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What was included in Francis James Child’s collection The English and Scottish Popular Ballads?

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ballad Detail of an undated broadside ballad distributed in Boston following the execution of Levi Ames for burglary and intended to warn “thoughtless Youth.”

Francis James Child’s definitive collection, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, contains 305 ballads.1

To compile this authoritative treasury, Child prioritized the study of manuscript versions over printed texts and investigated related songs and stories from other languages. While the collection is primarily known for traditional folk ballads—often referred to as "Child ballads"—it also includes many minstrel ballads. Child included these minstrel pieces because he believed they contained embedded fragments of traditional balladry, despite their distinct, more elaborate style that often featured moralizing commentary and clear-cut divisions known as fits or cantos.123