Keywords
EBBA associates all ballads using a controlled vocabulary that was developed after years of cataloging and transcribing sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English broadside ballads. Our catalogers associate 3-5 keywords with each ballad in our archive; these assigned keywords are not meant to be exhaustive descriptors of every aspect of the ballad, but rather to capture the ballad's general "about-ness." This controlled list consists of the 52 keywords defined below.
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Keyword Definitions
advice: explicitly intended to admonish, counsel, warn, or teach; usually opens or closes with direct address or general moral
affliction / health: mental or physical distress; illness; medicine
alcohol: pertains to alcohol, drunkenness, or tavern life as principle subject
Americas: as a key part of plot or setting
animals / nature: animals as principal focus; description of flora and fauna
Bible / biblical figures: characters, locations, or incidents from
buildings / architecture: pertains to thick descriptions of architecture, or instances where historically significant buildings play a crucial role in setting or plot
catastrophe: pertains to natural disasters like fires, floods, famines, earthquakes, or plagues, or to national and/or economic disasters (e.g. the South Sea Bubble); not personal affliction
children: pertains to children as principal characters; not to giving birth/monstrous birth, or to family relationships between adults
class: pertains to conflicts and contrasts between defined socioeconomic groups
clothing / appearance: apparel (including disguise) or physical appearance as a significant plot element
country / nation: geographic, ideological, or cultural boundaries as significant plot element
crime: description of illegal acts
death: as theme or major plot element
economics / commerce: financial concerns; circulation of goods and services
entertainments: pertains to descriptions of leisure activities, celebrations, performances, etc.
family: pertains to familial relationships other than marriage, pregnancy, and childbearing; not to relations only between husband and wife (i.e. only to non-marital family relationships)
folklore: legendary figures or beliefs, e.g. St. George, Robin Hood, etc.
gender: construction and/or characteristics of or boundaries between genders as thematic element
holidays / seasons: observance of; seasonal conditions as significant plot element
infidelity: adultery, broken pledges (actual or perceived) between lovers
labor / craft: characterizes members of an occupation; describes work
law: thematizes courts, legal processes
London: significant description of; key element of setting
love: pertaining to romance, courtship
maritime: figures and events relating to the sea
marriage: conditions of or as a significant plot element
military / war: characterizes military life; acts of war
monstrosity: physical (not moral) deformity; grotesque or unnatural creatures
mythology / Classical: characters, locations, or incidents from
news: pertains to the relation or reporting of actual current events as the ballad's primary purpose
nobility / court: aristocrats as principal characters; court life
politics / government: national or local
procreation: pregnancy and childbearing as significant plot element
punishment: legal, moral, or spiritual
race / ethnicity: construction of
religious concepts: meditation or advice based on theology
religious figures: divine or other spiritual beings; saints; clergy or other members of religious institutions
religious groups: characteristics and/or conflicts of discrete religious groups as significant plot element
royalty: as principal characters
rural life: country activities such as farming or harvesting; includes pastoral
servitude: servants or slaves as principal characters
sex / sexuality: physical desire, seduction, intercourse, wantonness/chastity
supernatural / magic: spirits, sorcery/witchcraft; events that transcend laws of nature
travel: journeys, wandering as significant plot element
trickery / deceit: deception, not necessarily malicious
urban life: city activities or figures
vice: acts or attributes represented as morally bad
violence: description of
virtue: acts or attributes represented as morally good
vulgar humor: obscene, crass, or bawdy humor as significant plot element
youth / age: age group characteristics and conflicts