The more I read about Appalachian history, the more I realize how little I know about it. I really enjoyed hearing and listening to this week's British Ballads. I find the consistency in theme intriguing; the ballads seem to personal, single narratives about love affairs, revenge, escape. I think a majority were written by women because they concern sexual struggles from a female standpoint. It is interesting that "love" emerged as such a powerful theme in the British ballads, above religion, death and afterlife. Perhaps this speaks to the loneliness people were encountering at this time.
The imagery that comes to mind when I hear these ballads and read about Appalachian history is of a desolate, isolate, and beautiful place. The lyrics are often simple and rhythmical. I read in an encyclopedia that Appalachia came to be viewed as a "repository for a dying tradition" in the late 19th century, and this is why collectors/folklorists began to search for ballad singers and their repertoires.
I'm grateful that these songs were preserved. They speak of a time and place that was destined to be forgotten or looked over in history, had it not been for the Appalachian music tradition that came out of it.
This makes me wonder what has been lost in time. To think that so many beautiful songs could emerge from Appalachia makes me think that a great many others, from different places in America and around the world, have been lost. Thank goodness these were not among them.
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