Transportation ballads

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Transportation ballads are a genre of broadside ballads that concern the transportation of convicted criminals, originally to the American colonies and later to penal colonies in Australia. They were intended to serve as warnings of the hardships that come with conviction and thereby a deterrent against criminal behavior. Transportation ballads were published as broadsides—song sheets sold cheaply in the streets, at markets and at fairs. Many have passed into the folk tradition. [1] [2]

Contents

Motifs and themes

Transportation ballads are almost exclusively related in the first person from the perspective of the convicted person. They employ a number of frequent themes including:

More rarely, transportation ballads served as a form of protest, particularly as a means of opposing the sentencing of those convinced of political crimes.

Examples

The following extracts exemplify such themes:

A good upbringing

My father and my mother dear they nourished me in my tender years,
They little thought I should be trapann'd and banished from my native land.

"The returned convict; or the horrors of transportation" (Roud V9114) [3]

Bad influences

I fell in love with a damsel, she was handsome and gay,
I neglected my work more and more every day.
And to keep her like a lady, I went on the highway,
And for that I got sent to Australia.

"Australia", as sung by Cyril Poacher [4] [5]

Harm to family

Farewell my aged mother, I'm vexed for what I've done,
I hope none will upcast to you the race that I have run;
I hope you'll be provided for when I am far away,
Far frae the bonnie hills and dales o' Caledonia.

"Jamie Raeburn's Farewell", as sung by Daisy Chapman [6]

Harsh conditions

They chained us two by two and whipped and lashed along
They cut off our provisions if we did the least thing wrong
They march us in the burning sun until our feet are sore
So hard's our lot now we are got to Van Diemen's shore

"The Female Transport" (Roud V1284) [7] [8]

Notable works

Songs classified as transportation ballads

Other folk songs referencing penal transportation

References

  1. Rouse, Andrew C. “THE TRANSPORTATION BALLAD: A SONG TYPE ROOTED IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND.” Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies, vol. 13, no. 1/2, 2007
  2. "Ballads Online".
  3. "Ballads Online".
  4. Plenty of Thyme - MTCD 303
  5. "Cyril Poacher Booket Notes".
  6. "Jamie Raeburn (Roud 600; G/D 8:1535; Henry H151)".
  7. "Australian Folk Songs | Female Transport".
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 February 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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  12. "The London Prentice Boy - Keith Summers English Folk Music Collection - World and traditional music | British Library - Sounds".
  13. "London Prentice Boy - Keith Summers English Folk Music Collection - World and traditional music | British Library - Sounds".
  14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. "Chorus from the Gallows: Ewan MacColl at theBalladeers". Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  16. "Ballads Online".
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  18. "Ballads Online".
  19. "Flash Company / The Yellow Handkerchief / Myrtle Tree (Roud 954)". mainlynorfolk.info. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  20. MacAlister, Charles. "Old Pioneering Days in the Sunny South". pp. 72–73.
  21. 1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 February 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  22. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 October 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  23. "Frame 02714". Bodleian Library. Archived from the original on 13 May 2022.
  24. 1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 30 October 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  25. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 October 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  26. "The Cotton Spinners' Strike. - Strugglepedia". www.radicalglasgow.me.uk. Archived from the original on 25 April 2013.