Helen Creighton collected over 4,000 songs, ballads, broadsides, hymns and chanteys mostly from Nova Scotia but also from New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
Audio or Video Clips
As of August 2023, the materials that Helen collected: audio, textual, photographic are all online at the Nova Scotia Archives, Helen Creighton: Folklife. There are also songs in different languages from many cultures: Mi’kmaq, German, Acadian, Gaelic, etc…
Here is a sampling of the types of songs in Helen Creighton: Folklife collection:
Micmac Love Song : a Mi’kmaq love song; tradition bearer: Mrs. Joe Knockwood, Kennetcook, NS
I’ll Give My Love An Apple : a riddle song; tradition bearer: Nina Bartley Finn, Dartmouth, NS
The Golden Vanity : a broadside; tradition bearer: Angelo Dornan, Elgin, NB
Blow the Man Down : a chantey or shanty work song; tradition bearer: Joseph Hyson, Mahone Bay, NS
Moonlight Tonight : a chantey or shanty leaving or foc’sle song; tradition bearer: Gordon Connelly, Glenhaven, NS
The Ghostly Sailors : a folk song, ‘true’ maritime story; tradition bearer: Walter Roast, East Chezzetcook, NS
The Cherry Tree Carol : a Christmas Carol and Child Ballad #54; tradition bearer: William Riley, Cherrybrook, NS
La poulette blanche : an Acadien / French lullaby; tradition bearer: Mme Sephora et Mme Louis Amirault, Pubnico ouest, NE/NS.
Contemporary artists/versions of songs:
The Leaving Chantey : a chantey or shanty leaving song; The Dory Bungholes
The Two Sisters : a murder ballad; Eric Stephen Martin
Mary Hamilton : a Child ballad #173; The Strange Valentines
Launch of the Helen Creighton: Folklife. Various songs from the Folklife Collection. The performers are mostly from the Board of the Helen Creighton Folklore Society or Friends of the Society.
Women and (the power of) Song by Margo Carruthers: featuring many Child Ballads including from the Helen Creighton collection.
