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A Book of Old Ballads

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A Book of Old Ballads ECLECTIC ENGLISH CLASSICS A BOOK OF O LD BALLAD S EDITED BY O R A /l O RTO N M A C {t , . NORWOOD HIGH SCHOOL NOR O W OD, OHIO AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY NEW YO RK PRE FACE £ 9 T h rs a reed o a eac e of English are generally g that the—l gic l t im e t o use ballads is in the early adolescent period in the l n of first years of the high school , or perhaps the last year the { — grammar grades yet the st andard ballad anthologies are t oo f m l o full and too unsifted or such use . Fro these larger col ecti ns not only the best known and the most typical examples have been chosen but also the best version of each . As the ballads were unwritten in the beginning and were m for m o n orally trans itted any generati ns , the spelli g of the fif f early manuscripts is the spelling of the transcriber. The t eent h and sixteenth century ballad lovers knew the sounds Of wo nl o m the rds o y, and the written f r s in which they have been preserved are merely makeshift devices for visualizing m n t he m o . th se sounds The ore u obtrusive akeshift, the less is o m the attenti n distracted fro the sound and the sense, and the nearer are we to receiving the story as the early listeners m r in received it . For this reason fa iliar wo ds the ballads in this book are printed in the familiar spelling of to- day except where rhyme or rhythm demanded the retention of an older m of a for . After a student knows the content a ballad , and p reciat es om - p it as a piece of good literature , if s e quaint appearing w s i i t s o i ma ord rou es his nterest in philol g cal side, he y readily find the older spelling of the same text in Francis James Childis ottish l r B s E nglish and Sc Popu a allad . Unfamiliar words and phrases are explained m the glossary h o of il omm o at the end of t e bo k . Many these are st l in c n use in England and Scotland , but are defined for the convenience of younger pupils who have not yet discovered them in the m writings of Scott, Burns or other asters of English who used m dialectal for —s . No one to day can edit a ballad book without acknowledging o m t o O - hi verwhel ing indebtedness Professor Child . S far reac ng were his researches and so indisputable were the most of hi s decisions that all subsequent students in his field have grown m his m lm i t r accusto ed to consult volu es a ost as a d c iona y . B IBL IOGRAPHY ENGLISH AND SCOTTISH POPULAR BALLAD S : edited by Francis — m . 1 2 o u 88 1 8 8 . James Child . 5 v l es 9 RELIQUES OF ANCIENT ENGLISH POETRY : edited by Thomas m : 1 . of Percy . 3 volu es 765 (Edition I C I D : d M NSTRELSY OF THE S OTT SH—BOR ER e ited by Sir Walter 80 2 0 o m . 1 1 8 . o Sc tt . 3 volu es 3 (Editi n prepared by o T . F . Henders n , THE LEGENDARY AND ROMANTIC BALLADS OF SCOTLAND : ed it ed o n by Charles Mackay and c ntaini g , slightly ’ M ot herwell s on The Ori in and Hist or o abridged , essay g y f t h B ad Lit erat ure Scat is all . umm re . 1 . THE BEGINNINGS OF POETRY . Francis B . G e 90 1 D . ummere . 1 0 . THE POPULAR BALLA . Francis B G 9 7 I C TTI I THE H STORY OF S O SH VERNACULAR L TERATURE . T . F . 1 00 . Henderson . 9 m 2 . ROBIN HOOD : edited by Joseph Ritson . volu es 1 795 THE GREAT HERO OF THE ANCIENT MINSTRE LSY OF ENGLAND . 2 Joseph Hunter . 1 85 . THE HISTORY OF THE LIVES AND ACTIONS OF THE MOST FAMOUS 8 1 s o . 1 . HIGHWAYMEN . Charle J hnson 4 s The Twa Sist er . The Cruel Brot her Hind Horn Young Beichan E dward K ing E st mere Sir Pat rick Spence The Gay Goshawk The Wee Wee M an . F r Ann Lord Thomas and ai e t . Lizie Lindsay (Donald of t he Isles) ’ Barbara Allen s Cruelt y Lord Lovel Thomas Rhymer Fa M a ir rgret . The Jovial Hunt er of Bromsgrove (Sir Lionel) K ing John and t he Abbot Of Cant erbury R D BALL THE OBIN HOO AD S . Robin Hood and Lit t le John Robin Hood and t he Golden Arrow Robin Hood and t he Curt al Friar ! R n H an All n a D ale obi ood d i . ’ Robin Hood s Deat h and Burial THE BORDE R BALLADS ’ Johnny Armst rong s Last Good- Night Bewick and Grahame The Bat t le of Ot t erburn The Hunt ing of t he Cheviot (Chevy Chase) be rdee n BALL AD C O UNT RY SCALE O F MILES INTRODUCTION ’ Any one who has been privile ged to listen t o children s tales oo m mm or t o o of cr ned by a southern a y, st ries adventure told om old m m now by s e grizzled lu ber an in Canada , k s that the — art of story telling unlike most other arts is not wholly dependent man who nor w upon educat ion . Many a can neither read rite can enliven a long evenmg about a camp fire with stories of the woods and thrilling accounts of hi s own hairbreadth escapes r r from the dangers of storm o flood o wild beast . The m en who m e m but m hear the r peat the to others perhaps , very few of the w w . are ever ritten do n — LITERATURE OF THE FOLK In medieval England there were few men who w wh ul o o o . c uld read , fe er still c d write Even men of c ul om im do no mo S m rank o d s et es re than ign their na es , and the common people often lived and died without seeing a n m r book except in the ha ds of so e priest o monk . Under such m o - w circu stances st ry riting was practically unknown . Story m i w was . o w telling , ho ever, popular The inds the people ere o an was filled with belief in gh sts d elves and giants, and rarely there a gathering where some sort of a story was no t part of the m - r - n . o o o o r e tertain ent Professi nal st ry tellers , st ry singers , we e t o be found in the houses of the nobles . Returned crusaders m o f had arvel us tales o adventure t o relate . o Of o o om m M st these st ries are l st , but s e have co e down o o t o own m thr ugh the l ng centuries our ti e , taught by fathers t o o mo for m their s ns , and by thers to their daughters , any o o o wa generati ns bef re they f und their into print . All such — y om o — survivals fr an earlier age legends , s ngs , and tales are - w ni un called folk literature , for, un ritten in the begin ng , and w for m m owe o ritten any, any years , they their preservati n m m f olk o o . entirely to the e ry the f , or people o o has it s own o Every nati n of Eur pe f lk tales . In many 8 INTROD UCTION m instances these stories are prose , as in the fa iliar German m fairy tales which are unsurpassed exa ples of folk literature . we t . w n and But have old poe ry as well Every here , in E gland : o o f among the continental peoples , there devel ped early a l ve o rhythm and the ability to make verses . When this rhythmi c ’ was e w t - was sense coupl d i h the story teller s art, the result naturally a story cast in poetic form : a story that could be sung s w s - or chanted quite as easily a it a recited . Folk literature is - full Of these combined song stories . Ballads we call them ; old ‘ t o dis m om ms ballads , or traditional ballads , tinguish the fr poe f r o the same general style that are written in ou own day . D — THE HISTORY OF THE BALLA S . The very earliest English t o im o o m o t c ballads date back a t e bef re the N r an invasi n , - e Anglo Saxon England . We do not know what they were lik for they were all forgotten long ago ; but there is no doubt that f — they existed . Those o a slightly later period from 1 200 t o — o 1 00 for mo o o few ab ut 4 have the st part been l st als , and the t m ffi now so our hat re ain are di cult reading , greatly has lan guage changed .
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