George Malcolm Laws

George Malcolm Laws
Born (1919-01-04)January 4, 1919
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died August 1, 1994(1994-08-01) (aged 75)
Montgomery, Pennsylvania
Occupation folklorist, professor

George Malcolm Laws (January 4, 1919 – August 1, 1994) was a scholar of traditional UK and US folk song.[1][2]

His name is normally rendered as "G Malcolm Laws jnr". He was best known for his collection of traditional ballads "American Balladry from British Broadsides", published in 1957 by the American Folklore Society. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, and joined the English Faculty in 1942. He gives his name to a system 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 to Child numbers. He includes many songs that Child excluded, and of course, new ones that were found after Child died.

Examples of Laws numbers

The letters A to H are for native American ballads.

The letters J to Q are for "American Ballads from British Broadsides".

A fuller list may be found here: -

Bibliography

  1. ↑ "G Malcolm Laws". Family Search. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  2. ↑ "Guide to the G. Malcolm Laws, Jr. papers, 1943-1978". Utah State University. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
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