It contains 16 folk songs, "set to music exactly as they are now sung", and with the words "given in their original rough state with an occasional slight alteration to render the sense intelligible".
[5] According to the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, Broadwood "is to be honoured in the annals of English folk-song".
[5] In 1943, the music critic Frank Howes wrote a scholarly article about him to "celebrate the centenary year of scientific method applied editorially to the oral tradition of English folk-song".
As now Sung by the Peasantry of the Weald of Surrey and Sussex and collected by one who has learnt them by hearing them sung every Christmas from early childhood by The Country People, who go about to the Neighbouring Houses, Singing, or "Wassailing" as it is called, at that Season.The Airs are set to music exactly as they are now sung, to rescue them from oblivion and to afford a specimen of genuine Old English Melody.The Words are given in their original Rough State with an occasional slight alteration to render the sense intelligible.Harmonized for the collector in 1843 by G. A. Dusart, Organist to the Chapel of Ease at Worthing.The 16 songs collected by Broadwood are reproduced in a book which the authors have released online into the public domain under a Creative Commons licence.
[5][9] Alternative titles and (where identified) Roud Folk Song Index numbers and other information are included in parentheses.