Throughout his tenure at Harvard he collected ballad books in many languages and corresponded with scholars throughout the world in several languages. There is an expanded Francis J. Child Biography . There is a Complete list of Child Ballads at this site. For a list of Child Ballads with information and midi files at this site go to Francis J. Child Ballads . For more information see Early Child Ballads and the links at Contemplator's Short History of Broadside Ballads .
Folk music is music that has become part of a people's heritage through oral tradition.
A true folk song has no known author. Because of its oral tradition folk music is fluid. Variations in both tune and melody developed as music was passed orally through counties and countries. Folk songs are important both musically and historically as they define some part of a people's experience and become a part of a people's culture. Traditional music is becoming the preferred term for music which originated in the 15th to 19th centuries.