2 FEBRUARY 1940, Page 26

Trish Street Ballads. By Colm O'Lochlainn. (Constable. 7s. 6d.) Tms

is an excellent collection of Irish street ballads, sogte of them traditional, some known to be the work of a single author, complete with the tunes to which they were (or are) sung. The collection is packed with fascinating material, and the only criticism that can bc made of Mr. O'Lochlainn's pre- sentation of it is that he has provided too little annotation.

One would have liked to have been told more about the origins and historical associations of many of the tunes. The book has

been well printed in Dublin, at "The Sign of the Three Candles," and the book is pleasantly illustrated with woodcuts taken from old ballad sheets.