Folk Files

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Folk Files

A podcast that uncovers the mysteries of folk music throughout the ages

10/09/2025

Thank you, Aurora, for my very first review from Australia! I am delighted that Folk Files has made it all the way to the other side of the globe. If you tune into Folk Files from outside of the US, let me know in the comments!

(Also, if you listen via Apple Podcasts, you have the ability to leave a written review, unlike most other platforms that only allow ratings. Each review not only adds visibility and credibility to the podcast, but adds a lil pep to my step!🕺)

05/09/2025

This month's blog post concerns many of the red herrings that I encountered while researching the "Stand and Deliver" episode, including this Cornish version of "The Cadgwith Anthem" (with its own translation of "Kashmir"). If you don't already receive the Folk Files blog through Patreon, you can purchase a blog for a one-time donation in the Patreon shop (link in comments).

28/08/2025

The latest episode of Folk Files is now available on all podcast platforms! In this episode, I try to answer a bunch of questions, such as:

1) Why are there so many English ballads about criminals?
2) Why is "Robbers' Retreat" unlike any other song about outlaws?
3) What is "The Beauty of Kashmir?"

Pictured here is the page from Reverend Goodenough's "The Handyman Afloat and Ashore" that hinted at some answers to questions 2 and 3!

27/08/2025

What was the first song you remember hearing about a robber? There are a lot of songs about highwaymen and bandits in the English ballad canon. In tomorrow's episode of Folk Files, I'll discuss the morbid reason why that's the case. (P.S. Mine was "The Highwayman" by Loreena McKennitt 😜)

🖼️: Joseph Swain (1820-1909), Public domain, Reproduced in The London Hanged — crime and civil society in the eighteenth century, page 188.

22/08/2025

Next week, we'll explore British ballads about robbers, outlaws, and highwayman...and then we'll discuss why "Robbers' Retreat" isn't like any of them.

19/08/2025

"The Robbers' Retreat" is also known as "The Cadgwith Anthem." Cadgwith, a town in Cornwall, is almost the most southerly point on the British mainland (it's less than four miles from the actual southernmost point, charmingly called "Lizard Point"). But is The Robbers' Retreat REALLY a Cornish song? 👀 Find out in this month's upcoming episode of Folk Files.

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right (2010), OS OpenData, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10568362

15/08/2025

How much time does it take to make one Folk Files episode? Until recently, I didn't know the answer. People would ask me and I would just 🤷🏼‍♀️ because I did all the work in little bits, squeezed in between other weekly tasks. But for the latest episode, I tallied up all the work, rounded to the nearest 15 minutes. Now I know that it takes approximately 16 hours to create one 30-ish minute episode, and that makes me especially thankful for all of my Patreon supporters. Thank you to everyone who has donated to this project and helped support my research.

My dream would be to be able to pursue this podcast on a more full-time basis. I don't know if it's ever going to happen, and I'm not very close, yet, but every new Patreon member makes me think that mayyyybe soon I'll be able to churn out two in one month...or that I can maybe devote time to fun interactive extras like playlists and short-form folk fact videos. If you'd like to consider joining my Patreon (or would like to make a one-time donation through the Patreon Shop in exchange for a blog post), the link is in the comments! For those of you who are unable to donate financially, I am forever thankful to anyone who has shared, discussed, or commented on my episodes!

05/08/2025

Is one of the parent ballads to "Butcher Boy" a cheeky reference to Sir Robert Dudley, his relationship with Elizabeth I, and the suspicious death of his wife? In this month's Patreon blog post, I look at this theory and discuss the gray area between composition and arrangement in folk music. If you are not a Patreon member, you have the option to access the blog through a one-time donation in the Patreon shop (warning: don't use an iOS device to donate on Patreon or you'll have to pay a crazy additional fee!).

01/08/2025

Who is "he" in this lyric? It depends on what version of the song you listen to. The Irish version of "The Butcher Boy" is very different from the American version. Find out more in the latest episode of Folk Files, now available on all podcast platforms!

31/07/2025

This month's episode, which discusses "The Butcher Boy" and related songs, is now available! Other songs in the same family include "I Died for Love," "I Wish I Wish," "Sheffield Park," "A Brisk Young Sailor," "Railroad Boy," and "Go Dig My Grave." So if you know any of those songs, come listen to the episode! If you don't know any of those songs...come listen to the episode! Check the comments for a link to all listening platforms.

22/07/2025

"Men have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but not for love," Rosalind says in As You Like It, and perhaps that's true, but WOMEN have certainly died from love, if the folk songs are to be believed. "The Butcher Boy" is related to a lot of songs with a protagonist who dies for love, including the aptly named ballad "Died For Love." Learn more in the next episode of Folk Files, which will be available by the end of the month!

🖼️: Henry J. Wehman, Song Publisher, No. 50 Chatham Street, New York City, c. 1880

15/07/2025

Sometimes the verses that folk singers choose to sing can drastically change the interpretation of a story. This month, I will be discussing "The Butcher Boy," a ballad that goes by many names. In it, a young girl hangs herself after falling in love with the butcher boy. But why? In one version ( #1), we are never told. In another ( #2), it's clear the butcher boy left her for a richer girl. In a different arrangement ( #3), the girl has already slept with the butcher boy and may possibly be pregnant. Each interpretation can affect the amount of empathy/sympathy the listener has for the characters in the story, and the general emotional response.

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