Folk Play Distribution Map: Occurrence of Lines from
Belfast Christmas Rhyme - Smyth & Lyons (1803-1818)

The related texts may also be viewed as a histogram sorted by the number of shared lines.

Commentary

This map shows how many lines from a specified script appear in other plays, and can help investigations into the relationships between them.

Marker Colours

The specified primary text is show in red on the map as are others of the same date. The texts marked in yellow are of earlier date, and are therefore potential sources of textual material in the primary script, whether direct or indirect. The blue markers are for more recent plays, which potentially could have derived some or all of their lines from the primary script - again either directly or indirectly.

Matching Lines

Because they are mostly in verse, it is easy to split folk play texts into lines. Each line type in the database has been given a unique numeric Standard Identifier (Std.ID) to aid comparison, allowing for minor variations in wording. Sometimes significant wording variations are consistent, in which case they are assigned variant Std.IDs. For instance: "If you don't believe in what I say" is Std.ID 1450, whereas the variant "If you don't believe the words I say" is 1452. One variant will probably have evolved from the other, although it may not be possible to determine the direction of flow.

• Lines are matched on exact Std.IDs only [default].

  Only pairing exactly matched variant of lines between texts shows the closest possible relationship.

• Lines matches include other variants of an Std.ID.

  Including variants of lines in the matching process reveals wider relationships.

Marker Sizes

Markers are sized according to the number of lines a given text shares with the primary script.

• Marker sizes represent the number of matching lines at each location [default].

  The closer the size of a marker is to that of the primary script, the closer the relationship.

• Marker sizes represent the number of matching lines as a percentage of the primary script.

  This option is the same as the previous option, but the caption ties in with the options for marker labels.

• Marker sizes represent the number of matching lines as a percentage of the local script.

  This option allows for the primary script and the matched text being of different sizes. With the other size options, all the lines of a matched text could be present in the primary script, but if it is smaller, the size of the marker may underplay the relationship. However, the significance of the connection becomes more obvious if the marker sizes represent the percentage of the local script matched.

Marker Labels

Options available:

• Question Marks indicate uncertain or special locations [default].

  Most markers are unlabeled with this option. There is something special to be aware of for those points marked with a question mark. The most common reasons are:

  • Imprecise location - e.g. just a county or district name, in which case the marker is placed at an an appropriately central location, in open countryside if possible
  • Place of publication for commercially produced texts
  • Home of the author for compiled/composite texts.
• Figures indicate the number of matching lines at each location.
• Figures indicate the number of matching lines as a percentage of the primary script.
• Figures indicate the number of matching lines as a percentage of the local script.

Omitting Texts with Fewer Line Matches than a Specified Threshold

Some lines are so common, formulaic or generic (e.g. 'We wish you a merry Christmas') that they muddy the water when trying to pin down relationships between texts. Setting a minimum threshold of matched lines for play to appear on the map helps suppress this 'noise'. Such a threshold would typically be an odd number less than 10.

Omitting Known Composite Scripts Prepared by Literary Authors

Composite texts are by their nature atypical, often combining textual matter from widely separated geographical regions. Composite texts are usually placed on the map at the compiler's home, which in effect being random can distort the apparent distribution of text relatives. It can therefore be appropriate to omit composite scripts, unless they are the subject of your investigation.

Omitting Chapbooks, Broadsides & Commercial Texts

Commercially published texts are located at the place of publication, which may or may not be where the play was actually performed. It can sometimes therefore be appropriate to omit such texts from the map.

Peter Millington

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