FOLK-MOOT (Anglo-Saxon folcgemote or folcmot), the old English parliament of the shire or of the townships the meeting of the people to discuss and decide on public af fairs. Its guiding principle was the common law of England, called the folc-riht, public right, of pre-Norman times. There was never in England a true folk-moot of the whole na tion until the establishment of the House of Commons about the middle of the 13th century. According to Tacitu%, the Germans of his time consulted the whole nation on all important matters, and the Campus Martius or Madius of the Franks was in later times the folk-moot of that nation. Such moots continued to a much later age among the Scandinavian peoples, as, for instance, the Icelandic Althing and the Swedish Ting at Upsala. The Witenagemot (q.v.) in England, though indirectly a national senate, was in reality an assembly of magnates. The shire-moot or county court was composed of the representatives of every township within its jurisdiction, and thus was a complete folk moot for the district comprised in the shire. By concentrating those representatives of the shires in a single assembly the modern House of Commons was formed. Consult Kemble, Saxons in England' ; Stubbs, (Constitu tional History.' The music of a nation is generally based on folk-music, or the folk tunes that are handed down from generation to generation along with its folk-lore. It is thus to be distinguished from art music, the studied compositions of the professional musician. Folk-songs generally exhibit strong racial characteristics, those of northern peoples mainly in melancholy minor strains, those of the southern, on the other hand, being vivacious and lively. The wandering refrains of the countrysides in Scotland formed the basis of the songs of Robert Burns. The words of many national folk-songs have survived; but the music, which was never submitted to writ ing, has been lost. Some of these melodies, however, have survived in a remarkable man ner: by the Church musicians of the 12th cen tury adopting the tunes and making additions of their own; and the music of many great masses, notamly Palestrina's, is based on the folk-song. Haydn was familiar with the
peasant music of Croatia, and he embodied their spirit by writing many of his own com positions in the same vigorous and direct style. Germany of all countries is the richest in folk-music; the folk-songs have been the themes of many compositions of Mendelssohn, Mozart and Weber; but as Germany is one of the countries which has set the standard in art music, few of the tunes have remained un altered. Liszt and Schubert utilized the music of the Magyars and the Gypsies; Dvorak the folk tunes of Bohemia; Chopin those of Po land; and Brahms and others the characteris tically national, melancholy music of Russia. Wales, Ireland and Scotland are rich in folk music; Beethoven went to Scotland and Ire land for some of his melodies; the Norwegian composer Grieg drew part of his inspiration from Scotland; and Puccini traveled as far as Japan for one of his operas. From the fact that dance music preponderates in the music of nations whose musical culture has remained in a primitive stage, it is concluded by some Au thorities that vocal music in its origin may have been a mere accompaniment of the dance.
Folk-music has within recent times en gaged in an increasing degree the serious at tention of students of the art of music; and societies have been formed to collect and ar range them in musical notation. (See FOLK LORE; Music). Consult Engel,