The advanced search option allows you to specify other search fields, including searching on more than one field at once (for example, all songs performed by 'Tooke' collected by 'George Gardiner').
Finding non-song results
Non-song material in the Take Six database includes dance and instrumental music and other miscellaneous pieces. The simplest way to restrict your search to these areas is to type 'dance' or 'tune' in the Type field in the Advanced Search screen. One important sub-group of material is Correspondence written to or from the Collectors. The best way to find these is to include the word 'Letter' (or 'Postcard') in the Title field, in combination with other search data. E.g. to find all the correspondence in the Gilchrist collection, in the Advanced Search screen, un-tick all the collections on the left, except Gilchrist, then type 'Letter' in the Title field, then click on Submit Search.
Roud / Child / Laws numbers
In order to compensate for variable titles and spellings, various numbering schemes have been adopted. If the song you require was included in the schemes devised by F.J. Child or G.M. Laws, you can search for their numbers in the Child or Laws fields. A more comprehensive scheme, compiled by Steve Roud, potentially assigns numbers to all traditional songs across the English-speaking world. Thus, to find all the versions of a particular song -- whatever title has been given to it by collector or singer -- you need to find the relevant Roud Number and search on the Roud field. You can find the Roud Number by searching on one known title, or by going to the Roud Folk Song Index which includes material from thousands of books, collections and sound recordings.
Note: The Folk Song Index only includes songs which have been found in traditional performance and are thereby judged to be 'Folk Songs'. Songs in the Take 6 collections which do not fit in this category (e.g. many which have been copied from earlier books, for comparative purposes) do not have a Roud number.
Field List and Data Conventions
Ref No. The unique reference number for the item, constructed in hierarchical format in which the forward-slash symbol denotes a new level. When quoting a reference number, the whole number must be included, and no spaces of other punctuation introduced.
Alternate Ref. No. Where a collection has been previously numbered (e.g. Frank Purslow's numbering of the songs on the Hammond Collection), the earlier number is preserved in this field.
Title Where the item is a Song, Tune, Dance, etc., which already bears a title, it is given here, if possible in the form in which it appears on the document. There is no shuffling of articles (e.g. 'The Foggy Dew' is not entered as 'Foggy Dew, The') Sometimes it is necessary to invent a title, or add an explanatory comment. This is particularly important with correspondence (always entered as 'Letter from --- to ---).
Performer The person from whom the item was first collected, e.g. the Singer, Musician, etc. Data is entered in the format: Surname, Title First Name(s) (e.g. Taylor, Mrs Laura). Occasionally, the performer is described in the source document rather than named (e.g. Children, Old Gravedigger, etc.) and is therefore entered in that way.
Place The geographical location of the performance, or the place in which the informant lived. In most cases this is the same, but it is the home-place which is more important. If a singer from Hampshire, for example, happened to be recorded in London, this field would read 'Hampshire'. It is not always easy to make a firm decision here, especially with people remembering their childhood traditions. The format of this data is in a maximum of four hierarchical levels, separated by the symbol ; (e.g. England ; Hampshire ; Andover ; Andover Workhouse). The fourth level is only used where a named institution is given (e.g. Workhouse, School, etc.)
Date The date that the item was noted, where known. The preferred format is dd mmm yyyy (e.g. 10 Jul 1901), but full dates are often not given in the documents, and an educated guess is often the best that can be achieved.
Collector The name of the person who noted the item. This is not always the same as the person whose collection is being indexed. Collectors often sent each other material, so a song appearing in the Anne Gilchrist Collection, for example, may have been noted by Frank Kidson.
Roud No. The numbering scheme adopted in Steve Roud's Folk Song Index.
Child No. The numbers assigned to the ballads included in F.J. Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (1882-1898).
Laws No. The numbers assigned to particular songs in G.M. Laws, American Balladry from British Broadside Ballads (1957).
Type A broad category which distinguishes between: Children's Game / Dance / Poem / Song / Tune / Other.
Format Indicates the physical format of the item, and distinguishes between: Audio / Manuscript / Pictorial / Printed / Typescript / Video.
Content In the case of songs, tunes, dances, etc., this field records whether a Text, Frag[mentary] Text, Tune, or Description is included in the data.
Description Explanatory notes.
Notes Further notes on the collection, mostly to describe what things we've done to it e.g. the extra level in attaching the images, oversized items placed in another box, etc.
