Re: Periodisity of Songs

["Greg Lindahl" <lindahl@pbm.com>]

Poster: "Greg Lindahl" <lindahl@pbm.com>

> Most people would say that songs written by SCAdians in the 20th century, 
> about medieval things, are acceptable in the SCA, especially if the tune 
> is somewhat medieval, too.

It's always nicer if the tune is actually medieval, and if the words
are written in an appropriate style.

> Well, if a song by a 20th century SCAdian about medieval things is 
> acceptable, what about this?
> "Scots Wha Hae," by Robet Burns.

Robert Burns was a great collector of traditional tunes and dances,
but he changed many of them. There are many Irish/Scottish songs
written in that era about historical events; I would tend to doubt
that either the style of the words or the style of the music was
anything other than 17th, 18th, or 19th century. The Scottish
community doesn't have a monopoly on wanting to pretend that their
traditions are older than they really are: clan tartans, small kilts,
Scottish dancing, etc.

Gregory Blount

[ disclaimer: I do a lot of Scottish dance, but I don't think any of
it can be dated to older than 1750... ]

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