Border ballad


The Anglo-Scottish border has a long tradition of balladry, such that a whole group of songs exists that are often called "border ballads", because they were collected in that region.
Border ballads, like all traditional ballads, were traditionally sung unaccompanied. There may be a repeating motif, but there is no "chorus" as in most popular songs. The supernatural is a common theme in border ballads, as are recountings of raids and battles.

Ballad types

The ballads belong to various groups of subjects, such as riding ballads like Kinmont Willie, historical ballads like Sir Patrick Spens, and comic ballads like Get Up and Bar the Door

Collections

Representative samples include "Thomas the Rhymer", which opens in the Scottish town of Erceldoune ; and "Tam Lin".

Writings about

Sir Walter Scott wrote about border ballads in Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border - which was first published in 1802-3.
A.L. Lloyd said of the ballads: