Who Killed Cock Robin? British Folk Songs of Crime and Punishment

Sedley, a former judge, and Carthy, a folk musician, have compiled an impressive collection of British folk songs focusing on crime and punishment. Songs such as “My Son Davie” and “The Prickly Bush” have been passed down for generations, kept alive by storytellers and musicians, and, as Sedley and Carthy illustrate, are still being recorded. They divide the songs in this compendium by subject matter, with topics such as arson, affray and riot, and prison. The entry for each song begins with a few lines of music and lyrics; next it defines obscure terms (e.g., siccen a lierachie, meaning “such disorder”; scroggs, a term for “low bushes”) . Sedley and Carthy also methodically describe how lyrics have varied historically and by region, and they explain concisely yet thoroughly how laws and societal norms played a role in songwriting—for example, they note that a common subject matter for folk songs was the legal distinction between game and vermin that affected trespassing laws in the British countryside.