Directory of Songs and Ballads Resources

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This category contains links to lyrics in text and audio file form, which tell the story of the hardship experienced by mill workers in the 19th and early 20th century textile industry.

Resources in This Category

• Arachne, The Price of Weaver's Pride

  http://www.applehollow.com/arachne.html
  Story from Greek mythology about Arachne boasting of her yarn spinning and cloth weaving skills, resulting in Athena turning her into a spider for the remainder of her life. From the Apple Hollow Farm web site.

• Cotton Mill

  http://www.donsongs.net/lyrics.html#Cot
  Lyrics of a song about the Siluria Cotton Mill which was founded in 1869 and closed in 1979, written by Don L. Williams.

• Jute Mill Song

  http://mysongbook.de/msb/songs/j/jutemill.html
  Lullaby written by Mary Brookbank about the work of jute yarn spinners in the Dundee, UK, jute textile mills of the early 1900's. Includes notes on the songwriter and her work.

• Legends of Spider Woman

  http://www.applehollow.com/spiderwoman.html
  Navajo poet Hershman John's poem about the Spider Woman who empowers women to keep the dream of life alive and encourages them to continue weaving their dreams, even in times of despair and unknowing.

• Textile Life

  http://www.loc.gov/teachers/lyrical/poems/docs/textile_trans.pdf
  Text transcription of a poem written by Mary Branch in 1938, providing a vivid, authentic portrait of the textile mill workers' community struggling to survive during the period of the Great Depression. From the Library of Congress web site.

• The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver

  http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/millay/ballad/ballad.html
  Edna St. Vincent-Milay's ballad about a mother who didn't have the means to buy clothes for her child, and froze to death while weaving cloth during a winter night.

• The Flax: A Fairy Tale

  http://www.applehollow.com/flax.html
  The story of a flax fiber as it turned into linen cloth and ended up being fertilizer for the next generation of flax. From the Apple Hollow Farm web site.

• The Good Housewife and her Night Helpers

  http://www.allfiberarts.com/library/poetry/blhousewife.htm
  Scottish folk tale about a woman calling out for help with the spinning of yarn and weaving of cloth, and ending up with an army of unwanted faeries in her home. From Scottish Folk Tales and Legends by Barbara Ker Wilson.

 

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