Thijs,
As Luisa says, you will get tons of stuff, since this kind of song exists in
almost every language. I am tempted to leave out the "almost"! In the UK,
Iona and Peter Opie have written most of the standard references on this
topic. You could start with:
Iona & Peter Opie, The Singing Game, (Oxford: OUP, 1985)
...but they have written about and collected LOTS more!
Another good one (if you can find it) is:
R. A. Smith, Blue Bell Hill Games, (London: Kestrel, 1982)
Here are some references for other parts of Europe that you might not get
from other ballad list members. I am giving you references for works that
are either still in print or should still be relatively easy to obtain.
These only scratch the surface!
Catalan (my particular area of research)
1. Josep Crivillé i Bargalló, Música tradicional catalana, 3 vols, 2nd edn.
(Barcelona: Clivis, 1993), vol 1: Infants.
A volume dedicated to children's songs with many of the kind you are looking
for.
2. Joaquim Maideu i Puig, Llibre de cançons, 2nd edn. (Vic: Eumo, 1994).
A general work, but see section IV, which contains many more songs of this
type.
3. Joan Amades, Folklore de Catalunya, 3rd edn. (Barcelona: Selecta, 1982).
Another general work, but see chapters II-XI in particular.
There are lots more examples elsewhere in this book.
Occitan
1. Alain Bruel et al., Chansons d'Auvergne, (Orlhac: Ostal del Libre, 1996).
See the section "pour les enfants / pels enfants".
French
1. Marc Robine, Anthologie de la chanson française, (Paris: Albin Michel,
1994), pp.711-756.
A useful anthology because all the material is on CDs supplied with the
book.
Good luck!
Simon Furey
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|