Ord's Bothy Songs & Ballads

Using this book is kind of like the days of using computers without mice.

John Ord collected a tremendous number of Aberdeenshire folk songs; between his work and that of Greig and Duncan, the region is probably the most-collected area in the world. The result is an immense trove of very valuable folk songs. No student of Scottish song should be without it.

Sadly, it is only a trove of very valuable folk songs. It has some tunes, but not many; it is even more lacking in source information. It is almost never possible to tell where or when a song was collected, or from whom, or to learn what the informant said about the song. Nor are there song notes pointing out other versions of the song or providing historical information. It's just -- show more a bunch of texts.

The result is a book that is very hard to use. Is it worth owning? Absolutely. Just -- don't expect to be able to do detailed song research based on what it includes. show less