The Suffolk Garland: Or, a Collection of Poems, Songs, Tales, Ballads
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m. THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES THE SUFFOLK GARLAND, OR mt Country iWinsttel: WITH NOTICES, Historical, Biographical, and Descriptive. V THE SUFFOLK GARLAND: OR, A COLLECTION OF POEMS, SONGS, TALES, BALLADS, SONNETS, AND ELEGIES, Legendary and Romantic, Historical and Descriptive, RELATIVE TO THAT COUNTY; And Illustrative of its SCENERY, PLACES, BIOGRAPHY, MANNERS, HABITS AND CUSTOMS. * %])t nettle anD tljc ftotoec, * Cijc tfjorne antj t])t ro^e, ** W Garland compose/ IPSWICH : Printed and Sold by John Baw ; SOLD ALSO BY LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME AND BROWN; AND RODD AND SON, LONDON. MDCCCXVIII. fv) Br THE REV. JOHN MITFORD, B. A. VICAR OF BENHALL, AND RECTOR OF WESTON ST. PETER. Deem not inelegant his Mind, who loves 'Mid the rude Chronicles of Elder Time to Awhile sojourn ; and, with fabled rhyme, In these late days, again in fancy roves Through moated Halls, and Fields, and ancient Groves, Beneath whose shade our Fathers, in their prime. sate ^but Have ; now corroding age and crime Have left but what their ancient glory proves. Yet come : and 'mid these mouldering Relics trace of The pensive shadows departed years ; Mark, how again, with renovated grace. Its front the long-forgotten Mansion rears ; And all, upstarting in its wonted place. As touch'd by some enchanter's wand, appears. 804.129 " An ordinary song or ballad, that is the delight " the common cannot fail to all such " of people, please readers as are not unqualifiedfor the etitertainment " their or ; and the reaso7i is " by affectation ignorance because the same nature, which " plain, paintings of recommend it to the most ordinary reader, will ap- " to the most pear" beautiful refined. I took a in hearing the songs " particular delight and FABLES that are come from father to son, and *' in are most vogue among the conunon people : for " it is that sJiould be universally " impossible any thing tasted and a multitude, which hath " approved of by not in it some to and " peculiar aptness please gratify the mind of man." spectator, no. 70. THE PREFACE. ^I^^^l^ UR County Readers are here present- ed with some select specimens of their native Bards, and provincial fg^^-^,^,^ Rhymers, While the spacious pages of the County His- the Editor of the " Northern torian," says ingenious Garlands," are too exclusively engrossed by topo- graphical surveys, genealogical tables, statistical the numbers, or agricultural refinements ; humble the and amusing village strains, founded upon squabbles of a wake ; tales of untrue love ; super- stitious rumors : or miraculous traditions of the ,( yiii ) are if hamlet ; very slightly regarded, not glanced over unnoted. A < ounjy garland is one of those minor publications scarcely considered worthy the of a editor attention county ; and from the motley basket of an itinerary mendicant, the reader is alone supplied -with such an entertainment. To glean for EACH COUNTY its appropriate Ballads might, there- fore, be an acceptable task. If they neither vied for adventures with the deeds of chivalry, nor eclipsed the gallant knight and courtly dame in marvellous amours ; yet their characteristics would be a just and faithful representation of domestic customs exhi- manners and provincial ; they would " bit nature without the foil of art and the short " ; arid simple annals" of the rustic would often be " found in the which at her wheel " preserved ditty, the village-maiden sings." It may be easy to jumble together a parcel of Songs, of all dates, and upon all subjects, indiscriminately, and from their historical allusions, or novelty of romantic incident, and but this excite partly gratify curiosity ; medley must fail to convey an equal interest with the re- cord of some domestic tale, founded upon the at- tractive scenes of rude the youth ; when, however combination of language and numbers, our " partia- lity may be said to grow with our growth." To the mind that has once imbibed an hereditary love of rural haunts, fancy, amid the vicissitudes of life, the toil of worldly pursuits, or the visitation of foreign climes, can mock the lapse of time, and, like the wandering Swiss, still fondly picture home, and dwell with enthusiastic delight on native strains. The English have always been a great Ballad- nation, and once abounded with various Songs of Trades, r.nd numerous Songs for the People. I'he " Ballad, Aikin in his on Ballads and " says Essay Pastoral Songs," may be considered as the native species of poetry in this country. It very exactly answers the idea formerly given of original poetry, being the rude, micultivated verse in which tlie ( ) popular tale of the times was recorded. As our an- cestors partook of the fierce, warlike character of the northern nations, the subjects of their poetry would chiefly consist of the martial exploits of their heroes, and the military events of national history, deeply tinctured with that passion for the marvel- lous, and that superstitious credulity, which always attends a state of ignorance and barbarism. Many of the ancient Ballads have been transmitted to the present times, and in them the character of the na- tion displays itself in striking colors. The boast- ful history of her victories, the prowess of her favorite kings and captains, and the wonderful ad- ventures of the legendary saint and knight-errant, are the topics of the rough rhyme and unadorned narration, whicli was ever the delight of the vulgar, and is now an object of curiosity to the antiquary, and man of taste. In later times, these pieces consisted of the village tale, the dialogue of rustic courtship, the description of natural objects, and the incidents of rural life. Their language is the language of nature, simple and unadorned; their story is not the wild offspring of fancy, but the probable adventure of the cottage, and their senti- ments are the unstudied expressions of passions and emotions, common to all mankind. The old " Song of Chevy Chase" was long the favorite Ballad of the to common people ; and Ben Jonson used say, that he had rather have been the author of it than " of all his works. Sir in his Dis- " Philip Sidney, course of Poetry," speaks of it in the following words : I never heard the old Song of Piercy and Douglas, that I found not my heart more moved than with a it is trumpet ; and yet sung by some blind crowder with no rougher voice than rude stile; which being so evil apparelled in the dust and cob- web of that uncivil age, what would it work trim- med in the of Pindar ? The gorgeous eloquence" celebrated Author of the Task" was strongly at- tached to this stile of and in one of " composition, his Letters" says, that it is a species of poetry (x; peculiar to this country, equally adapted to the drollest or the most tragical subjects. Simplicity and ease are its peculiar characteristics. Our fore- fathers excelled in it, but we moderns have lost the art. It is observed, that we have few good English Odes : but to make amends we have many excel- lent Ballads, not inferior, perhaps, in true poetical merit to some of the very best Odes that the Greek or Latin languages have to boast of. " These venerable, ancient soNc-T;Nj)rTER3 " Soar'd a above our modern writers many pitch ; " With rough, maji'stic force they moved the heart, ' And strength and nature made amends for art." Ballads are described by Puttenham, a Critic in the reign of Elizabeth, as small and popular Songs, sung by those Cantabanqui upon benches and bar- rels heads, where they have no other audience than boys or country fellows that pass by them in the streets or else blind or tavern- ; by harpers, suchlike minstrels, that give a fit of mirth for a groat. Such v/ere these " of ancient Reliques " English Poetry," says D'Israeli, in his Curiosities of Literature," which are more precious to us than they were to our as to their ancestors ; strangers we have become pure pastoral feefings, and more eccentric habits of li^e. They form the Collections of Percy and Rit- son. But the latter poetical antiquary tells us that few are older than the reign of James the 1 st.'^ The more ancient Songs of the People perished by hav- ing been printed in single sheets, and their humble purchasers had no other library to preserve them than the walls on which tliey pasted them. Those we have consist of a succeeding race of Ballads, chiefly revived or written by Richard Johnson, the author of the well-known Romance of the " Seven " Champions," and Deloney, the writer of" Jack of " " Newbury's Life," and the Gentle Craft," who lived in the time of James and Charles.' The practice of collecting them into books did not take place, says Ritson, till after the reign of Eli- ( -vi ) zabeth, and is probably owing to this Johnson and Deloney, who, when they were advanced in years, and incapable, perhaps, of producing any thing of merit, seem to have contented themselves with col- lecting their more juvenile or happier compositions into little entitled garlands of Penny Books, ; these, being popular and often reprinted, many are * still extant. In the Pepysian and other libraries, are preserved a great number, in JB[ac& Hcttfr, ]2mo. under the following quaint and affected titles: A Crown Garland of Goulden Roses gathered out of England's Royall Garden, &c. by Richard Johnson, 161 i. (In the Bod- ' leian Library.) In Bib. Ang. Poet." 10.0s. Qd. The Gold- en Garland of Princely Delight. The Garland of Good-will b_y " Tlioiuas Deloney, 1631 In Bib.