Murder ballads and medicine shows

[lgc]

Two questions-

So I wondered for a while why the guys killed their lady friends in the murder ballads. You can hear 473 verses of Pretty Polly and the only reasoning is that Willy is probably crazy. I heard that I was actually a reference to how some unplanned pregancies were handled 100-150 years ago. Any validity to this?

This buddy-a-mine played with a guy who played medicine shows in the 20's and 30's. My friend said that the old timer said they were traveling VD and abortion clinics but nothing I've read supports this.

Are these just poor conjectures or are they a dark reality that has not been widely addressed?

[foldedpath]

I wouldn't be too quick to jump to that conclusion, at least without more info to back it up.

Old English folk songs going back hundreds of years are filled with murder themes. It seems like half the tunes I listened to in my younger days from groups like Pentangle and Fairport convention were about some pretty lass being murdered. Considering the way English, Scottish and Irish music was transmitted and adapted in America, it's not surprising that the same theme runs through this music.

[allenhopkins]

If there's one lesson traditional music teaches women, it's to not date guys named Willy. In a huge percentage of those murder ballads, he's the villain.