Folksongs of the Maritimes

Desmond Maley is the music librarian at the J.W. Tate Library,
Huntington College, Laurentian University.

Editors Pottie and Ellis, both of whom have backgrounds in music
education, have selected 90 folk songs from a variety of sources for
this appealing collection, which is intended for elementary-school
choirs.

Special attention was paid to the pioneer work of eminent folklorist
Helen Creighton (1898–1988), whose thousands of recordings of the oral
tradition are deposited at the Public Archives in Nova Scotia. A
substantial number of the songs selected are from the Creighton
collection and are published for the first time. I especially liked the
beautiful words and melody for “The Blackbird.” But there is also a
generous serving of well-known songs such as “When the Saints Go
Marching In,” “The Nova Scotia Song,” Billy Boy,” and
“Homeward Bound.”

Practically all of the songs are from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and
Prince Edward Island, and reflect British, Afro-American, German, and
Acadian influences. Each song includes the melody and verses, as well as
an introduction, chording information, and tone set. The layout is
attractive and readable, and finely illustrated with drawings by Kathy
Kaulbach.

Although the editors tell us the songs are arranged in approximate
order of difficulty, it’s not clear for what ages they are intended.
One gets the impression, however, they would be appropriate for about
the Grade 6 level.