Barbara Allen - There are countless versions of Barbara Allen. It is also known as Barb'ry Ellen and Barbara Ellen. The song is over three centuries old. Scotland and England both claim it. Versions are found as far afield as Italy and Scandanavia, and of course, the U.S. According to one source, there are over 98 versions of the tune in Virginia alone.... Samuel Pepys refers to the "little Scottish tune" in his Diaries in 1666.

Bold Soldier - This ballad is also known as The Valiant Soldier. It has been traced to the 19th century in England, however, some have said it dates to the 17th century and was about a gamekeeper and a lord's daughter. It was sung in Colonial America. During that time the English were fighting on land and sea everywhere. Professional soldiers were going to or coming from the wars everywhere, thus the song was very popular. When men were away from home they sang to keep from being homesick. The song has been found in Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Bonnie Lass - This tune is based on a Scottish tune, "Bonny Lass of Fyvie."

Bunker Hill -This tune is also known as The American Hero. It was written the year of the Battle of Bunker Hill, 1775. The words were a poem by Nathaniel Niles, The American Hero. The tune was by Andrew Law.

Cruel War - The Cruel War on a Peter, Paul and Mary album in the early 60s, but it has been traced back to the American Civil War in our country. It is actually based on an older English tune, and many other lyrics have been set to it besides these.

Greensleeves - There is an entry in the Stationers' Register in 1580 licensing Richard Jones to print A new Northern Dittye of the Lady Green-Sleeves. The earliest lyrics that survive are in A Handful of Pleasant Delights (1584). The tune first appears in 1652. Legend has it that Henry VIII wrote it for Anne Boleyn during their courtship (circa 1530). This has never been substantiated and is probably not true. Shortly after the Civil War William Chatterton Dix wrote the Christmas carol What Child is This to the tune of Greensleeves. A reading of the lyrics shows it is not a sweet, innocuous love song, but a plea from a 16th century gentleman to his bored mistress.

The Girl I Left Behind Me - Much folklore has arisen regarding this tune. One source states the tune was popular as far back as Queen Elizabeth's (Elizabeth I) reign and was played whenever a regiment left town or a man-of-war set sail. Another theory is that the tune originated in 1758 when Admiral's Hawke and Rodney were watching the French fleet off the coast.* Theodore Ralph (see citation below) writes that the tune was known in America as early as 1650 and indicates it was a traditional fife tune, imported from England as Brighten Camp. The tune became generally popular during the Revolution. The tune was known in Ireland as The Rambling Laborer and The Spailpin Fanach and was first published in Dublin in 1791.

Johnny's Gone For A Soldier

Nightinggale - This is an American variant of an English song. It appears in Sharp & Karpeles Eighty Appalachian Folk Songs. There is a different song named The Nightingale which begins, "My love he was a rich farmer's son." These words are similar to several verses of a broadside in the Bodleian Library which was printed in 1675 by W. Olney of London.