Folk Songs
Children really enjoy singing folksongs. These songs often tell a story and have a lively tune while some are melancholy and have sad endings. Folksongs are a very important part of our cultural heritage because they draw you into the mood of earlier times and help you to better understand the people. Unfortunately, they seem to be dying out in America and the average child today doesn’t know or care about many well-known songs of our past--songs that our parents or grandparents used to sing to us with fondness. Folksongs are fun, and easy to sing. They are part of a liberal education, enriching our lives with beauty, history and culture.
Study two folk songs per twelve week term. Some of our favorites are listed below:
The Three Ravens (1500’s)
Robin Hood and the Tanner (1500’s)
The Bold Peddler and Robin Hood (1500’s)
Scarborough Fair (1500 or 1600’s)
Barbara Allen (1600’s)
Greensleeves (1600’s)
Battle of Otterburn (1600's)
Star of the County Down (1600's)
I'm Seventeen Sunday (1700's)
The Outlandish Knight (1700's)
All Through the Night (1700's)
A Man's a Man for A' That (1700's)
Blow the Man Down: (Sea song)
The Fish of the Sea: (Sea song)
Rhyme of the Chivalrous Shark (Sea song)
Death of General Wolfe (French and Indian War)
Yankee Doodle (Rev War)
Goober Peas (Rev War)
The Cruel War (Rev War)
The Old Oaken Bucket (1800's)
Turkey in the Straw (1800's)
English Country Gardens (1800's)
Arkansas Traveler (1800's)
Botany Bay, version 2: (1800's)
Marine's Hymn (1800's)
America (1800's)
Gypsy Rover (1800's)
Cockles and Mussels (1800's)
Minstrel Boy (1800's)
Aiken Drum (1800's)
Carrigfergus (1800's)
The Wild Colonial Boy (1800's)
Erie Canal (1800's)
Star Spangled Banner (War of 1812)
The Drinking Gourd (Civil War)
When Johnny Comes Marching Home (Civil War)
Dixie (Civil War)
Battle Hymn of the Republic (Civil War)
Eating Goober Peas (Civil War)
My Grandfather's Clock (Post Civil War)
The Jam on Gerry's Rocks (Post Civil War)
Pick a Bale of Cotton (South)
Shucking of the Corn (Midwest)
America, the Beautiful (Late 1800's)
John Henry (Gold Rush and Westward Ho!)
I’ve Been Working on the Railroad (Gold Rush and Westward Ho!)
Drill, Ye Tarriers (Westward Ho!)
Tall Men Riding: (Cowboys)
Goodbye, Old Paint (Cowboys)
Boxer Insurrection (1900’s)
Go Get the Ax (1900's)
Where have all the Flowers Gone?(1900’s)
Cherry Ripe (?)
The Riddle Song (?)
An Emmigrant's Daughter (?)
Land of the Silver Birch (?)
Farewell to Nova Scotia (?)
Waltzing Mathilda (?)