This is a 1885 book about greek folksongs from northern greek provinces

In 1885 Greece was a newly indepentent country located at the southern tip of Balkan peninsula. But the vast majority of ethnic greek populations were still living under othoman rule, in what was then the european provinces of Othoman Empire.

This book is dedicated to the popular poetry and folksongs from the still subjugated greek lands there. It contains an historical introduction, first lines in greek (mentioning source of greek text) and metrical translations in English. There is no original Greek material, but you can find a selection of greek folk poetry from Thessaly, Macedonia and Epirus, translated into english.

Some of those songs are still popular today in Greece, at least some form of them. Greek minority in Northern Epirus (today in Albania) also preserves a little treasure of them in the most genuine way, but otherwise, most of them are now almost forgotten. They survive in old library copies like this one, historical recordings and the efforts of ethomusicologists to bring those remarkable monuments of hellenic civilisation back to life.

If you can't read greek but are interested in greek folksongs you can find some relatively good, although somehow outdated translations, to start your quest in a subject significantly developed since.

Luciano Par' Abati