Songs of the Midlands

Songs of the Midlands is a collection of 70 traditional songs from the counties of Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, edited by Roy Palmer, with Pamela Bishop and Katharine Thompson as music editors.

The material is thematically arranged as follows:

• Seasonal and ritual songs (15 items)
• Songs of love and courtship (28 items)
• Songs of crime and punishment (14 items)
• Songs of social comment (13 items)

The "book grew out of the work of the Birmingham and Midland Folk Centre" whose members collected some of the material and assisted with "selection of material, musical and editorial policy".

The collection is valuable in that it concentrates on a region under represented in most song books, and in particular includes many songs from two important singers George Dunn and Cecilia Costello.

115 pages, including 2 photographs, musical notes, song notes, bibliography and discography.