SUGGESTIONSFOR TEACHERS AND LEADERS OFPOETRY HOURS
Primitive ballads have a straightforward felicity; many of them a conjuring melody as befits verse and music born together. Their gold is virgin, from the rock strata, and none the better for refining and burnishing. No language is richer in them than the English.Edmund Clarence StedmanThe old song of Chevy-Chase is the favourite ballad of the Common People of England; and Ben Jonson used to say, he had rather have been the author of it than of all his works.... For my own part, I am so professed an admirer of this antiquated song, that I shall give my reader a critic upon it.Joseph Addison
Primitive ballads have a straightforward felicity; many of them a conjuring melody as befits verse and music born together. Their gold is virgin, from the rock strata, and none the better for refining and burnishing. No language is richer in them than the English.
Edmund Clarence Stedman
The old song of Chevy-Chase is the favourite ballad of the Common People of England; and Ben Jonson used to say, he had rather have been the author of it than of all his works.... For my own part, I am so professed an admirer of this antiquated song, that I shall give my reader a critic upon it.
Joseph Addison
Balladsare living organisms.[1]If a teacher requires a pupil to analyze minutely a ballad according to rules of prosody and literary criticism, the analysis ruthlessly destroys its spontaneous folk-spirit. To dissect a ballad is literary slaughter.
We all know how the cold-blooded analysis of choice masterpieces destroys forever a pupil’s pleasure in reading them. The teacher of ballad-literature should use the opposite method to that of literary criticism. She should make her pupil delight in a ballad for its own sake; for its unity, its swinging rhythm, its unself-conscious expressions of emotion, and for the human life within it.
A ballad treated in this sympathetic manner will become a thrilling memory for the pupil to carry through the years. A ballad presented thus has educationalvalues besides that of giving joy. It may be used to develop the pupil’s sense of time and rhythm; to enlarge his vocabulary; to teach him to express his thoughts without affectation; to give him ease in sight-reading of Scottish dialect and old English spelling and to accustom him to obsolete words. As a memory exercise for the pupil, the learning and recitation of ballads is unrivaled; because young people memorize them without effort. And furthermore, ballads have dramatic qualities that hold and move a mixed audience of boys and girls of all ages—and of grown folk, too, for that matter.
But perhaps the most important educational function of ballad-literature is that of being a safety-valve for the escape of new, fast-rising feelings and enthusiasms of growing boys and girls, feelings that throng and press for utterance. Young people do not know how to put them into their own words, but find a wholesome and satisfying means of expressing their emotions through learning and reciting ballads or by reading them aloud.
Thereare many versions of old ballads, of some as many as twenty or more; those most suitable for young people are given here.
There are included here ballads in Scottish dialect, and in old English wording with obsolete spelling and capitalization. These versions may be used with confidence by the teacher, because no pains have been spared in collating them by authoritative texts.[2]
Even such differing forms aso’oro;wi’orwi;e’eoree;thenforthanorthanforthen; and variations of proper names, as in “Proud Lady Margaret,” have been followed according to the text used.
Quotation marks, only, have been added for the convenience of the young folk. A few objectionable, but unimportant, words have been changed. In the version of “Chevy-Chase,” Bishop Percy’sFolio Manuscripthas been followed with a few emendations from hisReliques, including the capitalization of the first letter of each line. TheFolio Manuscriptis more authoritative than theReliques.
Some of the ballads and verses which follow the old forms given by collectors are: “The Stormy Winds Do Blow,” p. 2; “Sir Patrick Spens,” p. 3; “The Dæmon Lover,” p. 7; “Chevy-Chase,” p. 21; “Proud Lady Margaret,” p. 62; “The Famous Flower of Serving-Men,” p. 65; “The Young Tamlane,” p. 255; “Thomas the Rhymer,” p. 93; “The Wee Wee Man,” p. 114; “The Earl of Mar’s Daughter,” p. 115; “Kemp Owyne,” p. 122; “Fair Anny of Roch-royal,” p. 191; “The Cruel Sister,” p. 196; “Blancheflour and Jellyflorice,” p. 209; “The Gay Goss-Hawk,” p. 218; “Bonny Baby Livingston,” p. 224; “Young Beichan and Susie Pye,” p. 237; “The Wife of Usher’s Well,” p. 263; “Sir Roland,” p. 265; the Robin Hood ballads, p. 290 ff.; “True Valour,” p. 355; “Pilgrimage,” p. 351; “Peace,” p. 356.
In striking and pleasing contrast to the old ballads are the modern ones with capitalization to please modern children. It may be noted that the texts of Keats’s “La Belle Dame,” and Campbell’s “Earl March,” are different from the versions usually includedin children’s ballad-books. The texts followed here are those most lately approved by literary critics.
Waysin which ballads may be used in the classroom or during Poetry Hours:
1.Reading aloud for development of literary taste.This is the most important educational use of ballads. The teacher should read them aloud to the class, giving them all their native swing and quick pulsation. The minstrels, who composed them, often accented words to suit the length of their lines; so if the reader will lend her voice to the rhythm of the verse, the accents will fall where they belong. Such words ascountry,harper,singer,damsel,lady, andbattleshould sometimes be accented on the last syllable, ascountrý,singér,harpér,ladý.
2.Memorizing and reciting.Boys and girls enjoy learning ballads by heart. They do so with astonishing ease. The teacher may assign one ballad to the whole class; or she may divide the class into sections and assign a ballad to each section. This should be done at least two or three weeks before the period for recitation. The teacher may then call on one or more of the pupils to recite.
3.Story-telling from the ballads.The teacher may read aloud a ballad. She should read it two or three times to the class. Then the pupils may retell it in story form either orally or in writing.
4.Dramatization.Ballads are so dramatic and simple in their movement that they may be easily acted in the schoolroom with or without improvised scenery and costumes. The teacher or pupil may read aloud the ballad, while some of the boys and girls act it out in dumb show; or, better yet, the actors may recite the lines that belong to their parts, and the teacher may read aloud the descriptive parts only. Whenever a refrain occurs, as in “The Stormy Winds Do Blow,” the whole class may join in reciting it.
5.Writing from memory.The teacher may assign a ballad to the class to learn by heart; and then she may have the class write it out from memory following closely the spelling, punctuation, and dialect of the text.
6.Original ballad-writing.Young people are natural ballad-makers. At the end of the year, after memorizing and reciting ballads and listening to them read aloud, the pupils will be so saturated with ballad-spirit and meter, that ballad-writing will be a second nature. The teacher may then tell, very briefly but interestingly, the plot of a ballad, and let the pupils put it into original verses, giving them a week or two in which to do so. After this exercise the teacher may assign a local legend or story for practice in original ballad-writing.
The Programme that is given here is merely suggestive. All the ballads in the book are good to read aloud, and most of them may be dramatized or memorized. The course presented below shows a teacher how she may, by progressive steps, develop her pupils’ taste for ballad-literature, and prepare them to appreciate more mature forms of narrative poetry, such as metrical romances and epics.
1st Week. Reading aloud:The Laidley Worm O’ Spindleston-Heughs, p. 148.
2d Week. Reading aloud:Little Billee, p. 159; Brian O’Linn, p. 160; Dicky of Ballyman, p. 162; The Cinder King, p. 167.
3d Week. Dramatization:The Stormy Winds Do Blow, p. 2; The Noble Riddle, p. 208; “Earl March looked on his dying child,” p. 203.
4th Week. Reading aloud:The Lady of Shalott, p. 124; The Singing Leaves, p. 131.
5th Week. Dramatization:Kemp Owyne, p. 122; The Erl-King, p. 86.
6th Week. Reading aloud:Robin Hood and Little John, p. 291; Robin Hood and Clorinda, p. 297.
7th Week. Dramatization:Ballad of the Oysterman, p. 164; Earl Haldan’s Daughter, p. 58; The Greeting of Kynast, p. 74; A Tragic Story, p. 158.
8th Week. Reading aloud (Halloween Week):The Spell, p. 254; Sir Roland, p. 265; The Cruel Sister, p. 196; The Skeleton in Armour, p. 270.
9th Week. Dramatization:Glenara, p. 212; The Dæmon Lover, p. 7.
10th Week. Reading aloud:King Alfred and the Shepherd, p. 176.
11th Week. Story-telling from the Ballads:Young Beichan and Susie Pye, p. 237.
12th Week. Reading aloud:The Fairy Thorn, p. 87; The Kelpie of Corrievreckan, p. 97.
13th Week. Memorizing and reciting:True Valour, p. 355; The Touchstone, p. 347; Barclay of Ury, p. 341; Pilgrimage, p. 351.
14th Week. Reading aloud:The Heart of the Bruce, p. 333.
15th Week. Memorizing and reciting (for Christmas):The Royal Court, p. 353; Peace, p. 356; The Three Kings, p. 357.
16th Week. Reading aloud:Lady Clare, p. 59; Sir Galahad, p. 348.
17th Week. Story-telling from the Ballads:The Earl of Mar’s Daughter, p. 115.
18th Week. Reading aloud:Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg, p. 32.
19th Week. Dramatization:The Gay Goss-Hawk, p. 218; Thomas the Rhymer, p. 93.
20th Week. Reading aloud:Young Tamlane, p. 255.
21st Week. Memorizing and reciting:Lord Lovel, p. 204; The Beggar-Maid, p. 214; The Sands of Dee, p. 190; Lochinvar, p. 215.
22d Week. Reading aloud:Fair Anny of Roch-royal, p. 191; Bonny Baby Livingston, p. 224.
23d Week. Story-telling from the Ballads:Blancheflour and Jellyflorice, p. 209.
24th Week. Reading aloud:The Child of Elle, p. 244.
25th Week. Writing from memory:The Birth o’ Robin Hood, p. 290; The Wee Wee Man, p. 114.
26th Week. Reading aloud:More Modern Ballad of Chevy-Chase, p. 21.
27th Week. Story-telling from the Ballads:Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy, p. 70; The Frolicksome Duke, p. 169.
28th Week. Reading aloud:May of the Moril Glen, p. 138.
29th Week. Writing from memory:The Wife of Usher’s Well, p. 263.
30th Week. Reading aloud:Sir Patrick Spens, p. 3; Hynd Horn, p. 231.
31st Week. Writing from memory:Proud Lady Margaret, p. 62.
32d Week. Reading aloud:Song of the Outlaw Murray, p. 301.
33d Week. Original ballad-writing:Barbara Allen’s Cruelty, p. 201; Alice Brand, p. 81; The Famous Flower of Serving-Men, p. 65.
34th Week. Reading aloud:The Eve of St. John, p. 279.
35th Week. Memorizing and reciting:The Fairy Tempter, p. 80; The Luck of Edenhall, p. 135; La Belle Dame sans Merci, p. 91.
36th Week. Reading aloud:The Mermaid, p. 10.
37th Week. Original ballad-writing:King James the First andthe Tinkler, p. 173; Valentine and Ursine, p. 314; Belted Will, p. 47.
38th Week. Reading aloud:Kilmeny, p. 101.
39th Week. Original ballad-writing:The teacher may assign a subject for this—a local legend or story of a patriotic or historical event.
40th Week. Entertainment for Parents and Friends of Pupils:The ballad-course may close with an afternoon or evening entertainment. This may be made delightful. All the pupils should take part in the exercises.
Many of the old ballads are set to charming ancient tunes, and may be sung by the whole school. Banjo or guitar accompaniment is specially appropriate to ballad airs. Musical scores for some of the ballads in this book—“The Cruel Sister” (“The Twa Sisters”), “Hynd Horn,” “Sir Patrick Spens,” “Young Beichan,” “Proud Lady Margaret,” “The Famous Flower of Serving-Men,” and “Lord Lovel”—may be found in Professor Child’sEnglish and Scottish Popular Ballads, large edition, part 10. If the music of old ballads is not obtainable, then popular, well-known ballads, such as “Annie Laurie,” “Ben Bolt,” and “Loch Lomond,” may be sung in their stead.
The following outline for an entertainment may be varied to suit the abilities and interests of the boys and girls who are to take part:
One or more ballads sung by the pupils.Recitation.Dramatization.Ballad-reading.A ballad solo.Recitation.Reading of the best original ballad composed by a pupil.Dramatization.Recitation.Close: the audience and pupils may sing one or more popular, well-known American ballads, such as may be found in any good song-collection.
In making up her Programme, the teacher should avoid selecting very long ballads for memorization and recitation. It is best to let the pupils who are to recite, choose the ballads they like best. She should be careful to balance her Programme with verses of all kinds—grave and gay, sad and weird, romantic and historical. She should so artistically compose her Programme that it will play on the emotions of her audience, moving it from laughter to tears, from awe to the heroic. That is what ballads are for, to touch the heart, as well as the head.
This entire course, as outlined for forty weeks, may be followed by Librarians and Social Workers. They may, however, shorten the Programme or alter it to suit the occasion.