Andrew Crawfurd (3 results)

Green Cloth. Condition: Very Good Plus. 1975 & 1996. Two volume set. PP lvii, 244; lx, 265. B&W frontispiece portrait of Crawfurd to volume 1. A few melodies are included. Publisher's green cloth with gilt titles to spines. Volume I has slight bumping to the spine ends. Otherwise these volumes are in excellent condition with no inscriptions. PLEASE NOTE - Heavyish set so may require a little extra postage for non-UK customers. Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads and Songs is one of the most important published sources for Scottish traditional song and ballad scholarship. The collection preserves material gathered by Andrew Crawfurd, a Scottish antiquarian and folklore collector from Renfrewshire. In the 1820s he worked alongside his friend William Motherwell, collecting songs and ballads from oral tradition in western Scotland, particularly around Lochwinnoch. Much of the material was gathered directly from local singers rather than copied from printed sources, making it especially valuable for understanding how traditional songs were actually sung and transmitted. The manuscripts remained unpublished for more than a century. They were eventually edited by Emily B. Lyle and issued by the Scottish Text Society in two volumes. What makes the collection particularly significant is that Crawfurd carefully recorded information about his singers and informants. Scholars have praised the richness of these notes because they help date the traditions and assess the authenticity and transmission of the songs. The collection contains hundreds of items, including: Traditional narrative ballads (many related to the famous Child Ballads) , Love songs , Historical songs , Humorous songs, Nursery and children's songs, Fairy lore and supernatural ballads . Among the well-known ballads represented are versions of "The Cruel Mother", "The Three Ravens", "The Wee Wee Man", "Jamie Douglas", and "Lord Gregory". For folklorists, the collection is especially valuable because it captures a snapshot of Scottish oral tradition in the early nineteenth century, before industrialization and mass print culture had further altered many local song traditions. It provides evidence not only of the songs themselves but also of the communities and singers who kept them alive.

Hardback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days.

Hard Cover. Condition: Fine. No Jacket. Reprint. 2 volumes. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.