of singing native ballads,
often of modern origin, to the tunes of the Protestant Psalmody--a
custom which may have had its origin in the common practice of singing
both ballads and psalms on all momentous occasions, such as on the
night of a wedding, or before starting on a big fishing expedition.
The Islanders have little idea of tone or melody and do not sing well;
and eye-witnesses of some of the ballad dances at Thorshaven aver
that the tunes sound less like dance music than melancholy dirges.
In _Folkesangen paa Faeroerne_ (_Faeroske Kvadmelodier_), pp. 85-140,
Thuren has published a large number of original ballad tunes. The
characteristic motifs of folk tunes are traceable throughout, as well
as their elusive qualities. Thus we find, side by side with airs based
on the ordinary major and minor scales, others which, like mediaeval
church music, are based on a 'modal' or 'gapped' tonal system.
Indeed traces of the pentatonic scale are not infrequently met with,
especially in the tunes attached to the earlier ballads. The majority
of Faroese melodies, however, have only one gap and have more in
common with the system of notation found in Gregorian music than with
the pentatonic scale of many Hebridean lays. A further characteristic
of folk music which appears in most Faroese airs is the curious form
of close which rarely occurs on the tonic. Not infrequently the theme
ends on the leading note or supertonic which strikes the ear with a
perpetual surprise, the cadence leading one to anticipate a repetition
rather than a conclusion of the air. The reason is that these tunes,
like many folk songs from Somerset, the Appalachians and the Hebrides,
were 'circular,' that is, formed for continuous repetition to suit the
lengthy nature of the songs and ballads.

The ballad however is not a mere historical relic on the Faroes, but
a living literary form. The simplicity of the life, and the absence of
class distinction[8], still constitute an atmosphere in some respects
not unlike that of Mediaeval Denmark, and the ballad is the favourite
form of artistic expression. A whale-hunt, a shipwreck, or the
adventures of fishermen in the far north are still made the subject
of a new ballad, composed by one or more of the community; and if the
result finds general favour it is added to the ballad repertoire along
with the ballads of Sir Tristram or Childe Sigurth[9].

In his description of his travels on the Faroes 1847-8, V. U.
Ham