Cecil Sharp's American Folk Song Discoveries: "Traditional Songs" From the British Isles

When English folklorist Cecil Sharp (not "Cecile") collected songs in the Appalachians (1916–1918), he found hundreds of ballads and folk songs with clear British Isles origins—preserved orally for generations in isolated mountain communities.

What He Found

• Child Ballads (Francis James Child's 305 canonical English/Scottish ballads) — e.g., "Barbara Allen," "The Gypsy Laddie," "Lord Randall."
• Broadsides, lyric songs, play-party songs, hymns.
• Variants diverged from UK versions — new melodies, localized lyrics, Appalachian modalities (gapped scales, pentatonic).

"Traditional Songs" — The Precise Term

Sharp called them "folk-songs" or "traditional songs." The definition:

Songs transmitted orally, of unknown authorship, existing in multiple variants, shaped by community aesthetics over time — distinct from composed, printed, or commercial music.

Why They Survived in Appalachia

• Geographic isolation (pre-radio, pre-road).
• Cultural conservatism (Scots-Irish settlers, Baptist/Methodist).
• Functional role: work, lullabies, courtship, ritual, entertainment.
• No competing mass media until 1920s.

Sharp's Legacy

English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians (1917, 1932 with Maud Karpeles) — 1,600+ tunes. Founded the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS). Inspired the US folk revival (Seeger, Lomax, Dylan).

Sharp didn't "find foreign songs." He found British songs that became American through oral transmission — the definition of tradition.