Stories beyond the Text: Contextualizing Narratives and “The Jolly Beggar”

Authors

Thomas A. McKean, Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen

Abstract

This paper looks at the relationship between sung and spoken narrative in a present-day Scottish Traveler family, focusing on a series of family stories about King James V (1512–1542). The stories are told in relation to a pair of ballads, “The Jolly Beggar” and “The Gaberlunyie Man” (Child 279 and 279 Appendix) and through them I explore the function, meaning, and continued relevance of contextualizing narratives, which fill in gaps in plot, anchor a song in time, or develop a didactic message.

Recommended Citation

McKean, Thomas A. (2015) "Stories beyond the Text: Contextualizing Narratives and “The Jolly Beggar”," Narrative Culture: Vol. 2: Iss. 2, Article 5.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/narrative/vol2/iss2/5