Welcome to
The Traditional Ballad Index

An annotated source to folk song
from the English-speaking world

Version 6.6 • October 22, 2023


Click on one of the links to get started

Disclaimer

This is a reference work to songs sung over many centuries, many of them unacceptable by the standards of today (indeed, some were unacceptable by the standards of the time). The editors of the Ballad Index do not endorse the songs' attitudes or the language in which they were written. But we document them, lest the people of today forget what was done in the past.

Search the Ballad Index

 Go to the Ballad Index search form, with Google and DuckDuckGo searches. Try the Google Search here: (The searches now mostly work.)

Full Contents of the Ballad Index

 View the Annotated Table of Contents (list of songs in the Index, with descriptions if you hover over them).

Quick Contents of the Ballad Index

 Un-annotated Contents -- just shows the song titles.

Files for the Ballad Index

 A list of files to download and links to other pages on the site.

Instructions for the Ballad Index

 Instructions for how to use and contribute to the Index.

Bibliography for the Ballad Index

 List of books included in the Index, with abbreviations.

Discography for the Ballad Index

 List of recordings included in the Index, with abbreviations.

What's New in the latest version

 A version history of the Index, showing what books were added when and what other features were included.

Articles in the Ballad Index

 The Ballad Index includes many extended articles about ballads. This gives a categorized list.

 


 

The Ballad Index is copyright © 2023 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.