield Books, 2003

Synopsis

The Border Ballads are rooted in the wild and beautiful lands that lie between England and Scotland, a traditionally lawless area whose inhabitants owed allegiance first to kin and laird, and only then to the authorities in London or Edinburgh. Recording a violent, clannish world of fierce hatreds and passionate loyalties, the ballads tell vivid tales of raids, feuds and betrayals, romances and acts of revenge. They celebrate ungovernable heroes and powerful women, often in laments for the murderous results of breaking tribal codes, and they evoke the presence of an older border, between the natural and the supernatural worlds.
The Border Ballads were long regarded as primitive poems. This selection restores their identity within the oral tradition, setting them in the context of their time and place with the aid of maps and a glossary.

About this title

About the Author

James Reed is the author of "Walter Scott: Landscape and Locality."

Edition details

• Publisher: Fyfield Books
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1857547101
• ISBN 13: 9781857547108
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 188
• Editor: Reed James