Resources
Below is a list of resources relating to traditional song and singing from countries and regions across the North Atlantic region. This is a work in progress; please get in touch if you would like to make suggestions or amendments.
International
European Folk Network
A formal pan-European membership network for folk and traditional music and culture.
https://www.europeanfolknetwork.com/
Alan Lomax Archive
The Lomax Digital Archive provides free access to audio/visual collections compiled across seven decades by folklorist Alan Lomax (1915–2002) and his father John A. Lomax (1867–1948).
https://archive.culturalequity.org/
WOMEX
WOMEX – Worldwide Music Expo – is the most international and culturally diverse music meeting in the world and the biggest conference of the global music scene, featuring a trade fair, talks, films and showcase concerts.
Scotland
Elphinstone Institute – The University of Aberdeen
Established in 1995, the Elphinstone Institute is a centre for the study of Ethnology, Folklore, and Ethnomusicology at the University of Aberdeen.
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/elphinstone/
Mitchell Library – Special Collections
Collecting since 1874, The Mitchell Library is home to several special collections that have been acquired through purchases, bequests or donations.
https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/libraries/special-collections/about-special-collections
National Library of Scotland – Word on the Street
The National Library of Scotland’s online collection of nearly 1,800 broadsides lets you see for yourself what ‘the word on the street’ was in Scotland between 1650 and 1910.
https://digital.nls.uk/broadsides/index.html
School of Scottish Studies
The School of Scottish Studies was established in 1951, at the University of Edinburgh, to collect, preserve, research, and publish material relating to the cultural tradition and folklore of Scotland.
https://www.ed.ac.uk/literatures-languages-cultures/celtic-scottish-studies/archives
Springthyme
A label set up in 1973, recording and releasing numerous albums of Scots traditional music and song as well as printing lyrics and contextual information.
https://www.springthyme.co.uk/index.htm
Tobar an Dualchais – Kist o Riches
40,000 oral recordings of stories, songs, music, poetry and factual information made in Scotland and further afield from the 1930’s onwards.
http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/
North-East Scots Language Board
Through advocacy, campaigning, education, public programming, and sustained research, the Board aims to enhance linguistic and cultural confidence in the North-East.
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/elphinstone/resources/northeast-scots-language-board.php
Scots Language Centre
An online resource, created by the Scots Language Centre, to promote the Scots language. Features news, Scots Songs, information on dialects and more.
https://www.scotslanguage.com/
Creative Scotland
Creative Scotland is the development body for the arts and creative industries in Scotland. Based in Edinburgh, it is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government.
https://www.creativescotland.com/
Trad Music Forum
The TMF aims to develop, sustain, support and maximise the potential of traditional music in Scotland.
https://www.traditionalmusicforum.org/
Fèisean nan Gàidheal
The organisation which supports the development of community-based Gaelic arts tuition festivals throughout Scotland.
An Comunn Gàidhealach
The organisers of the National Mòd, An Comunn Gaidhealach furthers the aims of supporting and developing all aspects of the Gaelic language, culture, history and heritage at local, national and international levels.
Fèis Rois
Fèis Rois enables people of all ages to access, participate in and enjoy the traditional arts and Gaelic language through a diverse programme of activities in Ross & Cromarty, across Scotland and beyond.
Ceòlas
Ceòlas seeks to celebrate, promote and nurture traditional music, language, culture and heritage, collaborating with local, national and international communities who have shared interests.
Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland
TRACS brings together the Traditional Music Forum, the Scottish Storytelling Forum and the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland to showcase Scotland’s rich cultural heritage, and to improve the knowledge, practice, development and advocacy of traditional arts in a contemporary world, making them more accessible to all.
BBC ALBA
Stèisean Telebhisean sa Ghàidhlig
BBC Radio nan Gàidheal
Gaelic language radio station
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_radio_nan_gaidheal/
Hands Up For Trad
Hands Up for Trad’s primary aim is to promote excellence and support developing talent within Scottish traditional music.
http://www.handsupfortrad.scot/
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is the National Centre for Gaelic Language and Culture.
DASG / Digital Archive of Scottish Gaelic
University of Glasgow's online repository of digitised texts, lexical resources and audio recordings for Scottish Gaelic.
Bòrd na Gàidhlig
The principal public body in Scotland responsible for promoting Gaelic development, including providing advice to Scottish Ministers on Gaelic issues.
Ireland
Irish Traditional Music Archive
Collects, preserves, organises and makes accessible the contemporary and historical materials of Irish traditional song, instrumental music and dance.
England
Access Folk
The Access Folk research project is exploring ways to increase and diversify participation in folk singing in England
https://accessfolk.sites.sheffield.ac.uk/home
A Folksong A Day
A resource created by Jon Boden featuring 365 folksongs, along with introductions to each song written by Simon Holland.
https://www.afolksongaday.com/
Broadside Ballads, Bodleian Library - University of Oxford
The Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford holds nearly 30,000 songs, many of them unique survivals, printed from the 16th to the 20th Centuries.
http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/
Cecil James Sharp Collection
at English Folk Dance & Song Society
https://www.vwml.org/archives-catalogue/CJS1
Mainly Norfolk
An extensive online resource featuring lyrics to over 3000 songs and ballads, contextual ballad information, indexed folksongs, and folk music publications.
The James Madison Carpenter Collection Project
An Extensive Collection of traditional songs and folk plays recorded between 1927 and c.1943.
https://www.vwml.org/projects/carpenter-folk-online
Vaughan Williams Memorial Library
Founded in 1930’s, the VWML is an essential resource for those interested in the folk arts and features materials such as photographs, broadsides, books, ballad collections, audio cassettes and press cuttings.
Wales
TRAC Cymru
Celebrating Wales’ music and dance traditions, developing talent at all levels from beginners to the international stage, ensuring our traditional arts are a vital part of our vibrant cultural life and identity.
United States of America
Library of Congress – Local History and Folklife Collections
https://www.loc.gov/collections/?fa=subject_topic:local+history+%26+folklife
Max Hunter Collection
An archive of almost 1600 Ozark mountain folk songs, mainy of which with Scottish origin, recorded between 1956 and 1976.
https://maxhunter.missouristate.edu/