A Study in Contemporary Balladry

Authors

H. M. Belden, University of Missouri

Date of this Version

1914

Document Type

Article

Comments

Published in THE MID-WEST QUARTERLY Vol. 1, No. 2 (January 1914).

Abstract

Some time before daylight, May 11, 1894, at the foot of Jenkins Hill, about two miles from Browning, Linn County, Missouri, a quadruple murder was committed which made a very strong impression upon the people of the countryside. Though the crime was committed nearly twenty years ago, the memory of it is kept fresh in a number of ballads which constitute probably as good an instance of what Professor Gummere calls journalistic balladry as is to be found in modern times.