Something else we can thank the Victorian folklorists for was the diligent collection of folk music. While we may cringe a bit at some of the dialect that appears in such articles as "A Georgia Corn-Shucking," it's important to remember that, at the time, that dialect was very real and a part of a culture that has now vanished. Indeed, one of the reasons Victorians collected these songs was the awareness that the cultures and traditions that had brought them into being were being swallowed up and obliterated by the "modern" world, and if such songs weren't recorded now, they never would be. We're probably not going to break out into a rousing chorus of "Rabbit-Tum-A-Hash" today, but our world is the richer for the fact that some Victorian ensured these words weren't lost to us forever.

The Old Spanish Ballads, by Charles J. Peterson (Peterson's, 1856)

Scottish Songs and Ballads, by Charles J. Peterson (Peterson's, 1856)

A Cock-Horse (Harper's Monthly, 1882A)

Tracing the origins of the nursery-rhyme term "ride a cock-horse."

A Georgia Corn-Shucking, by David C. Barrow, Jr. (Century Magazine, 1882B)

A look at a "negro" corn-shucking, including a number of folk-songs. Lots of dialect.

Two Plantation Songs, by Joel Chandler Harris (Century Magazine, 1882B)

Our Popular Ballads, by Jan Maven (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1883)

Uncle Remus' Christmas Dance Songs, by Joel Chandler Harris (Century Magazine, 1883A)

The National Music of Scotland, by James C. Hadden (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1884)

The Story of "Auld Robin Gray," by James C. Hadden (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1884)

The history that inspired a Scottish ballad.

Creole Slave Songs, by George W. Cable (Century Magazine, 1886A)

The National Hymns of Europe, by James C. Hadden (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1886)

A Gossip on Folk Music, by Frederick Crowest (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1888)

The Stories of Famous Songs, by Isabella Fyvie Mayo (Girl's Own Paper, 1888)

Auld Robin Gray, The Land 'o the Leal, The Marseillaise, There's Nae Luck About the House, John Brown, Home Sweet Home, Sally in Our Alley, The Village Blacksmith, Excelsior, The Old Clock on the Stairs, and more.

Among the Western Song-Men, by S. Baring-Gould (English Illustrated Magazine, 1892A)

Ballad-singers of Devon and Cornwall.

Rhymed Memory Aids, by Maud Morrison (Girl's Own Paper, 1895)

Some classic memory poems, such as red sky at night, kings of England, and books of the Bible.

Women Workers' Songs, by Laura Alex. Smith (Girl's Own Paper, 1895)

An interesting collection of songs from around the world.

England's Musical Past (Girl's Own Paper, 1896)

On the Track of "The Arkansas Traveler," by H.C.Mercer (Century Magazine, 1896A)

"Sometime about the year 1850 the American musical myth known as 'The Arkansas Traveler' came into vogue among fiddlers. It is a quick reel tune, with a backwoods story talked to it while played, that caught the ear at side shows n and circuses, and sounded over the trodden turf of fair grounds." The author seeks to track down the history behind the myth.