PERFORMANCE 35

adopted by the singers, so that the adaptation of music to words is
not intimate; new tunes were fitted to the same words, and there
was much borrowing; and the words do have artistic qualities
which can be savoured separately. We are accustomecl to do so
with the Renaissance lyrics and sonnets, though these were devised
for music. Ballads, indeed, are not complete when we associate
words and tunes, for that may be very much less than their full
performance. Singing Tarn Lin in a drawing-room is something
remote from the real Tarn Lin, which was probably danced in the
open air by the villagers on some specially appointed day.

The classic description of ballad dances is that of V. U. Hammer-
shaimb in his F<%r0sk Anthologi. The Faeroese dances occur on
Sundays and on three special festivals of the year. The islanders
have few entertainments: chess, tricks with string, a ball game,
wrestling, and field sports. The opportunity to dance thus stands
supreme among their pastimes, and attracts the bonders from long
distances, especially for St. OlaPs feast, when they honour the
patron of the archipelago. Theirs is a simple ring dance, generally
in 6/8 time. The dancers hold hands, and if there are too many
for one ring, others are formed within, so far as space permits.
They also know a variety of 'Sir Roger de Coverley', though it is
considered rather fatiguing. The precentor sings a ballad and the
rhythm is stamped with the feet. The dancers pay close attention
to hia words, which must come clearly, since the characteristics of
the narrative are brought out by the mime: hands are tightly
clasped in the turmoil of battle, and a jubilant leap expresses vic-
tory. All the dancers join in the chorus at the end of each stanza,
but the stanza is sung only by one or two persons of special repute.
They must have good memories, since there is a prejudice against
using the same verses twice in a year, and also against the use of
too many different tunes on any one occasion. Hammershaimb
went on to specify the steps of the dance.

Very similar conditions apply in the Balkans. A. Dozon1 quoted
from the brothers Miladinov the following account of a Bulgarian
'horo':

At Struga, on the days of less solemn festivals, a round is formed
separately in each quarter, but on the great feasts (as Easter, St. George's
Day, &c.), all the girls collect in a garden outside the town and form an
immense 'branle', led by one of them who sings. Half the dancers

1 A. Dozon, Chansons populaires bulgaires inedites> Paris, 1875, pp. xiv-xv.