# Facts Behind the Murder Ballads **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-behind-the-murder-ballads/497496 "2009-05-24T21:08:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-behind-the-murder-ballads/497496/21 "2009-05-25T19:20:49Z")
I had no problem visiting the site yesterday. Get well soon, Planet Slade! > [@Zsofia](#): > > Frankly, why they sang it is a whole lot more interesting than the study of the presence or absence of one John Henry, even though in an of itself that does have a certain amount of interest. Perhaps different people find different things interesting. Some people can even be interested in more than one thing at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Slade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Slade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slade)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-behind-the-murder-ballads/497496/22 "2009-05-25T19:33:33Z")
I don’t know what’s gone wrong with the links, but I can only assume it’s some problem at FastNet, the site’s host company. Using the full URL doesn’t seem to work at the moment either. It’s 8:30 at night here now, so I can’t pursue the matter until tomorrow morning, but I’ll post again here as soon as soon as I’ve got some answers. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-behind-the-murder-ballads/497496/23 "2009-05-25T22:28:48Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I don’t think I did insult him, and certainly not for “not being a pro.” If Slade doesn’t care it’s no skin off my nose, except the part of my nose that is oversensitive to such things. But that’s my problem, not yours, and I apologize for letting it lead the direction of my reply. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-behind-the-murder-ballads/497496/24 "2009-05-26T02:11:11Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > **Slade** : Thank you for the response. My contributions to this thread have been something of a trainwreck, and I’m glad you did not take them amiss. Like _The Wreck of the Old 97_? Or the train wreck involving a step-great-uncle that happened around the last turn of the century. There was supposedly a song, but I never pinned Grandma down about it. There’s even folklore about folklorists. Especially down here in Texas, where Lomaxes still roam… ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-behind-the-murder-ballads/497496/25 "2009-05-26T02:42:40Z")
The thing is, my college training tells me to love BOTH Slade’s and Dr Drake’s approaches, coming at it as an English, Journalism, and Anthropology major, and as an amateur historian, especially of popular culture. That’s why I want us to all just get along. 😉 I’m not surprised that Lomaxes still roam Texas. What did surprise me was that Frances James Child, collector of the Child Ballads, which gave so many British Electric Folk bands of the 60s their repetoire, was a yank. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-behind-the-murder-ballads/497496/26 "2009-05-26T03:48:43Z")
The links do not work for me either, and I’d really like to read them. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-behind-the-murder-ballads/497496/27 "2009-05-26T03:49:24Z")
See post #22. ---
**Author:** ![Slade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Slade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slade)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-behind-the-murder-ballads/497496/28 "2009-05-26T09:01:23Z")
The site’s back up again now, and the links seem to be working. I’m told the issue was some emergency maintenance at the hosting company, but that this issue has now been resolved. Apologies for the loss of service. Stagger Lee Frankie & Johnny [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-behind-the-murder-ballads/497496.md?page=1)