AN INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH-LANGUAGE FOLKSONG
STYLE: ¡METRE, PHRASING, RHYTHM AND FORM IN LARENA
CLARK'S TRADITIONAL SONGS
JAY RAH N
A m o n g many e xce lle n t Canadian traditional singers. LaRena Clark
sta n ds out as o n e o f the most i m p o r ta n t.1 Her repertoire c o n sists o f more
than five hundred son gs o f which about tw o hundred have been
rec o rd ed , both for Edith F o w k e ' s e x te n s iv e field c o lle ctio n , which sp ans
three d e c a d e s , and for com m ercial i s s u e s . 2 Her repertoire c o m p r is es vir­
tually e v e r y literary g e n ie o f traditional song from Child ballads and
child ren's so ngs through br oadsid es, native American ballads, and
lum bering, local, and sentimental so n g s, to minstrel sh o w , m usic hall,
early Tin Pan A lley, and country and w este rn pieces.-1*
T h e so n gs LaRena has recorded have remarkably c o m plete texts and
m any o f these have been found a m o n g no other singers. Her tunes se l­
d o m se e m fragmentary, distorted, or deteriorated, are uniformly
d elivered with c o nfidence and clarity, and almost never vary su b stan ­
tially from the first stanza to the last. In her public appearances (e .g .. in
folk festivals). LaRena has been a tireless advoc a te o f traditional son gs.
A p p r o xim ate ly 130 such son g s, from old ballads to lumbering so n g s, fall
within the mainstream o f folklorists’ interests. Further, a' nu mber o f
s o n g s she has c o m p o s e d herself are cast within the stylistic norms of
pre^twentieth-century tradition, although several deal with places and
p eople o f L aR ena's o w n acquain ta n ce. In short, am ong recent leading
singers o f English-language traditional so n gs. LaRena Clark can be
ranked in the forefront, along with such long-acknow ledged masters as
Jean Ritchie o f the U . S . A . and Britain's .leannie R o b ertso n .4
B e c a u s e o f both the c o n te x t in wh ic h LaRena learned her so n gs and
the breadth o f her repertoire, an exam in atio n o f her m elo d ies provides
o n e with an o v e r v ie w and a c ro s s-se ctio n o f traditional style in the 1920s
and 1930s. During this period, wh ic h com p r ises her child hood and
a d o l e s c e n c e in Ontario. LaRena learned most o f her p ieces from older
relatives, so m e o f w h om had English. Irish. Scottish. French. Am erican,
or Maritime roots. In what fo llow s. I bring to bear, on L aR ena's reper­
toire. fram eworks and findings o f previo us studies o f English-language
traditional song in order to establish L aR ena's place in the tradition as a
w h o le . In the course o f this su rvey, wh ic h is based on 115 transcriptions
o f L a R e n a 's traditional so n g s. 1 introduce both so m e re-formulations of.
and s o m e modifications and additions to. previous accounts.
S in ce I consider L a R ena 's so ngs little m asterp ieces o f traditional art. I
a lso try. in the c ou r se o f this su r v e y , to follow the lead o f Roger D.
A b rah am s and G eorg e F o s s , w h o ha ve written. I believe, the most
c o m p r e h e n s iv e and insightful introduction to Aiiglo-Aiiiericitii l-'olkson^
Style.* Like Abrahams and F o ss. I interpret asp ec ts o f traditional song
aesth e tically and thus try to provide a basis for what one might call
" f o l k s o n g app reciation." that is. a sort o f " p o etics o f traditional song. ”
Had I c h o se n another singer (for e x a m p le. O.J. Abbott. Tom l5randon.
or E m erson W o o d c o c k , other important tradition-bearers from Ontario),
the picture o f traditional so n g that w ou ld have em erged might have been
different. N e v e r t h e le s s . 1 feel that the stylistic variables which I treat
here are su fficien tly salient that o n e might take the present study as a
point o f departure for a ss e s sm e n t s o f other songs and singers.
T he stu dy that follo w s f o c u se s on musical asp ec ts o f English-language
s o n g and is. h e n c e , necessarily c o u c h e d in technical terms. N e v e r t h e ­
l es s. I attempt to define less c o m m o n words and phrases as they arise. As
w ell. I try to set English -language folksong style in a broader c o ntext.
A c co r d in g ly . I make brief c o m p a r ison s, for e x a m p le, with styles o f
popular, c om m ercial music that em erged in English -speaking countries
around the turn o f the century, the period when LaRena and her older
relatives learned so m e o f the so n g s she sings. H o w e v e r , it should be
e m p h a s iz e d that, in doing so. I am not trying to posit firm historical or
cultural c o n n e c t io n s a m ong the various kinds o f music to which I refer
(although I fee! that so m e such c o n n e c t io n s could be established), but
rather to set in relief certain broad similarities and differences in order to
clarity particular a sp ec ts o f L aR e n a's traditional son gs and to account
for the diversity o f the types o f so n g s in her repertoire.
M e tre
English-language traditional so n g is marked by a clear coordin ation o f
m usical a c centu a tio n and stress (or intonation) patterns in the texts.
From a prosodic point o f view , scholars have noted the great frequency
o f iambic, trochaic, dactylic, and anapaestic feet in English-language
folkson g. By and large, in L a R e n a 's traditional so n g s, iambs predom ­
inate. fo llo w ed by tr och ees, dactyls, and anapaests, in that order (see.
h o w e v e r , b e lo w )/'1
From both a textual and a musical point o f view', o n e finds that
L a R e n a 's so n g s, like those o f o th e r traditional singers, tend to be " i s o ­
c h r o n o u s " : that is. the a c cented sy llables o f s u c c e s s i v e feet generally
c o in c id e with e v e n ly sp aced musical accents. Further, the se ac ce n ts
tend o v e r w h e lm in g ly to be grouped in pairs, or " d ip o d s ." where the first
is more a c ce n te d than the se c on d . As Abrahams and F o ss have sh o w n ,
one can generally annotate these dipods by m eans o f single m easures o f
2 4. 6/8. 3/4 or 9/8 (see E .w . I to 4, respectively). In the first tw o c a s e s ,
s u c c e s s i v e textual ac ce n ts tend to be e v en ly sp aced, separated as they
are by a quarter-note and a dotted- quarter, respectively. In 3/4- and 9/8itines. I would argue, the accentu ation tends to proceed in short-long
pairs with the follow in g rhythm s b e t w e e n s u c c e s s i v e accents: quarter,
halt, quarter, half, and so forth in 3/4: and dotted-quarter. dotted-half,
dotted-q uarter. dotted-half, and so forth in 9 /8.7
By and large, in L aR ena's so n g s, as elsew'here in the tradition, entire
m e lod ie s tend to be cast in one o f th e se four metres. In in sta n ces where
there is a devia tio n from one o f the se patterns, (he relation is generally
one b e tw e e n a simpler s c h e m e, wh ic h is ne v e rth eless clearly discernib le,
and a more c o m p le x form. O f the four metres, the sim pler, nam ely. 2/4
and 6/8. are most frequent in L a R e n a 's repertoire and se e m to predom ­
inate in the tradition as a w h ole. A ls o . 2/4 and 6/8 se e m largely inter­
c h a n g e a b le . as d o 3/4 and 9/8. In deed, in som e instances wh ere LaRena
u s e s m uch the sam e tune for different texts, sh e sings s o m e son gs in 2/4
and others in 6/8 (see L.\. s). As well. LaRena s o m e t im e s m ix es 2/4 and
6.8 w ithin a single tune. In so m e c a s e s , these metres are c o m bined w'ithin
a single phrase, and in oth ers they are used in different h alve s o f the
m e lo d y (se e Ex. 6. m. 14. and Ex. 7). All o f these a sp ec ts o f metre are
fully traditional.x
Although various prosodic feet might be mixed in a song, the tendency
is for one sort o f foot to predominate, and o f the various possibilities,
iambs and trochees are the most com m on — especially iambs. Iambs
and trochees involve a single syllable betw een each pair o f accents, and
hence a simpler pattern with regard to number o f syllables per accent
than dactyls and anapaests, where tw o syllables appear betw een su cces­
sive accen ts. N evertheless, one also finds pairs o f accents without any
intervening syllable or with as many as three syllables betw een them (see
Ex. 1, m. 14 and Ex. 4, mm. 3 and 5).9
Throughout LaRena's repertoire, and, it seem s to me, within the tradi­
tion as a w h ole, where there is a variety o f practices in the style, a medial
value and/or a simpler value is found more frequently than a more com ­
plex or more extrem e value. N everth eless, as I show below , com plica­
tions may arise. H ow ever, rather than dism issing these as excep tion s, I
try to indicate how they can be regarded as exceptions which “ prove the
rule,” by virtue o f being the sim plest sorts o f excep tion s, and I attempt
to dem onstrate how the tradition can be understood as a style that has
had a spectrum o f possibilities, from the simple to the com plex, which
apart from large-scale historical shifts, might be exploited expressively at
any given tim e.10
Returning to matters o f metre, one can note that individual measures
tend to be grouped two or four at a tim e to form phrases o f m elody which
correspond to lines o f text. H ow ever, at the level o f the phrase and line,
the otherw ise relentless, basically binary framework is frequently inter­
rupted. Often a line o f text consists o f three textual accents rather than
four (as in “ ballad” or “ com m on m etre,” which is marked by groups of
4 + 3 accents — see below ). H ow ever, the “ m issing” foot (e .g ., in the
3-segm ent o f a 4 + 3 pattern) is com pensated for m usically by means o f a
pause in the form o f a long-held final note and/or a rest or silence. In this
w ay, the overall organization in pairs, or pairs o f pairs, o f musical m eas­
ures tends to proceed without a break throughout a song. Finally, lines
and phrases tend to be grouped by m eans o f rhyme into pairs, pairs o f
pairs, and even pairs o f pairs o f pairs, yielding a thoroughly binary,
“ four-square” hierarchy. Indeed, the bulk o f LaRena’s traditional songs
can be reasonably classified into th ose having “ short” tunes (consisting
o f 8 m easures) and “ long” tunes (consisting o f sixteen b ars).11
Eight-measure tunes are strongly associated in LaRena’s repertoire, as
elsew h ere, with the texts o f Child ballads and children’s songs, and
sixteen-m easure m elodies with broadsides, native American ballads, and
both lumbering and local songs. Within traditional song at the turn o f the
century, tw o large categories o f com plexity seem to have been available.
T hese can be represented by simpler, eight-m easure songs and more
com plex, sixteen-m easure pieces. In this regard, the developm ent o f
standard, thirty-two-m easure forms around this tim e, largely in com m er­
cial m usic, would appear to have opened up yet another expressive p os­
sibility for certain English-language singers, and the historical continuity
o f the overall binary fram eworks from “ folk ” to “ popular” forms could
account, in part, for the fact that traditional singers like LaRena have
what might otherw ise seem to be quite variegated repertoires from the
“ purist’s ” point o f v ie w .12
It seem s to me that, for a fulsom e understanding o f English-language
song at the turn o f the century, com parisons betw een traditional and
com m ercial repertoires are in order. Apart from the large-scale shift from
eight- and sixteen-m easure form ats to the thirty-two-m easure schem e,
there seem s to have been, within English-language tradition as a w hole, a
large-scale incursion o f what might be called “ heterochronous” metre
som etim e during the last century. This developm ent might well have
been rather com plex. For exam ple, one o f the “ heterochronous” songs
in L aR ena’s repertoire, “ Go and Bring Me Back the B oy I L o v e ” (Ex.
6), has its groups o f five (i.e., not the more normal four or three) melotextual accents consistently spaced as follow s: dotted-quarter, dottedhalf, dotted-quarter, dotted-quarter, double-half-plus-dotted-quarter
(the seem ingly aberrant tim e-intervals betw een accents are underlined).
H o w ev er, its sixteen-m easure format is thoroughly traditional, as is its
harm onic schem e, and textually, it is closely related to traditional songs
collected in the U nited States and Britain, though none o f th ese, or any
other traditional song o f which I am aware, has precisely the same m usi­
cal or lyric content as L aR ena’s v ersio n .13
With regard to the distinction betw een isochrony and heterochrony, it
also seem s to me that many o f the rhythmically repetitive accom pani­
m ents which one finds in music o f the folksong revival and in the
country-and-w estern idiom (e.g. strumming and picking patterns on
rhythm guitar, and bass and drum patterns in a rhythm section) can be
understood as w ays o f filling in “ isoch ron ou sly” the relatively long feet
(e .g ., the dotted-half and dotted-half-plus-dotted-quarter values above)
that often occur in the heterochronous vocal parts o f these relatively
m odern genres. In all such cases, the effect produced is one o f relentless
flow within each phrase and line, but whereas this effect is often
achieved fully only in the accom panim ents o f more recent styles, in pretw entieth-century traditional songs, w hich, in LaRena’s branch o f the
tradition, have alw ays been performed unaccom panied, the relentless
flow is usually accom plished by the singer’s v oice alone.
Phrasing
T he ongoing, often seem ingly relentless, isochronous, binary patterns
ju st discu ssed are quite frequently interrupted in LaRena’s singing by
details o f her rhythmic delivery. Although such aspects o f Englishlanguage singing style seem fully traditional, they have never been ade­
quately codified, probably because to capture them requires very
“ c lo s e ” musical analysis and transcription, which depends, in turn, on
great patience in the process o f writing down the m elodies. Indeed, I
w ould not guarantee that, in the transcriptions on which the present
study is based, I have caught every instance o f the sorts o f features
w hich I discuss presently. N ev erth eless, the patterns I have found
appear to be so uniform that one can attempt at least a rough typology o f
L aR ena’s w ays o f rhythmically “ putting across” a so n g .14
Q uite often, in her singing, LaRena adds or subtracts beats, or parts o f
b eats, relative to the overall metre o f a song. It might seem presumptu­
ous to insist that a given deviation from the predominant metre is either
an addition or subtraction on L aR ena’s part, for she has never em ployed
m usical notation, and, indeed, d o es not read m usic. In general, how ever,
o n e can clearly determ ine w hether a given departure from the overall
metrical structure o f a song is an addition or subtraction and how many
tim e-units are involved, because the standard o f reference represents a
sim pler structure that is clearly projected in the m elody. In other words,
temporal additions and subtractions consistently constitute com plica­
tions relative to a close variant, w hich, conversely, would have given
rise to a simpler organization. In this w ay, a seem ingly subjective a sse ss­
m ent. which might otherw ise be arbitrary or capricious, can be rendered
rather “ o b jectiv e." 15
In LaRena's perform ances of traditional songs, she frequently adds or
subtracts a metrical unit at the end o f a stanza or section. For exam ple, at
the end o f “ Com e Tiddly Wink Som e D ay“ (E x. 10), LaRena adds pre­
cisely an eighth note before beginning the second verse, and thereby
transforms the final measure into 7/8. At the ends o f both the main se c ­
tions (chorus and verse) for “ Rattle on the Stovepipe" (Ex. 7), she
relents for exactly one beat, and turns the 6/8 and 2/4 measures into 9/8
and 3/4 at these points.
Within the main body o f a stanza, LaRena often creates a pattern o f
metrical deviations. For instance, she pauses at the end o f the first half o f
each o f the four phrases in “ Come Tiddly Wink Som e D ay" for a co m ­
plete dotted-quarter beat so that, in a detailed transcription, the time sig­
nature is changed from 6/8 to 9/8 for a single measure in every instance.
In her singing o f “ The Mantle So Green" (E x. 8), LaRena consistently
adds a full eighth note at the words " w h isre/,” "fair m a id ," and “ robes
a nd " which appear at the end o f the first half o f the second, third and
fourth phrases o f the four-phrase structure. As w ell, the pause in the
fourth phrase serves to telegraph the title. As a w hole, the last line reads
as follow s: “ In her costly fine robes and [pause] her ‘M A N T L E SO
G R E E N ’."
Such deviations can be regarded as “ colours" o f what might be called
“ folksong rhetoric." and seem important to an understanding o f the trad­
ition as a “ sung tradition." Frequently ignored in the simplified tran­
scriptions which have so often served to document English-language
folksong, these rhetorical flourishes would appear to be important for an
understanding o f how the songs have been “ put across" to an audience,
or even to the singer him/herself, and I conclude this portion o f my
account with a reference to a sort o f procedure that seem s most likely not
to have been docum ented in published transcriptions, because generally
only the first stanza o f a melody has been written d o w n .16
W hereas LaRena som etim es finishes the last stanza o f a song with an
unmeasured ritardando, in som e instances, her deceleration at the close
o f an entire performance is precisely metred. For exam ple, she brings
her version o f "Rattle on the Stovepipe" (E x. 7) to a conclusion by turn­
ing the dotted-quarter notes o f the refrain's second last measure o f 6/8
into dotted halves thereby ensuring the effect o f what would be known in
popular- or com m ercial-m usic circles as a “ big finish." In Irish tradition,
on e finds the final words o f last stanzas often spoken rather than sung,
and L aR ena’s “ measured-ritardando" endings would seem to be an
alternative means o f achieving much the sam e traditional end. A lso, one
can note, in LaRena’s measured and unmeasured ritardandos. a tradi­
tional means o f delaying the tonal stability generally associated with the
conclusion o f a tunc and sim ultaneously complicating the melody jus!
before the end, albeit in the sim plest w a y .17
Within individual stanzas o f L aRena's songs, as other commentators
have pointed out for other singers, alterations o f metre generally do not
interrupt the flow o f the melody. In part. I would attribute the sm ooth­
n e s s o f the se little internal disruptions to the general a b s e n c e o f strong,
d y n a m ic ( i.e ., lou d n e ss) a c c e n ts in her singing and the fact that the tiny
d e v ia tio n s tend o v e rw h elm in gly to appear at the ends o f binary units;
that is, an e x p a n s io n or c ontraction is “ hid den," as it w ere, b e tw e en the
last syllable o f o n e unit and the first o f the next, rather than disrupting the
flow within a unit ( e .g .. in the middle o f the first or second half-phrase o f
a pair). A d ditio nally , although the precise proportions b e tw e e n the timeinte rvals b e t w e e n s u c c e s s i v e a c c e n t s are upset by such additions and
subtractions, L a R e n a 's modifications pr eserve, be tw e en a given level o f
the metrical hierarchy and the n e x t, higher level (e .g.. b e tw e en a subdivi­
sion and its r esp e ctiv e beat, or b e t w e e n a beat and its m easure), the rela­
tion b e t w e e n an approxim ate-half and its respective w h o le . Further, it
s e e m s that L aR e n a more frequently adds beats or parts of beats rather
than subtracting them. In other w or d s, the simpler e x c e p t io n , which
i n v o l v e s fe w er syllables per unit o f (clock-)tim e, predom inates ov e r the
m ore c o m p l e x . IX
Syncopation
B y and large, sym c op a tion o f a n y kind is rare in English-language trad­
itions derived from Britain (as distinguished from, for e x a m p le, AfroA m e ric an styles). This te n d e n c y in the tradition as w h ole and in
L a R e n a 's rendering o f that tradition lends to the overall musical style o f
A n g lo -A m er ic a n fo lk so n g a cast that could be characterized as relatively
" s t o l i d ” or “ sq u ar e." N e v e r t h e l e s s , one linds, in L a R e n a ’s repertoire,
in sta n ce s wh ere n j t e s that begin o n relatively weak parts o f a measure
are not fo llo w ed by notes c o m m e n c in g on the im mediately follo w in g,
relatively stronger part o f a m e a s u r e . 19
Th e kind o f s y m c o p a tio n that is by far the most frequent in L a R e n a ’s
repertoire is typical o f English -language song o f all kinds since at least as
early a s the se v e n te e n th century. In this sort o f sy n co p a tio n , a c centedun a cc e n te d syllable-pairs are rendered in a short-long, so-called " S c o tc h
sn a p " figure beginning on a relatively strong part o f the m easure and
ending on a w e a k e r part. In L aR e n a's version o f the v e rs e-se c tio n o f
"Barbara A llen " (E xam ple 3). such short-long accen te d -u n a cc e n te d
figures appear on the words " c i -t y . " “ d w el-lin g .” and " A l - l e n . " 20
M uch less frequent is a kind o f sy n cop ation where a syllable that is,
a c co r d in g to the normal ac ce ntu ation (or intonation) patterns o f English,
relatively ac ce n te d enters " e a rly ." i.e .. in a relatively unaccented part o f
a m usical m e a su r e, instead o f on the following, more strongly a c cented
beat. This sort o f "anticipatory s y n c o p a tio n " has b e c o m e e xtrem ely
c o m m o n in A fro-Am erican influenced styles o f twentieth-century pop u­
lar m usic, but is ex tre m ely infrequent in LaR ena's songs. O ne o f the very
f e w e x a m p le s o c c u r s in her rendering o f “ The Faggot Cutter" (Ex. 12,
m. 6. and cf. m. 10).
The final kind o f sycopatio n in L a R e n a 's son gs in v olves an underlying
triplet figure, which uniformly c o n s i s t s o f three eighth notes in the tran­
scrip tio ns, and o f which the middle portion is doubled in length, yielding
an eighth-quarter-eighth rhythm. In this sort o f sy n co p a tio n , the first
note o f the three-note figure is m ore a c ce n te d , both textu ally and m usi­
c ally. than the follo w in g tw o n o te s, and thus, this sort o f syn co p atio n is
similar to what o n e finds in the S c o tc h -sn a p figure. H o w e v e r , this figure
d o e s not con stitu te merely a temporary elaboration o f an ongoing.
unsyncopated (or “ com m etric” ) rhythm, but rather is em ployed in such
a w ay that it disrupts an underlying or surrounding com pound metre
(e.g ., 6-8). Indeed, in LaRena's performance o f “ The Lass o f G len sh ee”
(E x. 9), the short-long-short figure not only dominates but is also varied
by means o f added values (in the second half o f every measure excep t the
third), and there is. in fact, not a single measure cast in the “ underlying”
metre o f 6-8.21
In all instances o f syncopation, the stolid, square tendency o f the style
as a w hole is interrupted. In the case o f the Scotch-snap figure, a rela­
tively long durational value is associated with a note or syllable that is
relatively unaccented. In the rare exam ples o f what might be termed
“ anticipatory syncopation," the melody can be considered to “ sw ing,"
i.e ., along the lines o f Afro-American styles — at least temporarily. And
in the short-long-short pattern, a relatively long duration is associated
with a relatively unaccented part o f the measure, producing a kind o f
“ pensive dw elling” on the middle syllable o f the three.
Form
In L aR ena’s repertoire, as in English-language traditional song as a
w hole, eight- and sixteen-m easure stanzas dominate overw helm ingly.
A m ong L aR ena’s eight- and sixteen-m easure songs, one finds a number
o f stereotyped form s. O f these, the so-called “ com e-all-ye" form, which
is strongly associated with broadside ballads and both lumbering and
local songs having sixteen-m easure m elodies, but which is also found in
an eight-m easure form, is by far the m ost frequently encountered (see,
for instance, E xx. 5 and 8, respectively).22
The basic shape o f melodic repetitions in the com e-all-ye form can be
represented by the formula A BB A , where the first and last phrases (A)
are similar to each other and contrast with the middle phrases (B ), w h ich ,
in turn, resem ble each other. Although there might be slight deviations
from this basic schem e (e.g ., the first and last phrases might differ in
either their first or second half, yielding A B B A ’), it is generally not at all
difficult to recognize this pattern when it arises. Additionally, one finds
that the first and last (A) phrases in the traditional com e-all-ye form tend
to end on the same pitch, and the middle (B) phrases end on one or tw o
contrasting degrees (m ost frequently, it would seem , a fifth above the
final pitch o f the m elody, that is, degree 5). The hallmark o f the com eall-ye form would appear to be the conclusion on the finalis o f the m ode
(or the tonic o f the key) at the end o f the first and last phrases. B y finish­
ing on such an important note at the end o f the first phrase, the tune
establishes its tonality or modality very clearly at the outset, thereby
lending solidity to the overall structure.23
Other frequent patterns in L aR ena’s repertoire are A B A B ’ and
A A B A . Songs having an overall A B A B ’ form generally conclude their
first three phrases, and especially the second, on degrees other than 1;
that is, they have initial phrase-finals which are open and inconclusive.
In this w ay, the song is held in tonal suspense in the middle, and more
particularly, at the mid-point, o f the stanza (see E xx. 2 and 1 for eightand sixteen-m easure exam ples, respectively).
The A A B A tunes generally have a non-final ending on the third phrase
(B ), w hereas the first tw o phrases might conclude on any degree(s), esp e­
cially degree 1. This overall pattern, where the B-phrase (or “ bridge” )
constitu tes the principal passage o f tonal instability in the tune, is often
found, in a sixteen-m easure form am ong Stephen Foster songs, and in an
expanded, thirty-two-m easure form , in turn-of-the-century popular song
(i.e ., o f the early Tin Pan A lley variety). Indeed, in the traditional portion
o f L aR ena’s repertoire, one finds a number o f sixteen-m easure exam ples
(e.g ., E x. 10). and a single thirty-two-m easure m elody that seem s to have
derived from a popular son g.24
Common to all three types o f form is relative tonal instability in the
middle o f the tune. In the com e-all-ye type, this instability is located par­
ticularly in the second and third phrases; in the A B A B ’ type, especially
at the mid-point, i.e ., the end o f the second phrase, and in the A A B A
typ e, pre-em inently in third, “ bridging” phrase. As with the A B B A ,
com e-all-ye form, there might be slight divergences from the basic
A B A B ’ and A A B A patterns (e.g ., taking the forms A BA C or A A ’B A ,
respectively). N everth eless, the three schem es are, in general, quite
clearly recognizable as such and distinguishable from each other.
Other recurrent patterns (e.g ., A A A B ) are considerably less frequent
in L aR ena’s repertoire and seem also to be rather rare in Englishlanguage traditional song as a w h ole. In two o f LaRena’s songs, one finds
an A A A B form. In one instance, the com ic song "D evilish M ary,” the
overall form is som ewhat exceptional in other repects. In thé other case,
L aR ena’s children’s song “ King H enry Has Set Me F r e e ,” the A AA B
form is really more typical o f the children’s repertoire than the adults’.25
Other four-phrase forms am ong LaRena’s songs dò not seem to
represent particular tune-types (although they might be members o f par­
ticular “ tune fam ilies” ). For exam ple, traditionally, the so-called Child
ballads have been cast in a great variety o f shapes, and although one can
discern fairly frequently the progressive form, A BC D , among these
structures (cf., for exam ple, L aR ena’s version o f “ Barbara A llen ,” Ex.
3), this rather com m on schem e d oes not seem to represent, or to have
coaleced into, a “ type,"involving, for instance, particular patterns o f
phrase finals, as do thè A B B A , A B A B ’ and A A B A forms described
above. N everth eless, it would seem that eight-measure Child ballads
with an A B C D form , sixteen-m easure broadsides with an A B B A form,
and thirty-two-m easure Tin Pan Alley songs with an A A B A form
represent three clear patterns, or, more strongly stated, three distinct
stages, in the developm ent o f English-language son g.26
A s one proceeds from one type to another in this progression, the
overall lengths o f the stanzas increase but the amount o f repetition
decreases. In a sen se, it would seem that an increase in one dim ension o f
com plexity has beer, com pensated by a decrease in another. The Child
ballads strike one as relatively densely packed or concentrated state­
m ents, w hereas early Tin Pan A lley tunes o f the thirty-two m easure sort
seem som ew hat more diffuse. A lso , one can recognize intermediate or
m ixed types (e .g ., A B B A , com e-all-ye tunes o f eight m easures, and
A A B A m elodies o f sixteen). And w hatever might be the status o f the his­
torical progression just suggested, the various types have clearly co e x ­
isted within the repertoires o f individual singers like LaRena. M oreover,
a spectrum that com prises at least three broad configurations o f com ­
plexity can be rather unambiguously defined, and in L aR ena’s traditional
repertoire, it would seem that the centre o f gravity con sists o f sixteenmeasure broadsides and lumbering and local songs in the A B B A , com e-
all-ye form with four-m easure phrases rhyming aabb.
Additio nally , although the Child ballads are alm ost without e x ce p tio n
iso c h r o n o u s , early Tin Pan Alley s o n g s represent the o p p o site , heteroc h r o n o u s e xtre m e, and son gs wh ich appear to have been c o m p o s e d in
the last half o f the nineteenth century s e e m to constitute a middleground.
In this w a y . as w ell, the progression, or at least the categorization, just
outlined can be c o n sidered to entail a contrast b e tw e e n relatively c o n ­
cen trated forms (as represe nted by the Child ballads with their d e n s ely
p a c k e d , pulsating a c ce n ts) and relatively diffuse forms (as represented
by early Tin Pan A lley so n g s with their continually interrupted streams
o f a c c e n t s and their relative te n d e n c y to proceed in fits and starts).
Elaborations on the Four-Phrase Format
.
T he r e are three main w a y s in w h ic h the predominant, four-phrase for­
m ats ha ve been elaborated in English-language tradition. First, it hap­
p e n s from time to time that the last line o f a four-line stanza's text is
im m ed iately repeate d so that a five-line (and h e n c e , five-phrase) stanza
results. Generally, the m usic for the fifth phrase differs, at least a little,
from that for the fourth phrase, though the w ords are either precise ly the
sa m e or m uch the sam e. Further, the se c o n d last phrase tends to be
m u sic ally more " o p e n .' ' that is. less c o n c lu siv e , than the last. This sort
o f pattern, which is fairly c o m m o n in English-language traditional song,
is fou n d , for e x a m p le, in L aR ena's rendering o f one o f the standard
m e lo d ie s for “ T h e G old en V an ity" ( E x . 11). In su ch five-phrase stanzas,
the arrival, in the m ost a c ce n te d position within the metrical fram ework,
o f the m ost c o n c lu siv e phrase-final o f the song, nam ely, the last, is
d e la y e d f o r a phrase, thus heightening the “ drive" to the final cad e n c e.
N e v e r t h e l e s s , the addition o f a single repetitive line constitutes the sim ­
plest sort o f e x ce p tio n to the fourfold r u le.-7
A se c o n d standard w a y in which th e basic four-and eight-phrase struc­
tures have been elaborated in tradition in v o lv es using the sam e, or at
least m uch the sa m e, four-phrase m e lo d y for the ve rses as for the retrain
(or cho r u s), thus producing an eig ht-phrase, “ dou b le " stanza. N ot only
d o e s L aR ena use such d o u b le -s ta n z a s, she also em p lo y s trip le-stan/as.
w h e r e tw o s u c c e s s i v e v e rs es are j o in e d to a refrain, and in one instance.
L a R e n a e v en utilizes a quintuple-stanza form. H o w e v e r , consistent w ith
the te n d e n c y for simpler p h e n o m e n a to predominate, the simpler,
d o u ble-stanza formats are more frequent than the more elaborate
s c h e m e s . 28
T h e third w a y in which the dom inant four-phrase patterns are ela­
borated also i n v o lv e s refrains. H o w e v e r , in this instance, the refrains
c o n s i s t of, tw o or three, rather than four phrases (see . for instance.
“ T h e Faggot C u tter." Ex. 12). In this manner, the overall organization in
p o w e r s o f tw o (w hich could be term ed "binary e x p o n e n tia l") is broken
tem porarily. H o w e v e r , on c lo s er in sp ec tion , one finds that the twophrase additions really constitute an ex ten sio n o f the four-phrase
m e lo d y , o f which they balance the se c ond half, and the three-phrase
additions are similar, e x c e p t that the third added phrase balances the
s e c o n d added phrase. In sum . though four-phrase structures constitute
the largest group o f so n g s, both in the tradition as a w h ole, and in
L a R e n a 's repertoire, there are fully traditional w ays ol elaborating on
t h e s e sc h e m e s and th e se traditional proced ures are found Irom time lo
tim e am o n g LaR ena's p i e c e s . 29
E x a m p le 1. A d ieu U n to C o ld W ea th e r.
r M = g -------
Ü É
P
My
lo v e is on the o- cean; let him sink or let him sw im .
H e thinks in h is ow n m ind that I am
# .»# , f'.ß - # ,
n ot a s
$
g ood as
him .
He
thinks that h e can sligh t m e as he's sligh -ted tw o or three. I'll d e-n y and I de-
iÉ
fy
him , w h ere- e -
ver
he
m ay
be.
E x a m p le 2 . I'll R e m e m b e r Y o u , L o v e , in M y P rayers.
tj
r
-----
Now
r tîr
th t
n
ight
g o w here you w ill
uwiK
a ii
h en
Ii
on
L
m aal b
Ky
ir m
kneel
m uy
land or on
K
aH pii-la
n
bedside fto
sea, Y ou w ill share all m y sor-row s and cares,
pray, T'll
I'll
M
re--
m
m -ber
. h d r uAii
n
mAem
you Iloa uv^e iin
m
m uy
And at
nprayers.
fiu p r c
E x a m p le 3 . B a rb a ra A llen .
4
»u h
In
§
u
sh e had
L on-don ci-ty,
r
e-
where
p
£ r
very
youth-ful
I w as bom ,
There w as a fair
m aid
t - n ------------ ft1« N -----------J 5j
grace;
H er nam e w as
Bar- b'ra
d w e l-lin g ,
S
A l-
And
------ ¥£—
len
E x a m p le 4 . T h e C h ip p e w a S tre a m .
I
*
As
I w ent out w al- kin'
m or- ning in spring
P
-M — —
w ere ou t in
on e
b loom ;
There I
on the
K ip-pe- w a stream .
view the pret-ty ro-ses,
and they
¡h ^ p ,»
spied a pret-ty fair m aid,
J ^ ' IF i g s
w a-sh in g her li- n en
To
she w as
in the cold rain;
She'd been
E x a m p le 5 a . M o lly V a u g h a n .
I'll
tell
rich- e s
you o f an
they w ere
ac- c i-
great.
dent that hap- pened o f late.
As
It's
stepped
un* der a
Jen- n y with
they w alk ed o u t o n e e-v e-n in g , a sh ow -er it cam e
if [j iJ~3-
J
M ol- ly and
green
bush, the
sh o w - er
on .
A n d they
i J,
for
to
shun.
E x a m p le 5b . T h e F a r m e r 's S o n a n d th e S h a n ty b o y .
p ij j j
As
p i r r J iJ J J ^ J- » M r g
I w alk ed out o n e m or- n ing d ow n b y yon
gen - tly p assed them b y.
I
he
loved a
(! r - n
far-
side,
I
gen - tly p assed them b y.
im
mer's son, and the
o-
heard tw o m aids con -ver-sin g as I
m
heard tw o m aids c o n - ver- sin g as I
if
said
ri- ver-
j j
ther
a
O ne
i j
shan- ty-
b oy.
E x a m p ie 6 . G o an d B r in g M e B a ck th e B oy I L o v e.
¡ f t U ^ r r W
Go
and
bring
me
H -*'
back th e b oy
I
ÜÉÉ
m e.
Sure
pair
we'd
if
I
be.
had
lo v e .
G o and bring
him
back
to
PP
the o n e
I
lo v e,
W hat a
hap-
py
E x a m p le 7 . R a ttle o n th e S to v ep ip e .
nJj7m i !rj.iit
v
4*
Rat-
tie on
r
1
the
stove-p ip e,
1)
b o o t-ja ck ,
j. j.
PPi
M « .a
J ew ’s harp;
Rat- tie
on
the
-) J-J
*
b oot- jack
Joe!
S he
w as k is -
sin g,
I
w as
w ish - ing.
D id - n't k now what she
r n r t i r P i f f f Hf i r p r r
w as
stove-p ip e,
a-
bout.
R obbed m e o f m y gold and sil- ver, Then she k icked m e, threw m e
out.
Last verse: 1) -------------------------------------------- )
-J t
a. \
b oot-
jack
Joe
E x a m p le 8 . T h e M a n tle S o G re en .
#*8
ig r h
As
1
w ent
out o n e m or- n in g. on e
n igh -tin -gale w h is-tel and
m or-
the m ock-ing-bird
sin g,
In
ly
peared like so m e queen
her
cost-
I
j
nin e tin
spied a
fin e robes and
spring,
p ret-ty fair
her
To
maid;
m an* so
in- tie "
hear
sh e
the
ap-
green.
E x a m p le 9. T h e L a s s o f G len sh ee .
P* m
------ 1-----*-----------------------J * l tt
<
■y-
As
I
went
out
w al-
k in g
and
the
d ay-
light
w as
d aw - n in g, Bright
= £ = fc
$
P h oe-
s p ied
I
„
bus
a
had
ri-
pret- ty
J h fL = g = g
sen,
fair
sh o n e
m aid
„■
-who
>
o-
hom e
w as
ver
re-
i
the
tur-
lea,
n in g,
T here I
S h e’d been
£
¥ ---------------------- £--------------- 1--------- -her-
d in g
her
flock s o ’er
the
h ills
of
G len -
sh ee.
$n p i J - H
Oh,
my
girl
-
r p P r * I
she's
h igh -
bom
la-
d>,
C om e
b i1— ±i ------*----->
: "I j
jv~ j - b n
5---- =--- _------=----- c— £—
.i .
^ )— ¡_ J ---- JÌ----* -----—
Lf_.
lid*
d l-
not
y
wink
too
som e
sha-
dy,
day.
O il.
C om e
lid-
i u I r Pr p
day,
For an'
in
a
nest
tid-
d l-
y
ver
be,
wink
som e
dl-
is
dark
v
wink
bui
som e
r p r p
w here
é
I
sh e
birds
fly
free.
C om e
-jr
day.
Oh.
near
\
w .r ji
to
nca-
ven
an' she'll
I
e-
C om e
d:-
sonic
E x a m p le 11. T h e G old en V a n ity .
A ii
i
l
k
1
y
è
There
w as
a
f
’
.
»
K
■n
;
é
9
gal-
lam
_u
sh ip
in
North
A-
m e-
ri'
4 = 4 = *
£ f ii~
ca y .
T he
nam e
of
the
sh ip
w as
the
G ol-
den
Va*
ni-
___________ ¡W .-47It ~ l
■ n j
)—
« ) — •>— ,
fj
-----T ur­
~ 9~ '-------- 9 ---------said
w as
.....? >
d— l - ì
k ish C om -
mune.
And
to
be
ta-
ken
by
the
1— t— >— f H - 4 ----------' )•......r
p !
■— =1
sai'i;
in
n
j
.t
p
lands,
ihe
H
O'
—f — \------ r.— I—
—f -----9' r-------------U--------------------------1
lands,
low -
lands
r f
I- -£ = 4
And
sank
in
L
the
low.
E x a m p le 12. T h e F a g g o t C u tter.
P
1 1
O h,
----------- 9---9-r-
U z -D
here's
to
the
fa g -
got
cut-
ter;
he
works at
h om e with
m
m e.
He
starts
to
work
at
six
o'-
clock ,
and
quits
m
w h en - e'er he
)l J^r p 18fr~P H ygl8r J f n
p lease.
H
Hee
cuts
his
w ood
in
fa g -
got
bun- dies;
he
lays
it
on
the
ftt± J' -1
J >
ground;
Then he
takes
his
cord and
binds it.
Drink
'round,
my
b oys, drink
pwr p-fr-pi8r J1f
round.
Drink 'round, m y boys, drink
g d
»
round, m y boys.
r -e r
Ion*
mer-
ri-
er
you
York U niversity
N o rth York, O ntario
will
be.
gcr
that
U n-
til
it
co m es
to
p
you
sit
and
drink,
The
1.
2.
3.
4.
Edith Fow ke. T ra d itio n a l S in g e rs a n d S o n g s fr o m O n ta rio (H atboro. Pa: Folklore A sso­
ciates. 1965) provides brief biographies and lists o f pieces for ten im portant singers,
including LaR ena. F o w k e s L u m h e rin g S o n g s fr o m th e N o r th e r n W o o d s (Austin: Univ.
of Texas Press. £ 1970) docum ents thirteen significant singers, including, again. LaRena.
O ther Canadian collections feature prom inent perform ers. For exam ple. H elen Creighton
.says at the o u tset, p. I. o f F o lk s o n g s fr o m S o u th e rn N e w B ru n sw ic k /O ttaw a: National
M useum s o f C anada. 1971) that 'this volume might have been called 'The Dornan Book
of Songs.' referring to Angelo Dornan who is discussed both thereupon, pp. 1-3. and in
C reighton's M a ritim e F olk S o n g s (Toronto: Ryerson. 1962). p. 47.
A large portion o f Fow ke’s collection o f L aR ena's songs is housed in the Listening Room
of Scott Library. York University on tapes FO 25-33. originally recorded 1961-70. In addi­
tion to A C a n a d ia n G arland: F o lkso n g s fr o m th e P ro vin ce o f O n ta rio . Topic I2TI40. her
singing has been com m ercially available on a series o f self-published discs, now . unfor­
tunately out o f print. The list o f her songs in Fow ke. T ra d itio n a l S o n g s , pp. 100-1, can
now be substantially augmented because o f further recordings she has made and further
pieces she has recalled in the meantime.
Songs o f LaR ena have been published in Fow ke's T ra d itio n a l S in g e rs and L u m b e rin g
S o n g s and in her M o re F olk S o n g s o f C a n a d a (W aterloo. Ont: W aterloo M usic. 1967) and
T h e P e n g u in B o o k o f C a n a d ia n F olk S o n g s (M arkham. O nt: Penguin. 1986). The prelim ­
inary listing in Fow ke. T ra d itio n a l S o n g s provides a good indication of the breadth of
L aR en a’s repertoire.
In 1987. LaR ena was aw arded the Marius Barbeau medal by the Folklore Studies A ssoci­
ation o f C anada (cf. the announcem ent and biography in C a n a d ia n F olk M u s ic J o u rn a l.
15(19X71:54-55.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
Englewood Cliffs. N .J.. Prentice-H all. © 1965.
Ct. B ertrand H. B ronson. “ B allad." The N e w G ro v e D ictio n a ry o f M u sic a n d M u sicia n s.
(London: Macmillan. 1980). 2. p. 72. and Bruno N ettl. A n In tr o d u c tio n to F o lk M u s ic in
th e U n ite d S ta te s (D etroit. W ayne State Univ. Press. 1962). p. 40.
Cf. A braham s and Foss. p. 135.
Ct. Cecil J. Sharp. E n g lish F olk S o n g : S o m e C o n c lu sio n s (London: M ethuen. 3rd ed..
1954). p. 81. N ote that Richard Johnston notates the opening rhythm of "R attle on the
S tovep ip e" as pairs o f dotted eighths and sixteenths w hereas I hear the quarter-eighth
rhythm o f Ex. 7.
In this w ay. one might resolve the difference of opinion betw een Bronson, p. 72. and
A braham s and Foss. p. 133.
Cf. Jay Rahn. A T h eo ry f o r A ll M u sic (Toronto: Univ. o f Toronto Press. 1983). p. 185. on
exceptions that prove the rule in stylistic analysis.
Cf. Bronson, p. 72. on common metre. The terms "c o m m o n " metre, with the following
stress accents: 4 + 3. " lo n g " metre: 4 + 4. and " s h o rt" metre: 3 + 3 are borrow ed from
Protestant hym nology w here they connote iambic schem es having 8 + 6. 8 + 8 and 6 + 6
syllables, respectively.
On the 32-measure form in Tin Pan Alley songs, see Charles Hamm. Y esterd a ys: P o p u la r
S o n g in A m e r ic a (N ew York: N orton. 1979). for exam ple, p. 309. where the 64 m easures
o f 3/4 could well be notated as 32 dipodic. e .g .. 6/4 or 6/8, m easures.
Related texts appear in Sam Henry. “ Songs o f the P eo p le." N o rth e rn C o n s titu tio n
(C oleraine. N orthern Ireland. 1924-38). no. 692. William A. O wens. T exa s F o lk S o n g s
(Dallas: Texas Folklore Society. 1950). p. 151. V ance Randolph. O za rk F o lk so n g s
(Columbia: State H istorical Society o f M issouri. 1946-50). vol. 4. p. 260. and Henry M.
Belden and A rthur P. H udson, T he F rank C . B row n C o llectio n o f N o r th C a ro lin a F o lklo re
(D urham : Duke Univ. Press. 1952) vol. 3. no. 257. I am grateful to Edith Fowke for these
references.
Previous discussions include Sharp, p. 79: Bruno N ettl. F o lk a n d T rad itio n a l M u sic o f th e
W este rn C o n tin e n ts (Englewood Cliffs. N .J.: Prentice-H all. 1965). p. 61; and George W.
Bosw ell. "M etrical A lteration in Folksinging." J o u r n a l o f A m e r ic a n F olklo re. 85 (1977):
248-59.
By con trast, determ ining w hether metrical units have been added o r subtracted in French
traditional song is much more perilous because o f the great frequency of heterom etre in
the style (concerning which, see Jay Rahn, "T e x t U nderlay in G agnon's Collection of
F rench-C anadian S o n g s." C a n a d ia n F olk M u s ic Jo u rn a l. 4 (1976): 3-14.
On the im portance o f viewing traditional song as a sung tradition, see Bertrand H. B ron­
son. The S in g in g T radition o f C h ild 's P o p u la r B a lla d s (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press.
1976). pp. xxvii-xlvi.
Cf. H am m 's account o f I89's Tin Pan Alley style in Y e ste rd a y s, pp. 284-325. where
several sorts o f "b ig finish." each o f which involves a com plication o f some kind, are
illustrated.
18. Cf. M aud Karpeles* comment in A/i Introduction to English Folk Song (London: Oxford
Univ. Press. 1973). p. 26 that such metrical complexities are "m o re apparent to the eye
than to the e a r .”
19. See R ah n ./I Theory, pp. 131-38 fo ra definition o f syncopation.
20. On the early history o f the Scotch snap, see David Johnson. "Scotch S n ap ." The N ew
G rove, vol. 17. pp. 67-68.
21. The eighth-quarter-eighth figure can be considered more complex than the eighth-eightheighth figure insofar as the relations of approxim ate-halves to the whole (cf. Jay Rahn.
"E valu atin g M etrical In terp retatio n s.“ Perspectives o f N ew M usic. 16.2 (1978): 35-49 and
betw een tim e-intervals o f equal size are foregone in (he former.
22. Cf. K arpeles. p. 25.
23. Cf. M aude K arpeles, ed.. Cecil Sharp's C ollection o f Folk Songs (London: Oxford Univ.
Press. 1974).
24. On the frequency of ABBA. ABAB' (or ABAC), and AABA forms in tradition, see Kar«
peles. p. 24. and Sharp, pp. 73-75. and note 26, below. The only 32-measure AABA song
in the traditional portion o f L aR ena's repertoire that f know is "T he Ploughboy." which,
like "C o m e Tiddly Wink Some D ay ," seem s to have been a popular song that went "in to
trad itio n " and was altered in the process.
25. For L aR ena's version o f the rare ch ild ren 's song "K ing H enry Has Set Me F re e ." see
Edith Fow ke. Ring A round the M oon (Toronto: McClelland & Stew art. 1977). p. 31. and
for a discussion o f the form in which it is cast, see Jay Rahn, "S tereotyped Forms in
English-Canadian C hildren's Songs: Historical and Pedagogical A spects," Canadian
Folk M usic Journal. 9 (1981): 43-53.
!
26. The characterization o f ABCD as the most frequent form in English-language folksong by
K arpeles. A n Introduction, p. 24. and Bronson, "B allad ," p. 73, would seem to refer to
Child ballads rather than the repertoire as a whole.
27. Cf. A braham s and Foss, p. 63.
28. Cf. A braham s and Foss, p. 67. LaRena em ploys the quintuple-stanza form in “ The
R aftsm en's So n g ," for which see Fow ke, Lum bering Songs, no. 64. p. 212.
29. F or o ther instances o f such "controlled e x te n sio n ," see Rahn, A Theory, pp. 101, 110 and
146 -4 7 . N ote, as well, that the patterns o f syllable-rhythms outlined, for exam ple, in
N ettl. Folk and Traditional M usic, pp. 60-61. and in Sharp, English Folk Song, p. 87. are
frequent in L aR en a's repertoire and can be viewed as a direct product of the principles
developed above.
Résumé: Jay Rahn analyse le style traditionnel des folkloriques dans le
répertoire de L a R en a Clark, une chanteuse populaire ontarienne. //
dém ontre que l ’examen des mélodies de celle-ci reflète le style tradition­
nel des an nées vingt et trente, qu a n d LaRena a appris ses chanson. A
l'aide d 'exem ples, il discute les traits — rythme, fo r m e et métrique — qui
caractérisent ce répertoire.