George Malcolm Laws | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1919-01-04)January 4, 1919 |
| Died | August 1, 1994(1994-08-01) (aged 75) |
| Occupations | folklorist, professor |
George Malcolm Laws (January 4, 1919 – August 1, 1994) was a scholar of traditional British and Americanfolk song.[1][2]
He was best known for his collection oftraditional ballads "American Balladry from British Broadsides", published in 1957 by theAmerican Folklore Society. He graduated from theUniversity of Pennsylvania, and joined the English Department Faculty there in 1942. He gives his name to asystem of coding ballads; one letter of the alphabet, followed by 2 numbers. For example, "Laws A01" is "Brave Wolfe" also known as "Bold Wolfe" or "The Battle of Quebec". There is no immediately obvious logic, but a broad pattern appears: the letter A is for military songs, the letter D is for nautical songs, the letter F is for murder, and so on. The system is limited to 26 x 99 = 2576 distinct labels, and so tends to bring together similar songs. It is a useful adjunct toChild numbers. He includes many songs thatChild excluded, and of course, new ones that were found after Child died.
The letters A to H are for native American ballads.
The letters J to Q are for "American Ballads from British Broadsides". 290 British ballads are indexed.[3]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
