New-York tribune., 1917-12-23
The Book and It's Complers

The Book and It's Complers
In the book published by the Put
mans there are 100 songs and ballads,
including nursery ditties ard tunes
with their variants TO the number Of
1923. How much Of Mr.. Sharp's work
while visiting in the South was mere
editing and revision of the songs gath
cred from the lips Of singers by Mrs.
Campbell could not be stated a year
ago; nor is it altogether plain now,
though IL would appear from the pres
ence Of Mrs. Campbell's name upon the
title page and the acknowledgment Of
Indebtedness which Mr.. Sharp gallant
" makes that the lsdy's material was
used as a foundation, and much Of Mr..
Sharp's labor consisted in getting
auricular confirmation of it and ap-
plying to it classification and analysis.
The collection, as we have It now, has
been worked out in the scientific spirit
illustrated in the publications of the
English Folksong Society and Mr..
Sharp's mastery treatise on the gen
cral subject Of English folksong pub
lished several years ago. To the songs
are appended the names Of the sing
ors, and Of the places where they were
written down, as well as brief critical
and historical notes and indications Of
their intervalHc, or modal, structure.
There is also a fairly comprehensive
biblography OF the subject from
which we regret TO observe the omis
sion Of a considerable number Of es-
says, illustrated by texts and tunes,
printed in this journal in the course
of the last fifteen years, and also Miss
Josephine McGill's volume of Folk
songs from the Kentucky Mountains,p
which was reviewed in The Tribune
simultaneously with Mr.. Sharp's vol
ume Of English folksong arrangements
last May. The latter omission is par
ticularly 70 be deplored since the evil
dence that Mr.. Sharp sll but ignored
the relics Of English songs preserved
~ NAN ANANNNhg - NhNAb "a
II was through the efforts of Miss
MeGill, the Edith Rubel Trio and The
Tribune (seconded by Miss Lorraine
Wyman and Howard Brockway, a little
later that the deposit Of traditional |
English folksong found in the Appa- |
lachian country was brought 20 the /,
notice of the American people in gem
eral Outside Of these sources scarce
ly anything was TO be found except in |
sporadic issues OF "The American
Folklore Journal" extending over a
number Of years. The songs in this |
collection from Kentucky were, with |
perhaps a single exception, plainly |
gathered before Mr.. Sharp began his |
collaboration with Mrs. Campbell, SO |
that il can scarcely be said TO be rep |
resentative Of the entire Appalachian |
region Miss McGill printed twenty |
songs Of those collected by her, Miss |
Wyman and Mr.. Brockway twenty-five; |
she present book contains eighteen, of |
which ten came from Knott County, |
one from Lee, one from Perry and five /
from Clay. This uneven distribution !
is Characteristic Of the entire book. OF |
the thirty-eight songs noted in Ten
nessee thiTty-three came from Flag
Pond; Of 1913 gathered in North Caro-
lius sixty-four came from Hot Springs.
thirty from Carmen, thirty-two from
AIlaruf,pA
ghany twenty-one from Black Noun.
tain and sixteen from Big Laurel.
One-hAlf OF the eighteen contributed
by Georgia came from RAbun County
and twenty Of VirginiA's twenty-nins
came from Woodbridge. This Unequal
ity is paralleled also in the singers.
Mr.. Sharp says in his introduction:
MANY Of the singers had
very large repertories. Mrs. Reuben
Hensley, with the assistance Of her
husband and her daughter, Emma, sang
me thir'y-hve songs, while Mrs. Sands
Allanstand gave me twenty-five; Mr..
Jef Stockton, Of Flag Pond, Tenn.
seventeen; n. b. Chisholm, Of Wood
bridge Va, twenty-four; Mrs. Tom
Rice Of Big Laurel, twenty-six, and
Mrs Jane Gentry, of Hot Springs, no
less than siSty-four. Attention has Of
Ten been called 10 the wonderful and
fe'en'ive memories Of folksingers in
England and l can Voueh for IL that
these American singers are, in this re-
speei, in no way inferior to their Eng.
lish contemporaries