Editing Ballad (section)

==Beyond Europe==
===American ballads===
[[File:John Henry-27527.jpg|thumb|right|Statue of [[John Henry (folklore)|John Henry]] outside the town of Talcott in [[Summers County, West Virginia]]]]
Some 300 ballads sung in North America have been identified as having origins in Scottish traditional or broadside ballads.<ref name=Cohen2005>N. Cohen, ''Folk Music: a Regional Exploration'' (Greenwood, 2005), pp. 14-29.</ref> Examples include '[[The Streets of Laredo]]', which was found in Great Britain and Ireland as 'The Unfortunate Rake'; however, a further 400 have been identified as originating in America, including among the best known, '[[The Ballad of Davy Crockett]]' and '[[Jesse James (folk song)|Jesse James]]'.<ref name=Cohen2005/> They became an increasing area of interest for scholars in the 19th century and most were recorded or catalogued by [[George Malcolm Laws]], although some have since been found to have British origins and additional songs have since been collected.<ref name=Cohen2005/> They are usually considered closest in form to British broadside ballads and in terms of style are largely indistinguishable, however, they demonstrate a particular concern with occupations, journalistic style and often lack the ribaldry of British broadside ballads.<ref name="A. Green, 1997 p. 353"/>

===Blues ballads===
{{Main article|Blues ballad}}
The blues ballad has been seen as a fusion of Anglo-American and Afro-American styles of music from the 19th century. Blues ballads tend to deal with active protagonists, often anti-heroes, resisting adversity and authority, but frequently lacking a strong narrative and emphasizing character instead.<ref name=Cohen2005/> They were often accompanied by banjo and guitar which followed [[the blues]] musical format.<ref name="A. Green, 1997 p. 353"/> The most famous blues ballads include those about [[John Henry (folklore)|John Henry]] and [[Casey Jones]].<ref name=Cohen2005/>

===Bush ballads===
{{Main article|Bush ballad}}
[[File:The Old Bush Songs by Banio Paterson.jpg|thumb|Cover to [[Banjo Paterson]]'s seminal 1905 collection of bush ballads, entitled ''The Old Bush Songs'']]
The ballad was taken to Australia by early settlers from Great Britain and Ireland and gained particular foothold in the rural [[outback]]. The rhyming songs, [[poems]] and tales written in the form of ballads often relate to the itinerant and rebellious spirit of Australia in [[The Bush]], and the authors and performers are often referred to as bush bards.<ref name="abc.net.au">[[Kerry O'Brien (journalist)|Kerry O'Brien]] December 10, 2003 7:30 Report, [http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2003/s1007523.htm abc.net.au] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110082829/http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2003/s1007523.htm |date=2010-01-10 }}</ref> The 19th century was the golden age of bush ballads. Several collectors have catalogued the songs including [[John Meredith (folklorist)|John Meredith]] whose recording in the 1950s became the basis of the collection in the [[National Library of Australia]].<ref name="abc.net.au"/> The songs tell personal stories of life in the wide open country of Australia. Typical subjects include mining, raising and droving cattle, [[sheep shearing]], wanderings, war stories, the [[1891 Australian shearers' strike]], class conflicts between the landless working class and the [[Squatting (pastoral)|squatters]] (landowners), and [[outlaw]]s such as [[Ned Kelly]], as well as love interests and more modern fare such as [[Truck driver|trucking]].<ref>G. Smith, ''Singing Australian: A History of Folk and Country Music'' (Pluto Press Australia, 2005), p. 2.</ref> The most famous bush ballad is "[[Waltzing Matilda]]", which has been called "the unofficial national anthem of Australia".<ref>{{cite web |title=Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me? |url=http://www.nla.gov.au/epubs/waltzingmatilda/ |website=National Library of Australia |access-date=15 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030602190448/http://www.nla.gov.au/epubs/waltzingmatilda/index.html |archive-date=2 June 2003 |url-status=dead}}{{cbignore}}</ref>