The works of several scholars and collectors helped document and preserve these oral traditions as well as their histories. These include Iona and Peter Opie, Joseph Ritson, James Orchard Halliwell, and Sir Walter Scott.
The research and collections of numerous scholars and collectors helped to establish a record of these traditional expressions along with their backgrounds. Prominent figures in this area include Iona and Peter Opie, Joseph Ritson, James Orchard Halliwell, and Sir Walter Scott.