Scottish Ballads

This happened quite often in Scottish ballads at the end of the last century, and so two people singing the same ballad might present it slightly differently (Ballad). In the version of John Henry discussed here, "I'll die with my hammer in my hand" in verse one and "He died with his hammer in his hand" were such types of stock phrases that could be placed in the song if the words were forgotten. Then "Lord, Lord" at the end of the fourth line can also be used to flesh out the verses, and can be added if lines are forgotten.

Ballads contain a lot of dialogue, and action is often described in the first person (Ballad). Sir Patrick Spence contains dialogue: "O whar will I get guid sailor, To sail this schip of mine?" in verse one, and "Sir Patrick Spence is the best sailor, That sails upon the se" in verse two (Mostly). In the version of John Henry discussed here

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The first type of rhythm, abac, is found in ballads which include a chorus in the verse. In this case, the first and third lines of each verse rhyme, and the second and fourth lines, which are repeated as a chorus in each verse, also rhyme. This type of chorus is called a burden. The second type of rhyming scheme, aabb probably developed by the dropping of the burden, so the first and second lines rhyme, and so do the third and fourth. The third rhyming scheme, abcb, is the most common type of rhyming scheme found in Child's ballads. In this rhyming scheme, only the second and fourth lines rhyme. The ballad of Sir Patrick Spence has the rhyming scheme abcb, with only the second and fourth lines rhyming (Mostly). The rhyming scheme in John Henry is abcbb, with the fourth line being repeated slightly abbreviated as the fifth line in the scheme (Ballad). Less than perfect rhyme combinations are often used by ballad writers. This came about partly because the ballad was originally an oral tradition and dialects varied widely from one place to another, so words did not necessarily sound the same when spoken as the way they looked when written down. However, when they were sung with the right dialect, the rhymes seemed to
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1365
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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