The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-04-09
ALABAMA FOLKLORE RICH
 FIELD FOR INVESTIGATOR

historical value. Its literary value has perhaps been overrated. Unintelligent enthusiasm, the assumption that the unconscious poetry of the masses is on the same plane of merit as the pol ished verses of the artist-these mis- takes have caused many to hearken somewhat skeptically to all claims of literary merit for folklore. Yet these claims, after all, have some founda- tion. Naivete-unaffected simplicity and quaintness of expression and thought-is a distinct literary charm; witness the many who admire Chaucer for this supposed quality. Yet sell dom among the supposedly naive lines of Chaucer do we find anything bet ter than some of the really naive lines of the old Scotch ballads; seldom do we find anything. more expressive than the way the silken dress of the ballad heroine is said to "skinkle in our e'en.' or anything more vivid than the ballad description of an old crone as fat fadge by the frye
 "Even in the native ballads of Amer ica we have occasional vivid touches that could lay some humble claim to literary worth. There is a humor, de- pendent upon naivete. that is frequent ly present in American folksongs and always provokes smile. It Is gen orally crude and obvious, never keen or subtle, but its very crudity is often part of its effect. There is not suf- ficient time for me to give examples here, but if the folklore committee is ever able to publish a collection Of Alabama folklore, it will be seen that humor, generally unconscious. is one of the main charms of most of the songs. The Alabama travellers account of his conflict with Arkansas chills and mean licker.' who jumped over board the Titanic and was 'shottin' craps in Liverpool by the time the ship sank kitchen mutterings and hen roost adventures, grotesque descrip- tions of various 'ya1ler gals'-these and other humorous touches are found in abundance. There could, of course, be no question as to the worth of the old Scotch ballads: certain 1t is that the plainer literary qualities and the humor of American folksongs alike entitle them to preservation.
 GIVES TRUE PICTURES
 "The chief value of all folklore, however particularly folksong, is his torical rather than literary. It gives us true pictures of sides of life and clements of society that are often silent except through their songs. Some of you have perhaps heard Professor Lomax sing some of the cowboy bal lads he has recently collected in the
 southwest. If you have you will never forget the sidelights thrown on the cowboy character by such songs as Q, Bury Me Not on the Lone Prarie, and Get Along. Little Dogey.' The sailors chanty echoes the mans life and emo tions through his own words. not those of an alien observer. The logsins songs and mining songs and work gang songs and stevedore songs are alike honest reflections of the lives and thoughts of these people. 50 IS the folksong of the negro. Here IS no romantic coloring, or if there is 1t IS easily distinguished from th> sufround ing realism The religion Q thA i gre is truly characterized by sata songs as 'Sistah Mary We've Three trks oi Chain o, John Jesus Cenaln. Aitn Feet Been Taken Out de Mir clay and many others, that vii! fnnneakateiy spring to mind. How truly cilarerter- istic. too. are such work songs as 'Cap'n Says Hurry, I Say TaNe Ny Time Twelve O'Clock in Heil,' tha various yaller gal songs, The 'plnes,, and the songs in which trains and shoes and races and gamDiipg-~all ? prominent ideas in the negTo mtnd -- take their proper place of importance
 II hope have convinced any doupt
 ing Thomas that folklore is worthy o'