BORDER BALLAD

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

By claiming in Tuesday's editorial column that "an English or Humanities course on the Old Testament would certainly serve a far more significant purpose than such offerings as Scottish Border Ballads of the Fifteenth Century," you have offended many of us undergraduate balladry enthusiasts.

Springing directly from the hearts of the people, balladry is a form of human expression that contains "beauty, truth, and relevance." Since it is transmitted orally, balladry provides important clues to the history of the epic; the late Milman Parry, a Harvard philologist, devoted his energy to the recording of Yugoslavian folk ballads of legendary heroes from the lips of tavern minstrels.

We agree that a need for an Old Testament course exists. Possibly a revival of English 35 is the solution. We do not seek to refute the literary significance of the Bible; no intelligent person would do this. However, in answer to the hostile tone of your editorial, we submit that a course on Scottish Border Ballads should not suffer a literary death at the hands of the Old Testament. Michael E. Hager '60   Philip E. Burnham, '60