Songs of Seduction
This is a very common theme in traditional song, and along with love and marriage songs feature in more than half of the songs in the Greig Duncan Collection from the Aberdeenshire area. Although a lot of these songs might be considered vulgar or obscene by some, the subject often brings out the highest standards of wit and artistic expression.
All anthologies will have a lot of these songs. A couple specialising in songs of love and seduction are:
- The Seeds of Love, Stephen Sedley, 1967, Essex Music. Lots of fine songs here, often collated from several sources, or "based on" a source.
- The Merry Muses of Caledonia, Robert Burns, 1966, Panther Books. A paperback reprint of the original 1800 publication. Burns was of course famous for his poetry and his passion for the "fair sex".
Two anthologies with sections on the theme are: The Singing Island and Folk Songs of Britain and Ireland.
Two collections of sound recordings with songs of seduction are: The Voice of the People and The Folk Songs of Britain.