The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 11 plus 4 letter word SCARBOROUGH FAIR
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
S
C
A
R
B
O
R
O
U
G
H
F
A
I
R
More clues leading to the result SCARBOROUGH FAIR
- Song, right after a big chorus, for a cuckoo
- Mark starts to belt out rocky and light song
- Song made by Cliff just after personal problem – nasty
- Yorkshire resort with clean air
- Groucho’s Bar playing show song
- Hum discordant note, one interrupting Cliff Richard’s opening song
- A bogus RAF choir assembled, admitting right number
- Capital band going round district with tune and ballad
- Groucho's Bar playing show song
- Traumatize bass oboe at first, demanding pleasant English ballad
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "ballad" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case ballad = scarborough fair.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.