Available Now: Traditional Folk Songs from the Collection of Dr. Helen Creighton

Traditional Folk Songs from the Collection of Dr. Helen Creighton (Helen Creighton Folklore Society) includes 42 songs collected from tradition bearers in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. While this book was created with music educators and their students in mind, it is a valuable resource for anyone looking to explore some of the songs Helen Creighton collected from a wide range of peoples, including Anglo tradition bearers, Gaelic singers, Black Nova Scotians, early German settlers’ songs from Lunenburg County, Acadian singers, and selections from Helen Creighton’s early collection of Mi’kmaw songs.

This book is produced and researched by Clary Croft, who worked closely with Helen Creighton and assembled her collection for the Nova Scotia Archives. The book receives musical and textural support from Martha Healy, a long-standing music educator in the public school system who has used Helen Creighton’s collection extensively in her classroom work. Music transcriptions and arrangements are by private vocal teacher and composer, Mary Knickle, and support and textural advice is from Helen Creighton’s grand-niece, Linda Nicholl. In addition, members of various individual cultural communities worked in helping interpret and explain the significance of their songs.