Travellers' Songs from England and Scotland

by Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger (Editor)

Originally published in 1977. The Travellers, from those living in bow-tents and horse-drawn caravans to those dwelling in motor caravans and permanent homes, are an important source of traditional music. Their society means that songs that have died out in more settled communities are preserved among them. Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, widely known as two of the founding singers of the British and American folk revivals, here display a vast fund of folklore scholarship around the songs of British travelling people. Resulting from extensive collecting in southern and southeastern England and central and northeastern Scotland in the 1960s and 70s, this book contains 130 songs with music and comprehensive notes relating them to folkloristic and historical points of interest. It includes traditional ballads and ballads of broadside origin, bawdy, tragic and humorous songs about love, work and death. Most are in English or in Scots dialect with four in Anglo-Romani.

Genres: Music

387 pages, Hardcover

First published December 12, 1977

About the author

James Henry Miller, better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor, born in England of Scottish parents. He is known as one of the instigators of the 1960s folk revival as well as writing such songs as The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and Dirty Old Town.

MacColl collected hundreds of traditional folk songs, including the version of Scarborough Fair later popularised by Simon & Garfunkel, and released dozens of albums with A.L. Lloyd, Peggy Seeger and others, mostly of traditional folk songs. He also wrote many left-wing political songs, remaining a steadfast communist throughout his life and engaging in political activism.