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In the first edition of Old Salem in Ballad and Song, I published 79 ballads, songs, and tunes. The music reflected 18th and 19th-century ballads from Salem as an integral part of the community. Ballads of every theme were sung throughout the town, printed and sold on the streets, and eventually spread around the country. The songs and ballads in this collection are rooted in Salem history through oral and written tradition. Songs and stories passed orally from generation to generation, written ballads saved by libraries, museums, and collectors on a broadside, in newspapers, posters, and manuscripts. In selecting the material for the second edition, I have limited the scope to ballads, broadsides, and events in Salem related to its maritime history. Part II of this two-book series, Old Salem at Sea In Ballad and Song, will focus on Salem's maritime history in song.
In the second edition of Old Salem in Ballad and Song, I have decided to publish a larger format for ease of reading, add the Roud Folk Song Index Numbers, if available, and include fifty recently uncovered songs. As my research continued and the folk music enthusiasts and Salem history buffs became aware of my project, more ballads and songs appeared. Added to the second edition are selections from Salem ephemera collectors Nelson Dionne and Bonnie Hurd Smith, songs from Craig Burnham's great-grandmother's scrapbooks, and Patrick S. Gilmore's time in Salem during the 1850s, reflecting on the music he wrote while leading the Salem Brass Band and Gilmore's collaboration piece with Salem composer, Henry K. Oliver.
